JustBall.Net Blog

Today we had sun. It was a glorious day and we found ourselves standing in the shades at the Criterion Theatre stage door, which is very conveniently placed in a sort of arcade. We stood there waiting for an hour. We should have enjoyed the precious rays of sunshine, but there you go.

He arrived at about 1pm and looked exquisitely yummy (see pictures). He said hi to everyone and that he had no idea, where he was going and unisono we all replied “there!” and pointed to the stage door. We must have looked like a mini musical number. Also we were a bit concerned like we were sending him away in hindsight. When he went in we went round the building and started the decline towards the stalls of the theatre as it’s underground. The auditorium itself was incredibly beautiful and it is a boutique theatre if ever there was one. Just small and pretty.

The stage was prepared with two chairs, a small table and some water. Quite a number of people had shown. Michael and his host came on stage to great applause, took a seat and it was he himself who poured in the water for both of them.

His interviewer was Mark Lawson from BBC Radio 4. He said how Imelda had been on this stage ten days ago and said how she had been very complimentary about Michael and what he had to say about her. “Of all the leading ladies I worked with, she is definitely one of them!” came the giggled reply. On a more serious note he said how funny she was, how dedicated, hard-working and how she pushed him as an actor. It was evident that there is a great mutual respect between these two and apparently a deep understanding, also the same humour.

They then talked about Sweeney being very much Michael’s project to which he agreed and said that he otherwise would never have been cast. He knows the business and he knows that he had made choices in his career that have not appealed to the high brow ranks in the business. He did things that were too commercial for these people, but he believes in commercial theatre and he just knew that nobody would have thought that he was born to play Sweeney, but he said that he believes he was (and we agreed whole heartedly).

Later on in the Question and Answer section the possible Broadway transfer for Sweeney came up and he confirmed that it was something that is being looked into, but basically depends on whether they can make it work financially and also he would want the entire ensemble to go, which might proof tricky with American Equity, but there is a way around this problem. Getting the amount of money required for this kind of production over there is not easy. He asked whether anyone of us would get out the check book out now. Sadly no secret millionaires in the audience. He said that they just about made the West End production work. So fingers crossed for them to get the necessary funding. He stressed again though that it would be a limited run, if it happened.

He was then asked to describe his average day. Obviously it’s training for the Marathon he joked, but no, he has no opportunity to do much else apart from Sweeney. He gets up, reads three papers, listens to the news, walks the dogs, has a nap at noon, watches some telly, on Thursdays he has massages and his Sundays are off. He said that he needed 24 hours of doing nothing, which is why he is not doing the radio show at the moment, but he loves it and hopes he will return to it in January! Of course this depends on whatever else is happening in his life then. He has said that he wants to record an album, then tour in late spring, early summer and he has a new project, which he is excited about. A show he wants to bring to the West End and is just busy acquiring the rights for the show. Naturally he could not and would not say what it was. Even though Mr. Lawson very cleverly kept asking for clues until Michael desperately begged him at asking questions, because he is so bad at keeping secrets (as we know from previous interviews). So it looks like he will be busy, but he said it might not come to fruition after all. You never know with these things.

It was very interesting to hear that he had had problems with his voice during the rehearsal period in Chichester and that a cold went around in the cast did not help obviously. The rehearsals for Epiphany were quite tough. He had to find the physicality of the piece and shouted a lot, then he had to change the register, but still had the big high notes. So it was very demanding and when the show started he had no time to recover. So this had been a real problem and he was desperate not to miss out on any shows during the Chichester run and we know he did not in the end, but it was a close call. He said that he had feared these problems would return with the West End transfer, but now that it was there everything was in place, he was experiencing no problems and he feels he never sung it better (too true!).

Mr. Lawson asked it Opera singers are too precious about their voice. “Absolutely!” came the instant reply. Michael explained how Opera singers when they faced doing a musical freaked completely at the prospect of doing 8 shows a week, whereas for a musical singer doing opera like he had done with Kismet and Patience is no problem whatsoever, because you keep having three to four days a week off. And he actually said, he thought he would love it, but the downside was, that after all this free time, every performance felt like opening night all over again. He said actually it’s the same for him and Sweeney on Mondays, which we thought was quite amazing, but could relate to.

Naturally Kismet came up and we all had such a laugh, but the audience and interviewer agreed that it was not too bad. The music was beautiful and Michael agreed that some good has come of it. He got really close with Alfie Boe. By god the rehearsal period for Kismet must have been adventurous to say the least.

Talk came from Kismet to Patience to Woman in White and he told us about an accident he had with his co-starring rat Beatrice, which ended in her losing a bit of her tail, which he seems to regret until this very day.

He also discussed the old Sondheim versus Webber debate and naturally praised them both. Actually he said they had both written good and not so good stuff. You could not really compare them. They also have a completely different approach to their work and that they are both perfectionists, which he loves, because it’s important and because they are quick with praise as well as criticism. Also he found that Hal Prince has added to both their greatest works (Sweeny and Phantom). Mr. Lawson was quite impressed with Mr. Sondheim coming to see Sweeney four times already. They quickly talked about Sweeney almost being a flop when it first opened in London. And Michael said, the Drury Lane Theatre would have been too big for the show and the Adelphi was pushing it, but it just about works.

There were some really interesting questions from the audience (not the usual “What is your favourite song / musical / etc. ). First questions was: Why Pirelli was looking like the “Go-Compare” man (that is a TV commercial character in the UK, who really looks remarkably like Pirelli). And he said that the designer simply did not know anything about this TV spot, but when the costume was revealed they all went “Oh, the Go-Compare-Man”, but the looks matches the character.

Someone else wanted to know whether back in Manchester, when he had been Frederick in “Pirates of Pencanze” could he have imagined being a star 25 years later. “Oh Yes!” He did have a laugh. He said he earned 90 pounds a week, “How times have changed”, but on a more serious note, that job had taught him so much about working in a company, about the right work ethic, about the star system and about him wanting to work in Musical Theatre. Mr. Lawson had asked whether he had been offered speech roles and he said, yes he had, but he did not think it would give him the same joy as singing.

Another question was if he wanted to direct at one point. Another big yes. He feels he is at a place now where he can give direction and there are talks about doing something in Chichester at one point.

He was also asked about career longevity. He said it was important that you show professionalism and are able to take direction and work good in a company. Should you happen to lead the company it was important to lead by example and also know, when to have fun and when to be serious. He sees the problem that young actors think, getting the job, is the job and they forget what a massive commitment a musical is and he said there had been occasions, where he had to take youngsters to the side and explain to them that their work ethic (or lack thereof) might eventually lead to them never getting another job, because the industry is so small and if you failed to show up on time or show up at all, people will talk and producers will hear of it. So professionalism was his number one advice, if you want to take on a career in the business.

Talking about the various TV shows casting people he said he does not mind them as an auditioning tool and watches them all, but it is important that the winners are cared for, because there is a lot of pressure in it and that they need to be up for the job and be able to do eight shows a week. Also he then wants to see high quality shows and no cheap touring versions.

Another question was how they kept the tension up, when they were in a long run. He said that it was important to keep it up and that you could do it by always ever so slightly modifying your performance which then leads to the others on stage responding to that and so it keeps it fresh. It was great to hear him say that. He mentioned Imelda’s performance in “Wait” and we found that so intriguing, because this is just what we had witnessed the whole week. Subtle changes. Sometimes only a small movement of the head or holding each others’ gaze a second longer. They do change the entire feel of the scene. Really intriguing.

We should make clear that this is by no means a complete report, these are merely the things we jotted down or remembered at almost 2 o’clock in the morning, but at least we hope it gives you an impression of the event. The whole thing lasted an hour and it was such a joy to hear all the stories. We are positive that you could listen a whole day without being bored. We are so happy to have been part of this. What an absolute joy. We then had time to get back to the hotel and get changed for the night. We met our friends again at the stage door and you will find that there are only three photos online. Well this is due to the fact that when Michael came to the stage door, he said he was bursting for a …… and had to get inside quickly and in he was. (aka: he needed to go to the powder room).

The show itself was well what Sweeney always is: Stunning, fantastic,fabulous…. ‘insert praise here’, but what impressed us most was seeing it evolve from performance to performance. Today there was so much going on between these two that we could hardly wait for the next scene to see whether there’d be a new nuance and there always was. The audience loved it (among them John Barrowman and partner). A full standing ovation and a double curtain call once again. It’s unreal how fast the time flies, when you are in the Adelphi. One moment you are taking your seats and the next you are standing up for the curtain call. WE know for a fact that the wait to see it again on Michael’s birthday will be far too long and we cannot believe our May trip is almost over as we have to leave tomorrow afternoon. So one stage door to say goodbye and a few more hours in glorious London and then 7 weeks of withdraw.

We were stuck inside a cafe due to an unexpected and prolonged downpour and came to the stage door a bit too late. So sorry, no pics – but there wouldn’t have been any even if we had been on time – no weather to get a camera out.

The performance was amazing though. We have to say that Epiphany is still deliciously scary even after what - 15 times? Something like that, we need to count properly. He really IS demonic up there! Wonderfully appreciative audience. Much more so than on Wednesday evening. Two curtain calls and a solid standing ovation - that’s how we like out theatre evenings.

Afterwards we overheard Robert Burt (Pirelli) tell someone that he has a slight neck problem after his fight with Michael. This would have sounded really odd to someone who doesn’t know the production (Sweeney and Pirelli engage in a fistfight before Pirelli meets his untimely end…)!

We took two photos when he was coming out afterwards. Really don’t like flashing at him but we wanted you to get a glimpse of what he looked like at least to make up for missing out on the going in stage door.

Tomorrow is “Lunchtime with” and we are quite excited. These things usually happen when we cannot get to the UK, so we are in luck this time and naturally will try and report back with all the info.

WE got back to London on Tuesday and saw our first Sweeney after the opening night from the last row oft he Upper Circle (by choice!). since Chitty we have had the habit to see a show from different perspectives as you tend to find new bits and pieces here and there, depending on where you’re sitting. The view was very good actually and the sound up there is immaculate. We were quite impressed. There was a large group of school children, well teenagers, but young teenagers, sitting in front of us and they were incredibly well behaved and really into the show. We do hope however that the teachers will discuss the very challenging scenes at a later date (after all there’s murder, rape and child abuse to cover). We admit to having wondered whether they should have put up a firm age limit, but then again the youngsters today are made from much sterner stuff than we were, when we were as young.

Even up there we noticed slight modifications in the routines. It is all settled nicely now and everyone seems ready to experiment with their character a bit. It’s great to see Mrs Lovett getting more and more tactile with the emotionally remote Mr. Todd and we are just so jealous. This lucky woman, well, not in the end obviously…. The crowd was very enthusiastic and even warranted a second round of bows from everyone.

Today, well yesterday now, well on Wednesday we experienced the polar opposite and were lucky enough to sit in the stalls. Completely different experience of course for the matinee at least, because for the evening show we were back in the Upper Circle (not by choice this time, but we really can recommend the first three rows of the Upper Circle, the view is excellent, you can still see the faces, just the leg room is a bit limited).

The show is still as wonderful as it was back in March. It got even better now and we did not think that possible. Epiphany tonight was out of this world. Terrifying and mesmerizing. How he managed this twice in one day is beyond us. We just felt in complete awe to witness such talent and we know we are very privileged to be able to see the show as often as we do.

What was funny about tonight’s performance, we were up in the goods, as we said, and this time surrounded by a class of much older school children (probably 16 – 17) from Austria. We were quite curious to see how they reacted to the show. And you could tell they were quite unsettled in the Judge’s self-flagellation scene. It’s always intriguing to witness in every audience so far that watching this always gets a more emotional reaction that watching gruesome killings. So the feeling of shame seems to override the shock of murder. Quite intriguing really, but anyways….
During the interval we heard the kids speaking and nearly all of them complained that they could not understand a word of the dialogues and that there was too little blood. So they thought it was boring. We almost wanted to search for the teacher and ask them how they could choose this musical without going through the lyrics and vocabulary first. Such a waste and shame. Sondheim is very wordy and loosing out on these brilliant lyrics is just a tragedy. Luckily they did not fidget and actually did applaud loudly in the end. So we hope the music won them over after a while.

Sorry to bore you with audience observations, but really, what can be said about the show that has not been said before? Imelda and Michael are just outstanding. And everyone else as well. It gets repetitive. No obvious glitches, just the bodies sliding down ever so slowly now and then, but they all vanished eventually.

The arrival stage door today was lovely. A small crowd, no rain, a very handsome Ball (see photos for proof). Between the shows we wandered around Piccadilly and Leicester Square and happened to be at the right spot, because, just when we crossed the street at Leicester Square none other than Mr. Johnny Depp was chauffeured past us and to the Empire Cinema, where he opened his new movie Dark Shadows. We have been around Leicester Square for several opening nights, but we never heard hysteria like that! As we saw him on the big screen outside the cinema we contemplated grabbing him and drag him with us to the Adelphi to have him watch Sweeney Todd done properly (just kidding).

And the celebrity spotting continued at the stage door. When Michael came out after the show he was with Alex Kingston. Quite a glamorous da, for an ordinary Wednesday.

It goes without saying that we had to hop over to the UK for Mr. Todd’s arrival in the West End (almost in Fleet Street, too, which is amazing).

On the tube ride into town we were greeted by several large ST posters. In the city centre we encountered many buses promoting the show. London is fun when Mr. Ball is in the West End! Well, naturally it’s also fun when he isn’t, but it’s much more fun when he is, if you get our drift. Bear with us it’s almost 2am.

Having arrived late at night on Friday our first outing on Saturday took us to the Adelphi. We admired the posters and went into the box office. There was a considerable queue of people wanting tickets and they were actually sending people away, because tonights show was sold out.

We’d goggled at the merchandise (t-shirts, mug, fridge magnet, programme, cd and colour brochure with the latter “not available” of course). WE overheard a German couple unsure whether they would enjoy the show and wondering what it was all about and of course we could fill them in and make sure they grab a ticket during their stay. We recommended the singing performances to which they replied “Of course, Michael Ball is in it", which is always nice.

We then talked to the box office guy about day seats and he confirmed what we had heard before. They would be the last two rows of the stalls, not the front row.

We decided on one of the many many cafes around the theatre to write our card for Michael and have a hot chocolate. After finishing our drinks, we thought we’d wander to the stage door and see if we could hand in our goody bag at the stage door. Two autograph hunters were already wating there. We marvelled at the confined space of Maiden Lane and were just contemplating how the huge crowd will block the street entirely, when Andrew came out of the theatre. We wanted to hand over our little bag, but he said, he’d be right back and wandered down the street. We thought maybe he’s gone shopping in Covent Garden, when a very posh black limousine pulled up opposite the stage door and out stepped none other than Mr. Michael Ball himself. He looked utterly to die for (pun intended ha ha).

In a blue jacket, light scarf and grey cap. we changed a few words and in he was, not even the autograph hunters had got in gear. It happened all so quickly (hence no photos, sorry). That left us with much time at our hands and we used it for a bit of retail therapy and sun bathing at Covent Garden. 16 degrees and sunny skies. Utterly amazing. We sat there in t-Shirts (at home it’s still freezing cold!).

Since press night is only on the 20th of March we will refrain from saying anything about the show itself. These are still public rehearsals after all, but that doesn’t mean it did not go very very well. For us the transfer really worked and gave the production a new dimension. Mr. Sondheim was inattendance and we so hoped the London audience would embrace the show as much as the Chichester one had done. And so they did. The atmosphere was fantastic. A massive applause for individual scenes. Cheers of delight and at the end of Act 1 the sound of the audience was amazing. Everyone was gushing in the interval. Happy faces all around. And richly deserved. Fantastic performances throughout.

We were sat in row C with many other fans and our entire row was on their feet at the end of the show, when the cast started their bows, but a quick look over our shoulders showed that it was not just us. The entire stalls were standing and once Imelda and Michael came on stage, the place erupted and the entire theatre gave them a well deserved standing ovation, stalls, dress circle and upper circle. Too see them all overwhelmed by the borderline-hysteric reception was a pure joy.

Stage Door afterwards was mayhem. It’s a very narrow lane with a night clup, several restaurants and bars. So there was our theatre crowd, which was huge, all the people from other places plus some very frustrated car drivers who were stuck and some very relaxed riksha drivers who thought the whole scene was hilarious. People were chanting and screeming and shouting for Michael. Lots of pushing and shoving. It was madness incarnated.

Michael and Imelda did the very sensible thing and waved the crowd from a window (see video clip and photos). He also tried to leave the theatre through the stage door. From what we were seeing he was giving autographs by the dozen and naturally the crowd went completely wild. After a frew near collisions with rickshas and cars by several passers-bys, he deemed the situation too chaotic (we think), waved and went back inside to leave via the front. A very sensible decision as people did not really mind the traffic at all. It was an accidant waiting to happen from where we were standing (we were on the other side of the road).

So this was it, our first Sweeney Todd in London. There will be many more and we can only urge you to grab a ticket, if you haven’t. He indeed is a revelation and we will be back in May, counting the days already and looking forward to many rave reviews on the 20th (fingers tightly crossed).

We have just taken our breakfast and were joined by the other two couples staying here and guess what? All three of us have been to the show yesterday and they all loved it! Amazing! We could rename it the Sweeney Todd Bed and Breakfast.

Okay, but now off to good old London, though we will miss Chichester and would not mind, if he’d come back to Chichester…. well he certainly will be, but do something in the theater again.