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Les Misérables
Les Misérables
1980 | Drama, Musical
9
8.6 (5 Ratings)
Show Rating
Hugely enjoyable
In March 2019 I went to see Les Miserables at the Palace Theatre in Manchester. Unlike most people I know, I've never seen Les Mis on stage before and wasn't a particularly big fan of the film either, however I have to admit that after seeing it last night, I think I'm now a convert.

The stage production values, the sets and the costumes were very impressive. They managed to seamlessly coordinate a large screen with huge physical sets and the transition between the scenes was impressively smooth. The cast too were brilliant. There was nobody I recognised but they all had fantastic voices and put on a great performance.

My issue with the film was that is was overly long and drawn out and just didn't appeal, but the same can't be said for the show. Ths version was on for 3 hours plus a 15 min interval, which for me was just long enough. There's something about the music in this that makes it very rousing and entertaining and I wasn't bored, not even for a minute. It's a highly entertaining and almost emotional show, and would definitely recommend seeing it if you like musicals. It doesn't tour very often either so catch it while you can!
  
12 Angry Men (1957)
12 Angry Men (1957)
1957 | Classics, Drama

"My first one is 12 Angry Men. I remember I watched it at school, I think I saw it at fourteen for the first time. And when you’re that age, you kind of want to watch big blockbuster movies and all that kind of stuff. And I just couldn’t get over the fact — basically it doesn’t leave the room for the whole movie. And it’s just these guys sitting around discussing this crime, and whether or not they’re going to find the guy guilty or not. I just found it so engaging and stuff. You know the cast and stuff was just incredible with Henry Fonda and Lee J. Cobb, and all these incredible actors. I just thought it was mind blowing, you know? I think it was based on a radio play — I don’t know. And then I figured it was a theatrical play, and then they made a movie. That’s the other thing, I was also just beginning to start to want to be an actor. Or join the theatre group in my hometown. It all sort of happened at the same time, and I was beginning to understand it a little bit more about how they’re engaging, and how you can hold people’s attention for that long just by the performance itself."

Source
  
Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope (1977)
Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope (1977)
1977 | Fantasy, Sci-Fi

"Probably everybody has that on their list. [Star Wars] came out and I just finished my sophomore year at CalArts. The May of ’77, saw it opening weekend at the Chinese Theatre. It worked in so many ways, but one of the things personally [that] was so inspiring [was] how it entertained an audience to a new level. I was there with a packed audience. I waited six hours. Towards the climax, when Luke is in the X-Wing and he’s going down the trench, I was just shaking I was so excited. And I’d never seen an audience so excited. First of all, it was everybody, from kids to adults, teenagers. Everybody was going crazy for this film. The quality of the storytelling, where it’s one foot in sort of the past and one foot in the future, I was so impressed by that. I came out and said, “That’s what I want to do with animation.” Many of my friends left animation [because of Star Wars] and went to actual special effects. At that time, animation was thought of just for kids. I saw this and said, “No, no, I want to entertain audiences.” That’s all I think about when I make my movies."

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192 of 230
Book
The Secrets of Primrose Square (book 1)
By Claudia Carroll
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

It's late at night and the rain is pouring down on the Dublin city streets. A mother is grieving for her dead child. She stands silently outside the home of the teenage boy she believes responsible. She watches . . .

In a kitchen on the same square, a girl waits anxiously for her mum to come home. She knows exactly where she is, but she knows she cannot reach her.

A few doors down, and a widow sits alone in her room. She has just delivered a bombshell to her family during dinner and her life is about to change forever.

And an aspiring theatre director has just moved in to a flat across the street. Her landlord is absent, but there are already things about him that don't quite add up . . .

Welcome to Primrose Square.

What a genuinely lovely book to read. It was so heartfelt and touching. It showed the struggles of grief and the amazing friendships that come from it. There’s nothing worse than losing a child and this book showed the struggle of dealing with it. I think we all need a Primrose Square in our lives.
  
Classic FM Presents... by Alfie Boe
Classic FM Presents... by Alfie Boe
2006 | Classical
(0 Ratings)
Album Favorite

"Last year I arrived in San Diego at the beginning of a tour, where I was playing the Thick As A Brick material. I ambled down to the theatre in the morning having arrived the night before, where the theatre manager said there was a note for me in my dressing room, left behind by Alfie Boe who they’d had a couple of nights before. I recognised Alfie Boe as a hotshot, super popular opera star who played at the Queen’s Jubilee Concert in Hyde Park. They crop up from time to time, these people who cross over from a more insulated music into wider popular culture, and Alfie Boe has certainly done that in the last couple of years with opera music. You might think he’s just another of the usual not-quite-authentic people who just find themselves singing the odd aria at working men’s clubs, and getting a record deal and a ton of money. But Alfie did his apprenticeship by studying at the Royal Academy of Music, worked with the D’Oyly Carte Opera and spent ten years of his life learning his craft. And he was a man born with enormous natural talent. Rather like Lou Gramm he has this very assured level of control – he knows what he can do. I read his note to me, wishing me a good show and leaving me a phone number. So a few weeks later in England I called Alfie and we had a few chats on the phone, and though we haven’t met we were due on two occasions to have lunch, but he had to cancel because of his mother’s illness. But I hope I do get to meet Alfie because I think he’s a very fine singer. I understand that while his desire is not to leave classical music, he wants to demonstrate he’s got the cojones of a Tom Jones or a Robert Plant or whoever - he wants to be a rock and roll singer. Far be it for me to say that might be mistake, you’ve got to give it a go. So Alfie’s branching out into rather middle-of-the-road pop and rock at the moment. As a classical singer, I think he has the gravitas and vocal expertise, perhaps more vocal expertise, than Pavarotti at his relatively young best. If you listen to Alfie’s ‘Nessun Dorma’, I think you’ll hear something that is sung with enormous technical ability, control, authority and with the right amount of gravitas, it has a weight to it that I think is really great. I hope he doesn’t sell himself short in the realm of middle-of-the-road pop music."

Source
  
San Andreas (2015)
San Andreas (2015)
2015 | Action
A thrill ride of a good time!
Ok, normally I rip on these CGI puke fests with no apparent plot in sight, but this one was a lot of fun. You obviously can't take it seriously, but if you go along for the ride, I think you will enjoy it.



When a rescue worker and his estranged wife find each other amidst the great California earthquakes we all fear, their only goal is to find and rescue their daughter after already losing a child together.

I've sat through a lot of disaster films in my life and seem to have a soft spot for them I guess. Maybe because of the dooming sound in my home theatre or my 75" TV showing all the cool effects larger than life. Somehow The Rock always seems to find projects that suit his talents well. In the modern age of movie stars generally not being the box office draws they once were, he seems to have carved out a fine career for himself in doing these types of movies.

Liked it quite a bit more than I thought I would.

One thing about the movies that makes me the happiest is being pleasantly surprised since it doesn't happen much any more.

Highly recommended.

  
Parachute - Single by Jaclyn Manfredi
Parachute - Single by Jaclyn Manfredi
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Album Rating
Jaclyn Manfredi is a singer-songwriter from Long Island, New York. Not too long ago, she released a grungy contemporary R&B tune, entitled, “Parachute”.

“We’re five thousand feet in the air. But it feels like you couldn’t care. I can see right through your blank stare. And I know it’s time for me to prepare.” – lyrics

‘Parachute’ tells an interesting tale of a young woman who feels cold whenever she’s by her significant other’s side.

Every day, thoughts about their relationship being a mistake filter into her mind, and her frustration about her partner’s missteps has multiply sky high.

Later, she admits that they’re running out of time, and the air in their relationship is running thin.

‘Parachute’ contains a relatable storyline, ear-comforting vocals, and groovy instrumentation flavored with retro-soul, R&B, and funk elements.

“‘Parachute’ is a song about a toxic relationship that you can’t wait to get out of and the feeling of having a weight lifted off your shoulders.” – Jaclyn Manfredi

At the age of seventeen, Jaclyn Manfredi performed at the acclaimed Apollo Theatre and Carnegie Hall in New York City. Shortly afterward, she won the IMTA national singing talent competition in 2017.

Her musical influences include Amy Winehouse, Alicia Keys, and the contemporary funk of Bruno Mars.

https://www.bongminesentertainment.com/jaclyn-manfredi-parachute/
  
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Sarah (7800 KP) created a post

Oct 24, 2019  
Last night I went to watch The Exorcist at the Opera House in Manchester. I've never been a huge fan of The Exorcist film, I think it's a tad overrated but I was intrigued to see how they'd bring a story like this to life on the stage. And they've put together a well produced and atmospheric show. The set design is brilliant and the effects are spot on, producing a chilly and at times scary show, which isn't something you'd usually expect in such a big theatre and a large audience. The show is that well produced that it's a shame it's rather let down by the acting. A lot of the acting seemed very over the top and exaggerated, and some was just plain poor. Which is a shame as there was a standout performance from Tristram Wymark as Burke who was downright hilarious and a welcome relief to the scarier aspects of the show. Also having Ian McKellen voice the demon is a work of genius. Hearing such a seasoned actor voice a horrible character is brilliant and the young girl miming him is impressively good, even if she does seem to overact at times.

Overall definitely worth seeing for the production if nothing else, and I would've marked a little higher had it not been for some of the acting! 7.5/10
     
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Andy K (10823 KP) Oct 24, 2019

Sounds so great Sarah! Wish I could see it like that!

The Exorcist
The Exorcist
2012 | Play
7
8.7 (3 Ratings)
Show Rating
Brilliant set design
I went to watch The Exorcist at the Opera House in Manchester in October 2019. I've never been a huge fan of The Exorcist film, I think it's a tad overrated but I was intrigued to see how they'd bring a story like this to life on the stage. And they've put together a well produced and atmospheric show. The set design is brilliant and the effects are spot on, producing a chilly and at times scary show, which isn't something you'd usually expect in such a big theatre and a large audience. The show is that well produced that it's a shame it's rather let down by the acting. A lot of the acting seemed very over the top and exaggerated, and some was just plain poor. Which is a shame as there was a standout performance from Tristram Wymark as Burke who was downright hilarious and a welcome relief to the scarier aspects of the show. Also having Ian McKellen voice the demon is a work of genius. Hearing such a seasoned actor voice a horrible character is brilliant and the young girl miming him is impressively good, even if she does seem to overact at times.

Overall definitely worth seeing for the production if nothing else, and I would've marked a little higher had it not been for some of the acting!
  
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Merissa (12934 KP) rated Second Wind in Books

Nov 4, 2022  
Second Wind
Second Wind
A.L. Lester | 2022 | Contemporary, LGBTQ+, Romance
10
10.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
SECOND WIND is a standalone novella set in Llanbaruc, with some of the crew of Theatre Fawr too. Gethin (I love that name) is a bi-divorcee, being pushed into being social by his older sister. Martin is trans with a daughter. They meet at orchestra practice and follow on from there.

This is a novella and, as such, I don't usually give them 5-stars. This one, though, I have no choice BUT to do so. It has so much to it, you get the full story. Yes, it could be fleshed out in parts but if there's no need, why do it?

I loved how Martin and Gethin communicated from the start, their relationship built on openness and trust. You see it grow and change as things happen between them.

Fading to black doesn't take away any of the intensity between these two. And I loved how Luke showed up (from another standalone in the same world). I am loving this world and am always drawn in by A.L. Lester's writing style.

Absolutely loved it and highly recommend it. And grab Out of Focus too, while you're at it!

* A copy of this book was provided to me with no requirements for a review. I voluntarily read this book, and the comments here are my honest opinion. *

Merissa
Archaeolibrarian - I Dig Good Books!