8 Days to Christmas
Hi there
Just got in from a lovely evening! We all went to see Evie (Grand-daughter) perform in her school musical,Annie. Absolutely delightful. It was great to see the kids and characters on stage. Miss Hannigan in particular was so talented! He will go far. But what am I saying. They were all simply awesome.
And tomorrow we are all off to see Lionel Bart’s Oliver at the Gielgud Theatre in London. So it’s been quite a week of orphans!
School musicals and professional Shaftesbury Avenue productions might share the same scripts and songs, but they live in very different worlds. School shows are all heart — slightly wobbly sets, brave voices, proud parents, and that unmistakable thrill of young people discovering confidence, teamwork, and the joy of telling a story together. The magic lies in the effort and the courage it takes to step on stage. £7.50 a ticket, rickety plastic chairs, and a bunch of kids selling bags of popcorn for a quid in the corridor – for charity.
Shaftesbury Avenue, by contrast, is pure polish: seasoned performers, flawless lighting, orchestras in the pit, and productions honed to perfection night after night. £200 a ticket. Ouch.
One reminds us why theatre matters in the first place; the other shows just how extraordinary it can become when craft, experience, and scale come together. So think of us tomorrow. Shaftesbury Avenue here we come!
What was the best musical you have ever seen? And where was it? London? New York? Or was it local? Do share ! I am so enjoying reading your news and experience too.
Love and Clarity
Barb x x x
13 thoughts on “8 Days to Christmas”
Hi Barb,
You can’t beat a school production to raise your spirits. I have seen a fair few nativity stories performed by little ones, little waves to mum and dad didn’t appear in rehearsal but were often seen in the actual performance. At my school every girl would be in either the Junior or Senior productions so there was safety in numbers. I remember one particularly shy girl singing her heart out on stage because she forgot we could see her , makes me smile now too. Fantastic memories.
Enjoy the West End tomorrow.
Love Zara xx
believe it or not I have never been to a musical. it’s on my bucket list but choices, choices. Enjoy your time together. That’s the most important thing. 😊
believe it or not I have never been to a musical. it’s on my bucket list but choices, choices. Enjoy your time together. That’s the most important thing. 😊
Now, there’s a question for me to ponder. I’ve only seen two musicals live, both in London, quite a few years ago. I think I liked The Lion King best, can’t remember which theatre it was at though. Loved it all, bought the CD, still have it and play it. Enjoy Oliver. I live close to a school, and last week they had their plays on, and when walking my dog early evening, there were a few children going to school in their costumes, so lovely to see. xx
Enjoy the theatre tomorrow, Barb, and remember to “Consider yourself at home” during the performance! Back in the early 70s I had the privilege of helping to run a Youth Club that was attached to the local church. I somehow convinced the “powers that be” that appropriate cultural visits to the West End would be good for the members. So I organised visits to see the original casts of Jesus Christ Superstar, Godspell and The Rocky Horror Show! Unfortunately they cottoned on after the third one and no more happened! But we thoroughly enjoyed those shows! 😄👍🏻
ohhhh favourite. musical that’s a hard one. I really enjoyed the king and I. but I did already love the film.etc etc.. xx
enjoy tomorrow x
Moulin Rouge for professional but The Forbidden Planet from our local amdram society. My husband couldn’t get past the first 10 mins of the film Moulin Rouge and only agreed to go to the theatre when he realised there were at least 20 people who would have taken his place. His face said it all when we took our seats he was there under sufferance. When we left he said it was the best thing he had ever seen and couldn’t stop raving about it. Xxx
Sounds like Evie and friends did a great job 🥰 I’ve not been able to see many musicals at the theatre but the two I did see Top Hat and The Bodyguard were beautifully done. Have seen so many wonderful movies/films as of course almost all Hollywood movies were and all Bollywood movies are musicals – so many memories associated with each and every one 💖 Much love xXx 🦋💕
Love musical theatre. Have seen quite a few over the years, my first London production was ‘me and my girl’ in the late eighties. We then went on to see productions at The Alhambra in Bradford and Sunderland Empire. My all time favourite is ‘War Horse’. I have seen that 4 times and would go again. The puppetry is absolutely amazing. We took the grandchildren to see Mary Poppins and that too was brilliant 🙂
Hi Barbara,
Thank you so much for this, you are really stretching my brain to rekindle all kinds of memories and emotions, I love, love, love it.
My very favourite musical was The King and I with Yul Briner and Deborah Kerr they did it for a very short stint at the Paladium when I was in my twenties…. I’ll treasure that memory for ever..
I have to pass on this extremely amusing story about a friends 5 year old little boy playing the Inn Keeper in the school Nativity this week. All was going swimmingly well. We were all bursting with pride until….my friends little boy spotted his Mummy standing up at the side of the hall. From that moment onward he proceeded to hold up his little middle finger above his head for all to see…he didn’t miss a line, his timing was impeccable….cos it was just as he said “there’s no room at the Inn”. My friend was horrified. Half the audience was smirking the other half were very uneasy in their seats. My friend was trying to gesture for him to put arm down to no avail. She quietly sidled up to a couple of teachers to say there must be something wrong, cos there is no way he would be doing that otherwise. Once the Nativity was over they all came running towards their parents. My friends said to her little boy, that was brilliant buddy, what was with the hand? He said “one of the little girls bit my finger in the playground today, and I wanted to show you” 🤣 phew!! My friends has now asked for an explanation to be put on the end of the official school video.
Have a brilliant time up in the WestEnd. Love and hugs xXx
My mum and sister took me to see Phantom of the Opera in London for my 40th birthday, it was fabulous xx
Would love to see a professional musical. Will enjoy something on You tube. Enjoy yourselves with the rich and famous. Tell us who you see.
I love musicals of all sorts but have never wanted to see Les Misearables. But we went to see a cinema showing of the West end 25th anniversary. Concert which was showing v at cinema in a local town because I love Alfie Boe and he was playing Valjean. Bought the tickets weeks in advance and then our car gave up the ghost two days before. Decided we couldn’t go then decided to taxi each way to get there. We loved it so much we travelled to stay in London the following year when he and Michael Ball did the actual West End production and have loved it ever since regardless of who plays the characters.
I saw Oliver at the London Palladium it was wonderful. Enjoy xxx