Anastasia Review!

I've just heard about the 29 hour reading for a stage version of the film coming up with Angela Lansbury & Aaron Tveit, so I decided to review the film because it's always been apart of my childhood.
Star rating: ****
Cast: Meg Ryan, John Cusack, Kelsey Grammer, Angela Lansbury, Christopher Lloyd & Hank Azaria

Taking place in 1920s Russia, an orphan named Anya doesn't know anything about her family from when she was eight years-old, with her only clue being a necklace, given to the Grand Duchess Anastasia by her grandmother, who disappeared after Rasputin, curses the Romanov family & causes a siege who kill all the family, except for the dowager empress & the missing Anastasia. After Anya decides to go to Paris to find her family, con-man Dimitri & his friend Vladimir decide to con the dowager empress to get the 10 million rouble reward for the return of Anastasia. After the two men meet Anya, they convince her that she may be Anastasia & she should pose as her so she can go to Paris to find her family & so they can get the reward, despite the fact she's the actual Anastasia, who Rasputin is now trying to kill.


The songs in this are amazing, especially Journey To The Past & Once Upon A December, Anastasia's ground-breaking solos sung by Broadway star Liz Callaway, featuring Angela Lansbury herself & Jim Cummings as Rasputin's singing voice was good during In The Dark Of The Night which made me laugh because of all of the dancing and singing bugs with Bartok, who Hank Azaria makes me laugh as. Throughout I kept on thinking 'WOW! THIS WOULD MAKE AN AMAZING MUSICAL/STAGE SHOW!' (I especially thought this during Once Upon A December & Paris Holds The Key To Your Heart, which Broadway legend Bernadette Peters sings!)

Despite this, the historical inaccuracy has diminished the original true tale of this mysterious duchess & her royal family, reducing it to a modern fairy tale for young children. Because of this though, it's what makes the story of this film so entrancing & magical for people of all ages, especially women with the spunky & independent Anastasia, who Meg Ryan portrays well in. John Cusack was also good as the cocky & handsome con-man Dimitri, especially when  it came to the romantic comedy between him & Anya, who at first despise each other, to the point where there's already an attraction between them.

This would be my dream cast for the musical:
Anastasia: Sierra Boggess or Samantha Barks
Dimitri: Aaron Tveit or Hadley Fraser
Dowager Empress: Angela Lansbury
Vladimir: Earl Carpenter
Sophie: Wendy Ferguson
Rasputin: Tim Curry

Mamma Mia Film Review!

Cast: Meryl Streep, Amanda Seyfried, Pierce Brosnan, Colin Firth, Julie Walters, Christine Baranski, Dominic Cooper

Star rating: ****
Based on the juke-box musical bombarded with classic songs by ABBA, set in a fictional Greek island, 20 year-old Sophie is engaged & soon to be married to fiancée Sky, but doesn't know who her father is, who she wants to walk down the aisle with. She soon discovers she has 3 potential fathers, Sam, Bill & Harry, after finding her mother's diary while she was pregnant with her. When she finally meets her potential fathers, after secretly inviting them to her wedding, Sophie & her mother, Donna's worlds are turned upside-down, since Donna's been a single mother for 20 years while owning a hotel with little money & being a former member of group Donna & the Dynamos with friends Tanya & Rosie, who arrive in Kalokairi for the wedding.

The film is just amazing, with classic ABBA songs which will make you & your family sing along, with songs including Dancing Queen, Lay All Your Love On Me (which is a personal favourite of mine), Waterloo & Money, Money, Money. The actors were also just as exquisite, with Meryl Streep definitely being a knock-our in The Winner Takes It All & Amanda Seyfried sounds so pretty during I Have A Dream. However, I personally think to myself why the hell Pierce Brosnan was cast because he cannot sing at all & his voice was just awful, especially during I Do I Do I Do. Julie Walters & Christine Baanski are hilarious as Rosie & Tanya, especially during their first scene on the boat to the island & singing Super Trouper at Sophie's hen do, as well as Rosie singing a hilarious rendition of Take A Chance On Me to Bill.

Overall, this musical film will make you laugh & smile throughout, as well as singing along to ABBA classics & is definitely one for all the family.

Top 5 favourite Phantoms!

Hi, I've decided to reveal to you my top 5 favourite Phantoms cos to be honest, there aren't any that I hate vocally or acting wise (except for Gerard Butler).

1) 25th anniversary Phantom, original Phantom in Love Never Dies & London's youngest ever Phantom when he was 28, Ramin Karimloo! His voice always manages to seduce me & he has brought different qualities into his interpretation to the Phantom which I haven't seen in any other actor before him. I saw him in Love Never Dies twice & he was the only good  thing about it, to be honest, and he left me in tears  when I went to the concert at the Royal Albert Hall at the end of the performance & seduced me during Music of the Night & I think he's so nice & lovely because I've managed to meet him twice: once after an evening performance of LND & at a CD signing a few months ago for his début album. 

2) Current UK tour Phantom & London's longest running Phantom, John Owen-Jones. The 41 year-old Welsh actor has an amazing voice & acting qualities for the Phantom, especially during the Final Lair scene after he lets Raoul & Christine go, after watching his final performance on YouTube before he returned in 2010. Also, he was clearly a favourite with fans because during the encore of the 25th anniversary concert, he was the one who everybody seemed to have loved more than the other Phantoms who were on-stage with him while singing with Sarah Brightman. 

3) Original Phantom & Some Mothers Do 'ave 'em star, Michael Crawford. When I first heard him sing, I was quite shocked with the quality of it, considering he has a rather high voice for a man with a baritone range, especially after watching the original music video for Music of the Night. I also think if it weren't for him replacing Steve Hartley as the original Phantom, I don't think the show would've been as successful as it is now, because to be honest, I didn't like Steve Hartley because he sounded too rock to be the seductive Phantom.

4) Broadway Phantom Gary Mauer AKA the Phantom whose wife played Christine with him on-stage. His voice is just magnificent & his version of Music of the Night was amazing & he really brought his emotion in his performances opposite his wife, Elizabeth Southard especially during the Final Lair scene & the Journey scene.

5) Original Australian Phantom, Anthony Warlow, mainly because of his powerful & flawless voice, after listening to & watching videos of him in the stage production & he was amazing at the 25th anniversary concert, especially when he sang his bits of Music of the Night & the title song with Sarah Brightman, as well as with the other Phantoms who were with him.

Phantom of the Opera 2004 film Review

Since I talked about the film in the Dreamgirls review, I'm just gonna do one anyway.

Rating: *

Starring: Emmy Rossum, Gerard Butler, Patrick Wilson, Minnie Driver, Miranda Richardson, Jennifer Ellison

This film adaptation of the classic Andrew Lloyd Webber musical is in one word: HORRIBLE! It's a disgrace to any other adaptation of the classic beauty and the beast love story, only focusing on spectacle rather than the rather amazing plot. Set in Paris, 1871, a deformed man who lives in the underground of the Opera Populaire falls in love with Christine Daae & helps her become a star after Carlotta, the diva of the opera walks out on the night of a gala performance with the Vicomte de Chagny, who happens to be Christine's childhood sweetheart. They both start to fall in love again, but, believing he's her Angel of Music, Christine begins to feel a passionate love for the secluded & socially unaccepted Phantom & has to choose between the two men of her life. 

This film is horrible! The direction isn't what it's cracked up to be & the writing had to be redone, as I believe it wasn't focused on the actual plot, but rather trying to succumb people to see it just because it's an Andrew Lloyd Webber show & therefore it didn't matter what was in the film itself. There were numerous differences between this and the musical which I couldn't stand at all & they had to cut some of my favourite scenes (i.e, before the Don Juan performance with Raoul & the managers & the Phantom scaring the policeman in the pit & the second notes scene). Also, the actors were awful (with the exception of Minnie Driver despite the fact she didn't sing, which made me think 'WHY THE HELL DON'T YOU GET SOMEONE WHO'S FUNNY AND CAN SING INSTEAD OF GETTING A HOLLYWOOD ACTRESS?!' and I also loved it when she yelled 'I hate my hat!') like Gerard Butler portraying the Phantom as if he was in a bad high school play & while he can sing, his voice is completely wrong for the seductive Phantom, which made it really awkward in the classic song 'Music of the Night'. Emmy Rossum, who was 16 at the time of filming, was alright with her acting, but her singing just wasn't right for Christine & I didn't like her voice in general. Patrick Wilson made a drippy suitor out of Raoul.....yet again another actor who has played Raoul like that & his singing was OK, but lacked emotion! Miranda Richardson also confused me with her consistent French accent compared to the others, but then again, just shows she's a method actor in her characters' nationalities & their accents!

Also, one thing I must add which I hated was the clear errors in the film which weren't even considered to be changed or re-done i.e mouths not matching the lyrics or positioning of someone/something or camera crew seen in shadows, unless it's the Phantom's secret entourage(!)

However, I must admit I like some of the costumes used in the film, *cough Christine's Think Of Me dress & nightgown, cough* & the details into creating them, but that still doesn't draw me away from the reasons why I hate this film & why it doesn't do any justice to the really amazing show which you can go & see in London or anywhere which you can then think 'Oh, thank God I never bought this film because this is much better than that load of crap!' Or just buy the 25th anniversary concert of the show on DVD because I went there & it puts this film to shame & thank Lord Lloyd Webber himself for realizing afterwards how rubbish this film really is!

Dreamgirls Review

I watched this on telly last night cos I was bored & there was nothing else on, so I figured I should review this considering it's technically a musical, even if it's a film.

Cast: Beyonce Knowles, Jennifer Hudson, Jamie Foxx, Eddie Murphy, Danny Glover, Anika Noni Rose

Rating: *****

This film is just pure magic & actually works as a film adaptation as the actors can sing in this, unlike some other musical films I've seen *cough, Phantom 2004 film, which I personally hate with a passion, cough* & Jennifer Hudson (in her film debut, I must add since I also watched her in the Sex and the City film) is definitely a major highlight, belting out those final notes meaningfully in 'And I'm Telling You I'm Not Going' & making me laugh with her portrayal as the plump diva Effie White, who ends up being fired due to her behaviour & missing rehearsals from the group The Dreamettes after being replaced by Deena Jones (Knowles) as the lead singer. She also proved she had better acting skills, after that rubbish Pink Panther film with Steve Martin & her song in Act 2 'Listen' written for the film, definitely showed Deena's empowerment over her manipulative husband, Curtis, a record dealer for Rainbow Records who's also the father of Effie's child Magic, who she has after she leaves Deena and the Dreams, also leaving her brother C.C after he accepts the change within the group. The song 'Listen' also gives us an opportunity to see what Beyonce is really capable of singing, emotionally & her vocal range, in my opinion.

Anika Noni Rose also gives a funny & sweet portrayal as Lorelle, who has an affair with James 'Thunder' Early. However, I think she's way underused & doesn't even have a solo, which I think she should have because she has a very pretty, yet strong voice.Also, I thought Eddie Murphy was a highlight for me with his comedy within the film, also showing his rather amazing singing skills which I didn't think he had within himself. One other point I must add is the costumes used are magnificent, especially the ones used in the Deena & the Dreams performances, with the set designs making me feel like I was watching a stage show instead of a film which really suited the image of the Dreamettes/Deena and the Dreams as glamorous & sophisticated, just like the film overall. 

Top 10 favourite Cosettes!

Since I don't have any Cosettes I personally or openly hate, I'm just going to reveal my favourite ones because all of the ones I've heard aren't that bad, despite the fact I don't like the character because she's just an ingénue & a boyfriend stealer who Eponine clearly deserves in contrast to her.

1) Original London Cosette & Christine in the Toronto production of Phantom, Rebecca Caine. Her voice is so pretty & suiting for the role & still sounded as beautiful as ever at the 25th anniversary concert (and I prefer her to Sarah Brightman in Phantom which is an added bonus!).

2) 25th anniversary concert & tour & previous London Cosette Katie Hall. Her voice is so beautiful & gives Cosette a sweetness & innocence & pureness within her personality, as well as showing a yearning & needing to know about her life as a child with the Thenardiers & about her mother in In My Life. 

3) Original Broadway & 10th Anniversary Cosette Judy Kuhn. Her voice is clearly trained to play the young Cosette & is a very pretty one for the role, & made her sound so happy during A Heart Full Of Love, even if you were meant to feel sorry for Eponine (also, I love her because she was Pocahontas' singing voice & found it very coincidental that Lea Salonga, AKA Jasmine & Mulan's singing voices, was singing with her in the 10th Anniversary Concert!).

4) Recent London Cosette (whose just left! ): ), Lisa Anne-Wood. Her voice sounds really angelic to me & to be honest, when I first heard her, I thought it was Katie Hall & the wrong name was used! I could tell from her first performance that she's definitely improved to become one of my all-time favourite Cosettes overall & in London. Also, her pretty face also shows Cosette's sweetness & innocence with her voice.

5)Previous London Cosette & How Do You Solve A Problem Like Maria contestant Leanne Dobinson. I just think her voice sounds pretty & I think her child-like looks also show Cosette's innocence & show her yearning to know about her past.

6) Spanish dubbing actress for Christine in the Phantom 2004 film & previous London Cosette Julia Möller. I couldn't find any videos of her as Cosette where she sang, but I found her singing as Christine in the Spanish dub of Phantom & I could tell she had qualities of a youthful & sweet Cosette & her face when she looks at Marius when they first meet said it all about her love for him from the video I saw. 

7) Current Cosette & Fantine understudy AJ Callaghan. I saw her as Cosette in London & I thought she was so much better than principal actress Lucie Jones at the time (I listened to & watched videos of her singing in it in preparation for knowing how the cast at the time sounded) because I thought her voice sounded more trained & experienced as Cosette & showed off her personality more. Just so you know, I had to printscreen a pic of AJ in a performance on YouTube & crop it so it was a photo because I couldn't find a single photo of her as Cosette on-line.

8) Former London understudy Cosette & former Christine alternate in Phantom, Tabitha Webb. I saw her as Christine in London & I adored her & when I found audio of her as Cosette in Les Mis, that just made me love her even more, with her sweet & innocent voice creating both a sweet & innocent Cosette & a sweet & innocent Christine! Just so you know, I couldn't find any photos of Tabitha as Cosette or any videos which I could printscreen so I found it relevant to use an image of one of her more well known characters who is very similar to Cosette in personality.

9) 21st Anniversary London Cosette & previously Christine in Phantom in London & current Glinda in Wicked in London, Gina Beck. I just think her voice is so pretty & shows a strong-mindedness within Cosette which I haven't seen in any other actress who has played her before, especially during In My Life & A Heart Full Of Love, with her young face showing her youthfulness yet her maturity at the same time during Every Day & the Epilogue.

10) Cosette understudy Zoe Doano, because I think her voice shows she is worth so much more than an understudy &  in a in an unusual sense kind of reminds me of another Katie Hall, but with her own qualities which make Cosette her own character, especially when she sings In My Life.

Top 5 Best & Worst Christines!

Hi, since I found out about Sierra Boggess joining the Les Mis London cast (which I'm so excited about!!) I'm revealing my top 5 best & worst Christines in Phantom (which I'm a hardcore fan of!)
Top 5 Best Christines

1) Las Vegas Christine, 25th Anniversary Christine & original Love Never Dies Christine Sierra Boggess. She just blows me away & fits the whole package for the character:a beautiful voice which comes with a pretty face & has amazing acting skills. I just thought she was perfect at the concert at the Royal Albert Hall which I went to & she was definietly a highlight for me, especially her phenomenal redition of Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again which left me in tears, & I can't wait to see her in Les Mis as Fantine & I really, really, REALLY want to meet her!!!  I also got an autograph from her when she was in LND which I mailed & she gave me not just the picture, but 2 other signed photos which just shows how kind she is to her fans. I'll be showing all the autographs I've collected in my gallery page which will be coming very soon.

2) Phantom veteran & current Glinda in Wicked in London, Gina Beck. She just has a beautiful voice with an amazing quality to it & she just brings so much emotion into the character which I haven't seen in any other actresses who have played her. Also, I must say, she's one of the most prettiest Christines I've seen in comparison to some others (i.e. Ana Marina).

3) Current Christine in the UK Tour & Cosette in Les Mis, Katie Hall. I just think she has a sweetness which is  required for the role of a young singer like Christine, being only 17 when she got the part when she was an alternate in London previously. It's just shown how much she's matured to make Christine a beautiful strong woman, just like her through playing her. I also think her voice for some bizarre reason, has an angel-like quality within it, which makes Christine sound youthful, innocent & sweet, especially during Angel of Music & Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again.

4) Current Christine & Portuguese actress Sofia Escobar. Her voice is a pretty one, with her Portuguese accent sort of enhancing Christine & showing she's foreign (despite the fact she's supposed to be Swedish, not Portuguese) Vocally, she is definately a better Christine than some others & her pretty looks also show her sweetness within her character.

5)Original London alternate Christine & original Ellen in Miss Saigon, Claire Moore. Her voice had a beautifully angel-like quality which made her be worth so much more than an alternate & unlike the original principal, Sarah Brightman, she could actually sing & her acting was so amazing & personally, I think the casting should have been the other way around, since she was actually a classically trained singer & bless her when she had to quickly fill in for Christine in the previews & wear Sarah Brightman's tiny costumes





Top 5 Worst Christines (with 1 being the person I least hate & 5 being who I most hate)

1) Christine in the 2004 film, Emmy Rossum. Her voice just doesn't suit the role (she's a mezzo-soprano & Christine's a soprano) & she doesn't have power in the voice that theatrical Christines have. With all due respect, she was only 16 which is why she's the Christine I least hate & her performance wasn't that bad in that I wanted to strangle myself while wacthing the her, it was just the style of the film & low quality singing which affected her in it.

2) Sandra Joseph, who played Christine for 10 years on Broadway & US tour. Her voice just wants me to hang myself & it doesn't suit Christine at all, in fact I think she sounded like a cat screeching when it got trapped in a cat door during the cadenza of  Think Of Me & her performance I watched on YouTube didn't do any justice with her singing & acting skills.

3) Christine alternate Marni Raab. She just rushes through the songs & therefore lacks emotion while she sings, it's almost as if she wanted to get the performance over & done with & she's not exactly the prettiest or most youthful Christine I've seen.

4) Australian Christine Ana Marina. To me, she's just awful because: she looks too old to be Christine, she's one of the shortest Christines I've ever seen (either that or the Phantoms in Australia are really tall!). Also, her voice just sounds way too shrilly & mature for an innocent & youthful role & to be honest, I don't like her portrayal at all.

5) Original London & Broadway Christine & 'opera' singer Sarah Brightman. I hate her for a number of reasons: she only got the part because she was married to the composer of the show Andrew Lloyd Webber, her portrayal was annoying & her voice wasn't operatic & sounded horrible & her stare just scared the hell out of me. To me, she's the antithesis of what Christine should be & she didn't have any power at all & her appearance at the 25th anniversary concert didn't benefit anything either, considering she was clearly lip-synching (trust me, I was there, with my seat close to the stage & she was not singing at all). Also, I couldn't believe she ended up playing Christine on Broadway, considering she wasn't even famous in America  also, randomly, her wig just looked like a horrible perm & the curls in the wig at the moment are much better than that rat/dog of a wig.