2016: A Year In The Life.

2016. A strange year, huh?

So many ups and downs for everyone. This year, the world lost a multitude of stars (I'm beginning to sound like Javert, aren't I?)

• Alan Rickman
• David Bowie
• every Gen Y and Z male is going to hate me if I don't mention Harambe.
• Prince
• Muhammad Ali
• Gene Wilder
• Charmian Carr (With "Sound Of Music" being one of my favourite musicals since childhood, this one was one of the hardest to hear. RIP Liesl, our favourite blue-eyed sixteen year-old)
• Leonard Cohen
• Florence Henderson (RIP Carol Brady!)

It's been a year of ups and downs for even myself.

• Did my first RAW showcase
• Took a trip to Brisbane to see "Les Misérables" for a second time before it ended
• Took two trips to Melbourne, in which on one I saw the "Matilda" stage show
• Saw two more stage shows in Adelaide, "Machu Picchu" and "Sound Of Music". Reviews for "Les Misérables" and "Sound Of Music" are on my blog.
• Turned twenty-two
• Didn't perform for the first year since I was six (2000)
• Went on my first overseas trip, to Bali, which I somewhat enjoyed but I'm not in a hurry to go back.
• My dad had a heart attack (everything's okay now, but it was terrifying at the time!)
• I think I've been on seven first internet dates
• Was booked for a second and third showcase
• Left the job I'd been working for almost seven years
• Moved to Adelaide for a job that ultimately didn't work out.
• Saw Delta Goodrem live (I'd seen her before, on her first national tour in 2005 so it was great to see how her career has grown in all these years and it was lovely to see her revisit some of her popular songs from early on in her career.
• Netflixed. A lot. I'm a late-to-the-party "Gilmore Girls" fan and checked out the revival the MOMENT it was released. I still have lots of questions and I'm keen for discussions.
  Also, the title of this blog is totally named after the revival.

Best films of 2016:

1. Me Before You
2. Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them
3. Better Off Single
4. Dr. Strange
5. Inferno
6. Sisters
7. My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2

All negativity aside, let's all hope 2017 is an emotionally better year and one of opportunity for everyone!

Have a wonderful day and stay classy, kids!
Little Ti out!
xx

Honest "Sound Of Music" Review

Hellooooooooooooooooooooooooo pretty people!

Has it seriously been like, seven months since I last posted?

Apparently so.

Not going to give you a sob story as to why I've been absent for ages but reasons do include extensive job searching, ill health of family members, other creative projects that have taken priority and of course, the lack of material to write about.

But I'm baaaaaack! (If you've seen the 1995 Australian film, "Napoleon", you'll understand which voice I had in mind. Yep, it's the flock of lorikeets' voices.)
The black cat still scares the shit out of me, by the way.

Aaaanywhoooo, I'm here to talk about a(nother) musical favourite of mine, "The Sound Of Music".
It was the first musical film I remember seeing when I was about six or seven and it's stuck with me all these years. Julie Andrews is still queen, tbh. My brother told me just because she played a queen is a film and its sequel, doesn't mean she's still queen. Pfft. Men don't understand.

I had the pleasure of seeing the Australian production on its Adelaide leg of the tour a few weeks ago.

First of all, I'm pleased to say, Amy Lehpamer as Maria is gorgeous. One thing I did notice, though, WHY DO THEY TEND TO MAKE WIG AND COSTUME CHANGES TO THE CHARACTER AFTER THE PROMO SHOTS ARE TAKEN? In the shots, her hair is a bob, but in the show, it's more of a pixie crop. (Speaking of which, I noticed they did the same thing with Lisa McCune in "Machu Picchu", where in the promo shots, she was wearing a red wig, but in the show, she had her natural hair.)

Anyway. hair aside, her voice was beautiful. The show started in the abbey and I with the nuns singing traditional hymns as a part of an overture. Then shows Maria up on a hill to begin her famous "Sound of Music", complete with an opening verse I'd never heard before.

Pretty much all of the show was beautiful, though there were many things different between the show and the film that I'm used to:

WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD

• There were two major lines cut out of the beginning of "I Have Confidence" (which is one of my favourite songs to sing!) 
• Both Franz and Frau Schmidt are given bigger roles and Franz is possibly a Nazi.
• Rolf and Liesl sing "Sixteen Going On Seventeen" on the front porch rather than in the gazebo. In saying that, they only moved to the gazebo when it started raining in the film.
• "My Favourite Things" is sung with Mother Abbess before Maria leaves the abbey as she has briefly been given permission to sing within the abbey and the song sung in the bedroom during the thunderstorm is "The Lonely Goatherd", and the Captain (Georg) does not interrupt them.
• Max and Baroness Schraeder (who is named Elsa in the stage show) have larger parts also and even given a few of their own songs. 
• "Edelweiss" isn't sung until the festival. 
• Some of the parts in "So Long, Farewell" are changed around. And Kurt does hit the high note on the word, 'goodbye' unlike in the film where his part was clearly dubbed by a female voice in both versions (the party and the folk festival)
• It is Brigitta (who is portrayed as even more of a  loud-mouth than in the film) who tells Maria that her father loves her, forcing her to leave, rather than the Baroness being manipulative. 
• In the film, when the children are singing "My Favourite Things" to cheer themselves up as Maria returns from the Abbey, I find Maria's voice overpowering the children's voices and then them running to her insanely satisfying. In the show, she sings with them, though a little more hidden and waits for them to notice her standing there. 
• You actually see the Captain and Elsa break off their engagement after she realises he still loves Maria, with her returning the ring. 
• When Liesl confronts Rolf while they're hiding out in the abbey, in the film, he dobs them in, while in the stage show, he lets them go. Also, in the film, they're hiding in a cemetery, while in the show, they're in a courtyard. 

HIGHLIGHTS

• The choreography, especially in "Do-Re-Mi". I don't know how small children (by that, I mean the girls who play Marta and Gretl) learn choregraphy so well. Hell, I don't even know how they keep an attention span that long. The end of year concerts I used to be involved with, the kids couldn't keep an attention span for like, two minutes, even on stage. Kudos for that level of discipline. 
• The staircase and the chandelier in the foyer. I just really like chandeliers, man. 
• Amy as Maria and the Cameron as the Captain actually playing the guitar, unlike in the film. It's obvious, guys.
• Marina Prior as Elsa having more of a singing role. 
• Max Dettweiller is actually a hilarious role. 
• The gorgeous ballgowns during the party scene (which are used in the curtain call by the ensemble)
• Jacqueline Dark's (who unfortunately left the tour after the Adelaide leg finished two days ago) "Climb Ev'ry Mountain". Holy. Actual. Shitballs. And she knows I loved it:
  
• HARMONIES. HARMONIES GALORE.
• The wedding scene was gorgeous and I love how the Captain was tradional and had his full Austrian Navy uniform. 
• More creepy than a highlight, but the audience being surrounded by Nazi flags and armed guards during the Salzburg Folk Festival scene was great for atmosphere. My mum said she was glared at by a soldier and was a little creeped out but it really made you feel like you were there.
• The ending of the show was extremely satisfying with the family climbing up onto the mountain with the nuns doing a reprise of "Climb Ev'ry Mountain". Absolutely beautiful.
• Not so much show related, but I think it's pretty cool they had a replica on the seat used in the foyer in the theatre's own foyer for audience memebers to pose on:

You may have noticed by the by the beginning of the caption that this is the photo Jacqueline Dark commented on :)

Anyway, I'm off. Enough rambling.
Have a wonderful day and stay classy, kids!
Little Ti out
xx

Honest "Les Misérables" Review

NOTE: I feel now the show is finished, I feel better about posting what could have been once spoilers, though I'm not sure if other productions are similar set and direction-wise, so, if so, whoops.

So, people that know me (including knowing me on the internet) would probably know that I have a musical theatre obsession, even moreso, a huge love for "Les Misérables" - some people may even say obsession for that too. I don't know, man,  I'm trying to keep my options open.

Anyway, it's been two days since the Australian tour closed and I was lucky enough to see it one more time last Sunday (a week before said closing date) and seeing as I've seen it twice and was able to compare the two a pick up on little things that I may have missed out on last time.

Unfortunately, the amazing Hayden Tee (Javert) was out with an injury - I personally saw him and he was walking with a limp. I was a little disappointed because having come from SA to see the show, I was really looking foward to seeing him performing again, so I was a little disappointed. As great as his understudy, Tamlyn Henderson was, the major thing I noticed, due to Javert aging throughout the show, is the strength and gruffness in his voice. He is 26 (according to the book) in the opening scene and dies at the age of 52. Tee's voice is incredibly strong at the beginning, yes, but throughout the show it deepens and gets gruffer as the character ages. I didn't notice this with Henderson. It was strong and gruff from the beginning and as great as his voice is. I didn't notice it evolving.

Simon Gleeson (Jean Valjean) has a brilliant voice. His "Bring Him Home" was incredible. Yet, I found that while his power-chesting vocals were brilliant, he struggles a little in the lower and softer notes and ad libs a little, especially at the beginning, I mean, the way he yelled, it showed the anger in his character, but I am quite used to hearing it done more traditionally. Maybe that's just the Gleeson spin.

Patrice Tipoki (Fantine), on the other hand, was absolutely flawless. Her "I Dreamed A Dream" is one of my favourites. Vocally, her "I dreamed a dream in time gone by" and "I dreamed that love would never die" had so much control in the held notes, well, let's just say, I was quite impressed!

Lara Mulcahy and Rodney Dobson - what a duo! I'd previously seen Trevor Ashley as Thénardier the first time round and I'm gonna be honest, I think Dobson is just that little bit funnier. While the Thénardiers are the antagonists of the story, they are truly the comic relief the show requires. Dobson is very cheeky in this role and a creepy when needed (the robbery and sewer scenes). Mulcahy was just hilarious the whole time, with everyone's favourites being "What the f***?!" as Valjean brings Little Cosette into the inn during the bargain scene and eating the cake at the wedding. Both gave the crowd a good laugh.


HIGHLIGHTS:

• Daniel Belle's IN-FUCKING-CREDIBLE (I hope my mum never reads this) voice in the opening solo in "Look Down".
• Zoy Frangos' blind man and Naomi Livingston's pregnant lady in the "Master Of The House" scene
• How quick and easy the sets move and how effective they are. This also goes for the backdrops (images that were painted by Victor Hugo himself). When they moved during "One Day More" and "Javert's Suicide", this just made it all the better. The most memorable set transitions being the buildings in the Paris street scenes (which included Valjean's home), the factory lights and the bridge coming from the ceiling during Javert's major songs, the courtroom in "Who Am I?", the large doors in "Look Down (Paris), "ABC Café/Red and Black" and "On My Own" and of course, the massive barricade.
• One thing I did notice, in the scene where Valjean is released and looking for work on farms, a little boy drops a coin and Valjean steps on it, refusing to give it back, is a tiny detail I noticed that was directly from the book. The tiny little part I could be bothered reading. Another little part I picked out was when Éponine dies, Gavroche walks over to see her. Major fans of the story will know Gavroche and Éponine are actually brother and sister.
• The vulgarity in "Lovely Ladies" was actually very entertaining.
• "One Day More". Obviously.
• Kerrie Anne Greenland's "On My Own." That's all I'm saying. Score one for SA!
• Enjolras' body reveal. Then having Gavroche's lifeless little body join him on the wagon.
• The transition from "Turning" to "Empty Chairs At Empty Tables" with the candles.
• Marius' last drinks with his fallen friends. Especially Enjolras. 
• The Thénardiers at the wedding. The whole audience claps along during "Beggars at the Feast".
• Patrice Tipoki and Kerrie Anne Greenland's gorgeous harmony in the Epilogue. I also love how Éponine's ghost costume is just her act two costume but her coat has a train.

Aaaannyyywayy. that's enough of me fangirling about this production and cast that I love dearly. 

Have a wonderful day and stay classy, kids.

Little Ti out!

xx

Brisbane Vlog | CLASS By Tiarna Ellen

Hello, pretty people,
I thought I'd share my vlog from my trip to Brisbane x