Category Archives: Dance

Review – The Most Incredible Thing, Pet Shop Boys and Javier de Frutos, Sadler’s Wells, 6th April 2012

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When Mrs Chrisparkle and I first heard that there was to be a new ballet, with music by the Pet Shop Boys and choreography by Javier de Frutos, we thought “winner!” Regrettably we weren’t able to see it on its first outing at Sadler’s Wells last year. But when I saw it was coming back for a second season, I jumped at the chance to book.

Although I knew the music was to be freshly composed by the PSBs, it did get us thinking about how great a new piece you could make by concocting a dance around some of their greatest hits, as in Christopher Bruce’s Rolling Stones inspired Rooster. You can just imagine it – London – Shopping – Rent – It’s A Sin – What Have I Done To Deserve This – Heart – It Couldn’t Happen Here. Make up your own dance story with any seven or eight PSB songs of your own choice. I would like to see that happen for real.

Anyway, I digress. That – or anything like it – was not the show on offer at Sadler’s Wells last week. Let’s start with the good points. The first – and very significant – good point is that the freshly composed music by the Pet Shop Boys is excellent. From the moment it starts, it engages you in very exciting and wide-ranging musical styles. There’s electronic, pop, classical – you can even hear borrowings from Elgar. It’s music that makes you smile; it’s music that makes you want to get up and dance. (Not recommended in the stalls.)

Secondly, it benefits from high production values. It’s a great set, including a splendid backdrop evoking houses and flats extending way into the distance, and it constantly creates new areas suggesting workplaces, the palace, the TV studio, and so on. The lighting is lively and appealing, and you can see everything properly; the sound is clear, at a perfect volume, and, for those elements performed live, played faultlessly.

Thirdly, the execution of the dance is terrific. I would hesitate to say there was a stand-out performance as the whole cast come across as a very well balanced ensemble – but perhaps Aaron Sillis’ dance skills are particularly strong in his role as the inventor Leo.

However, I have to bring this down to earth. I’m sorry to say that both Mrs C and I found it excruciatingly dull. I confess that I didn’t realise it was an adaptation of a Hans Christian Andersen tale until a couple of days after we’d seen it, and I now accept that it’s a reasonably good reworking of the tale for a modern era; but that doesn’t prevent it from being a very silly story. I’m guessing that the aim behind the creative team was to make something enchanting, something that would tap into one’s inner child, and something that would make the story’s moral (whatever it actually is) come alive with a warm glow and a feelgood outcome. It didn’t do it for us though.

The choreography is repetitive and fails to make the story clear. If it weren’t for the synopsis in the programme I don’t think I would have followed half of what was going on. Basically, the king offers the hand of his daughter to the person who invents the most incredible thing. Leo invents an amazing clock, which wins him the contest. But the clock gets destroyed by his evil rival Karl, and it is agreed that to destroy the most incredible thing is in itself “the most incredible thing”. In Andersen’s tale, the magical characters who populate the clock come back and kill Karl, which becomes in turn even more of an incredible thing, so Leo gets the Princess. I guess that might have been OK for the 1870s but today the story is shot through with holes. For example, destroying the most incredible thing is not an invention, and the programme says it would be an invention that would win the contest. The King is all-powerful – after all, he can offer his daughter’s hand willy-nilly to whoever wins the contest – but nevertheless Karl’s few henchmen – not that scary really – prevent him from taking the Princess away by means of a tiny tussle at the edge of the stage. How likely is that?

What ought to be highlights in the story are disappointing lows. The televised contest to judge the most incredible thing has an amusing trio of video judges, whose reactions actually take your eyes off the staging of the individual attempts to win. These attempts are staged, for some reason, as silhouettes behind a screen, which has the effect of stylising them and making them remote. I can’t imagine the TV audience and indeed the judges would be impressed with that as a show; and what I think could have been an opportunity for some lavish and comic choreography was lost.

However, the big dull point is the revelation of Leo’s clock. Each of the twelve hours is acted/danced out by the characters that make up the clock – Adam, Adam and Eve, Sun Moon and Stars, Four Seasons, Five Senses, and so on. There’s no real way out of this as this is at the heart of Andersen’s original tale. Boy does it go on, though. It was about this time that Mrs C gave up the will to stay awake. You know they’re Adam and Eve, incidentally, because they have the names “Adam” and “Eve” written on their undies. I would have thought fig-leaf costumes would have been more appropriate. If you don’t mind, I really don’t want to recollect the enactments of the remaining clock numbers as life is too short. At the end of this sequence a screen bombards us with about 300 names of writers, artists and the like – for no apparent reason – but which the programme says the creative team hope we will spend the interval discussing whether or not we agree with their list of them being incredible people. No. When your strength is sapped by a dull sequence of dances all about a clock, being bombarded with names is just a violent attack on the eyes of the poor audience. Discussing them is the last thing on your mind.

Ivan Putrov makes a good Karl, looking a little like a young Wayne Sleep, but I felt he was restricted by the uninspiring, robotic choreography he was given. Clemmie Sveass’ Princess looked great and gave us flashes of what could have been a much better ballet on the few occasions when she was allowed to do some proper dancing. There’s a nice (regrettably brief) early scene where she is dancing to pop music in her bedroom, and she also has a good scene with Leo where she convinces the King to allow him to compete for her hand. As Leo, Aaron Sillas spends nearly all the show looking like a needy geek rather than the “dreamer” that the programme would have you believe he is. His dancing is fantastic, but a performer of his versatility must feel so repressed having to wear that one facial expression – startled rabbit – throughout the production.

So what does this show tell us of the human condition? Absolutely nothing. It’s a bundle of very pretty packaging but with nothing inside. Actually, Mrs C found its saccharine sweetness thoroughly nauseating. To be fair, there was a reasonably amount of (the now statutory) whooping and cheering at the final curtain call – although the interval applause was desultory. So, as you can tell, we pretty much hated it. I have no doubt this will continue to have a life after this production – I predict the big names headlining the creative team will ensure it does good box office if it tours. If you see it, I really hope you enjoy it, like we have enjoyed other pieces by Mr de Frutos. We won’t be seeing it again.

Review – Moscow City Ballet, Swan Lake, Derngate, Northampton, 19th February 2012

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We all know the tradition of Russian ballet – you don’t have to be a fan to have heard of the Bolshoi, the Mariinsky, Nijinsky, Nureyev and so on. About eleven years ago, Mrs Chrisparkle and I found ourselves in St. Petersburg, as you do, and spent an evening watching a performance of Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake at the – if I remember correctly – Mikhailovsky Theatre. It was to be our first attendance at a genuine Russian Classical ballet performance. Boy, was it poor. The dancers were bored, danced boringly, the orchestra played boringly, and the whole evening was primarily set up so that Japanese tourists could take a constant stream of flash photography throughout. If it hadn’t been for the Russian champagne at the interval, we might well have thrown ourselves into the orchestra pit without a parachute.

So it was with some trepidation but still some hopefulness that we booked to see the Moscow City Ballet’s production of Swan Lake. For extra ballast, we took our nieces, Special Agent N (laid back and taking it all in her stride) and Special Agent S (slightly younger, still agog with excitement.) I’m delighted to say this is a whole different ball game; top notch dancing with commitment and elegance, fantastic attention to detail, stirringly skilful and, above all, simply beautiful to watch.

We’ve only once before seen a “traditional” performance of Swan Lake, and that was by Birmingham Royal Ballet some years ago, which I chiefly remember for the powerfully atmospheric way in which the swans appeared from a misty nowhere in Act Two. Apart from that, it’s just the Trocks’ famous Act One version (which is brilliant) and Matthew Bourne’s male swan version (also brilliant.) I think this is probably then the most faithful we have seen to the Petipa/Ivanov 1895 staging. And it’s no surprise that their choreography remains so popular – it’s just so enjoyable to watch.

Production values are appropriately high – the set, though simple, is attractive and evocative – especially the big stained window for Act Three. The costumes are superb – sufficiently lavish to look spectacular, but not so that they draw you away from the dancers themselves. Similarly the orchestra is nicely in control of its music – you’d find it a bit of a flat performance if it was a concert, but as a framework for the dance it was perfect.

At the performance we saw, Odette-Odile was played by Alevtina Lapshina. She was magnificent. A mysteriously beautiful Odette, outstanding whether fronting the corps, in pas de deux with the Prince or as a soloist. She is remarkably graceful and faultless in her fluidity. Even some rather irritating off-stage door-banging could not affect the beauty of her scene with the Prince, shortly before the dance of the little swans. As Odile, she adopts a half-coquette, half-harlot smile and there is no way any of the other brides were going to get a look-in with the Prince. Special Agent S was particularly amazed at her wonderful turning fouettés during the grand pas de six. It’s a stunning performance – and we loved the white and black costume she briefly wore, excellent detail from the costume department there.

The Prince was Kanat Nadyrbek. He too gave a very good performance, strong and graceful in support of Odette and suitably beguiled by Odile. His dance was superbly controlled and perfectly placed throughout. For me the role gets overshadowed if you have a really great Odette though. But Mr Nadyrbek was excellent nevertheless.

Possibly more entertaining to watch, however, was Daniil Orlov’s Von Rothbart, whose appearances were a constant joy. He seems to cover huge areas of stage with the lightest of leaps, and created a genuinely menacing figure. I hadn’t noticed before – maybe it is new? – his brief, simple appearance at the back of the stage in Act three where he dances across the stage in a mirror image of the Prince, blinded by Odile’s attractions, doing the same movements front stage, suggesting von Rothbart is mocking and controlling him. Very effective. I really enjoyed his performance.

The whole company are on top form, but I would also like to mention a couple of other performers; you either love the role or you hate it, but I thought Valeriy Kravtsov’s Jester was fantastic – dancing superbly, eyes and face full of expression, astonishing with his acrobatic split leaps, commenting wryly on the court activities through the medium of movement alone. Wonderful; he’s listed as a member of the corps de ballet in the programme, surely he must be promoted to soloist soon.

I also thought that, as one of the Polish brides, Anna Nunes really got into the spirit of the dance and was grace and elegance personified; another stunning performance.

Perhaps occasionally a couple of the male corps de ballet seemed slightly under-rehearsed in Act Three, and once or twice Mrs C felt the dancers in the Act One pas de trois were a little out of place; but, in all honesty, who cares, it was gorgeous throughout. Having seen those grumpy ballerinas in St Petersburg it was a true delight to see this company wearing their “happy to be dancing” smiles – when it was appropriate to do so. The acting and characterisation were as good as you could possibly have hoped them to be.

Special Agent S thought it was unfair that the male corps de ballet didn’t get a curtain call at the end. Just goes to show that life can sometimes be sexist, kid. We all loved it though – and it’s a real treat to welcome a dance company of this quality from Russia. If you’re a fan of classical ballet you will really enjoy this. Touring till the end of March, don’t miss it.

Review – Balletboyz, The Talent, Milton Keynes Theatre, 1st February 2012

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It was almost seven months ago that I booked tickets to see this, as we hadn’t caught the Balletboyz for a few yearz. I was always impressed by the way they took the media and used it to further their post-Royal Ballet careers and I am sure they have done a lot for widening the appeal of ballet and contemporary dance, which has to be worth a round of applause in itself.

But surely those Boyz are getting on a bit now? To be honest I’d be surprised if they couldn’t still dazzle like in the old days, and I hoped they would make even just a brief appearance but it seems they are Officially Retired from the stage. So whilst the stage of the Milton Keynes theatre was ablaze with Ballet Boys, they weren’t the Ballet Boyz, if you get my drift.

They have done some extensive recruiting which you can read about in the programme and at last night’s show presented eight young male dancers, performing their socks off and as close to the top of their game as you could reasonably expect. I bet Michael and Billy are terrific coaches and mentors.

The first dance is Russell Maliphant’s Torsion, which was always their top party piece. It’s now been extended to become a dance for six. When Da Boyz used to do it, it was a real duel; full of antagonism and aggressive confrontation; you felt that when they danced in unison it was full of resentment, and they needed to break apart and attain domination. It’s always been a real tour de force. This new staging has transformed it into a much less aggressive, more supportive piece; it has softer edges and you feel that the characters are actually helping and caring for each other rather than trying to get one up on each other.

The lighting was great – as it was for the entire evening. In the opening sequence, I really liked how each dancer was trapped in their own spotlight position, dancing anything from gracefully to frenziedly but with their feet still largely secured to the floor and certainly not breaking out of the light circle. The overwhelming sense I got from the piece was one of immense control. The dancers’ movements were so fluid and assured, it really was quite incredible to watch. It’s unnecessary to identify any one particular dancer’s excellence over another in such a uniform company, but I really must commend Leon Poulton’s remarkable ability to dance on his knees. I was wincing in referred pain as I watched, spellbound. When the whole dance had finished Mrs Chrisparkle and I turned to each other and exchanged mutual wows. I felt that they had really laid down the gauntlet of a standard of excellence for other contemporary dance companies to achieve.

Introducing the second item was a short video, in pure Balletboyz tradition. It showed the new company in audition, in rehearsal, and on the beach. And huddling semi-naked together. Apparently in jockstraps. I know sex sells, but I think when they throw those images in for no other relevant reason to the dance itself, they slightly cheapen their brand. Maybe because I was on “sex-alert” by this stage, I found the second piece, Alpha, choreographed by Paul Roberts, slightly uncomfortable to watch. As with the previous piece, it was danced with superb fluidity and strong grace, but I found the floaty costumes that deliberately evaporated away from chests and arms a little disconcerting. Mrs C, on the other hand, found it captivating. The backing music of slide guitar and voice by Keaton Henson summoned up a relaxed and lazy air which was sometimes at odds with the high energy dance work. It ends with some strong visual images and exciting acrobatic dancing, but I confess it was my least favourite of the night.

Leading into the third and final dance, Void by Jarek Cemerek, is another video which continues playing as the dance unfolds and transforms the back of the stage into a dismal urban landscape, perfect for the street events Void depicts. The endless rut of approaching car and departing bus gives a feeling of permanent despair and you guess that’s what the lives of these dancing hoodies would be like. A clever light effect on the dancers’ faces makes them look criss-crossed, like a mesh effect, suggestive of their being trapped in a cage. A superbly ominous backing track develops into a big fight scene between the dancers, as though West Side Story has just met the 21st century. The dance explodes into a cross between violent attack and circus style tumbling as the characters career and collide into each other, changing allegiances and heightening tension.

There’s a (relatively) simple but visually memorable sequence when six of them gather on the remaining one, isolated by light, which leads to an eloquent solo by (I think) Anthony Middleton. All throughout the dance the video wall remains a gloomy visual framework. Mrs C felt it was probably the best integration of video and dance she has ever seen, and I think she’s darn right. Another great light trick is played in the final sequence when the dancers are silhouetted against a bright background and a sudden snap of darkness causes a rapid conclusion to the dance. Really stunning stuff. Some of it put me in mind of Christopher Bruce at his best – I think Mr Cemerek may be a great choreographer of the future.

The programme notes discuss the decision to make this an all-male company. The Original-B-Boyz believe that the company’s work and identity was always male-dominated, and that whilst they did have female dancers too, most notably Oxana Panchenko, who I personally always really enjoyed in their appearances a few years ago, it probably gives them greater artistic freedom to be an all-male company, because, basically, they can chuck each other around as tough as they like. Whilst I’m sure this is true, for me, I did feel a slight sense of imbalance at this all-male world. But this is a mere quibble. Balletboyz – The Talent is a superb presentation of contemporary dance; strong, controlled, quirky, graceful, supportive and constantly surprising. They have raised the bar to a higher level of superlatives with this show. Or should that be the barre? Anyway, they’ve got an extensive tour lined up and I really think you ought to go see them.

Review – Strictly Come Dancing Live, NIA, Birmingham, 21st January 2012

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Mrs C and I are huge Strictly fans so it was with great delight that we unexpectedly received two surprise tickets for last Saturday’s matinee at the NIA in Birmingham. As you would expect, the place was completely packed. What strikes you when you enter the auditorium are both the expectant buzz and the extraordinary stage. The band and judges are at one end of the arena, surrounded by an extravagant light wall, and the whole central area is devoted to dance floor. Two large video screens help you see in close detail what your eyes can’t focus on, as well as being used to give amusing backstage insights.

The host is Kate Thornton, of whom I don’t know a lot, but she’s really good at the job, as well as looking thoroughly gorgeous. Friendly and reassuring when required, but also quick-witted at stabbing a telling remark or two along the way. Actually one thing I hadn’t expected was how generally funny the whole show is. Whether it’s Kate or the judges, the dancing or the backstage shots, there is a lot to laugh at in this show, much more so in fact than on the TV programme.

Len, Bruno and Craig are the three judges and each play up their own characters admirably throughout the entire show. Len continues to rewrite the language with his strange metaphors for enthusiasm; Bruno has his over-the-top reactions and his strange body language for enthusiasm, and Craig nicely wallows in his dour reflections that may or may not encompass enthusiasm. Both Bruno and Craig “lost it” at one stage and were helpless with laughter, which was an additional delight for the audience. Craig directs the show, and has included some judgely dancing in some of the big “entr’acte” numbers, some of which he couldn’t quite perform himself, which was a laugh.

Then of course there are the contestants and their professional partners. I was quite surprised how quiet the professionals were in the post-dance chats with Kate. Personally I get attached to the professionals just as much (if not more) than with the celebrities because you get to know them over the series, so I would have perhaps liked a little more chat from them. They do have to do a lot of dancing, mind.

The show starts with a big dance from the professionals alone and to be honest, I thought it was under-rehearsed as none of them seemed to finish together and on time. I was surprised at that. They were definitely better in their individual dances with their partners and in the subsequent group dances.

From the moment the couples are introduced there is absolutely no doubt who is going to win – Harry and Aliona. There’s something about Harry (I wonder what it might be that all those middle aged women see in him) that must appeal to about 98% of the audience, as far as the allocation of whooping and cheering is concerned. To support the underdog, I was determined not to vote for him, even if he was the best, as his victory was a forgone conclusion from the start.

Each couple dances twice. First on was Robbie Savage, partnered with Katya Virshilas. What did you make of Robbie in the TV series? I thought he was surprisingly good. Well, in the middle of the live arena, he was surprisingly awful! Yes he sells himself really well, and it’s thoroughly entertaining, but actually his dance skills are Really Not There. Katya herself, whilst talking to Kate, said that Robbie basically wasn’t very good – Kate had to remind her they were meant to be on the same side.

Second were Anita Dobson and Robin Windsor. They did their Charleston, and highly enjoyable it was. I didn’t really feel that the crowd got behind them that much, probably still suffering palpitations after the sight of Robbie’s chest. The judges were pretty impressed though. Amongst the professional dancers, I do think that Robin Windsor stands out as a really strong performer.

Third was another chest opportunity, Mark Foster with Natalie Lowe. He’s the only celebrity in the show not to have been in the most recent series, and was clearly at a disadvantage, but he performed reasonably well. Natalie’s a terrific dancer, isn’t she. She even threw in a wardrobe malfunction in her second dance for good measure, so that we almost saw both their chests.

Next was – I think – Nancy dell’Olio who is dancing here with Artem Chigvintsev. I know someone who has met Nancy dell’Olio, and he says she’s frankly bonkers. I saw no reason to doubt his word. Her performance is very funny – especially the second dance when she cheats and has both Artem and Robin to help her – but she rarely dances a step. I couldn’t tell how genuine or acted Artem’s rather sad and resigned look is when Nancy says they need to change the choreography – he just gently backs away into the darkness. Very funny stuff.

Then you have what you might call “The Big Three”. Jason Donovan with Kristina Rihanoff first; they did their Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go” number and then their Argentine Tango. Jason made a slight boo-boo on the first dance, which I confess I didn’t notice, but did a sensational tango and so I decided I would vote for them.

Next was Chelsee Healey with Pasha Kovalev, who must think he has fallen on his feet considering this was his first series. They danced just as well as they did on the TV and gave a terrific show. The judges were wowed.

But everything else was eclipsed by Harry Judd and Aliona Vilani. When you watched the last series at home, you might have felt that the popularity for Jason, Chelsee and Harry was more or less even-stevens, and that only a poor performance by one of them would have led to more votes for one of their opponents. Not a bit of it. If this audience is anything to go by, Harry must have received more votes than all the others put together. You could barely hear anything else in the arena above the cheers for him, and he and Aliona executed two perfect dances, getting a maximum 60 points from the judges. He is the only celebrity participant who really could be a professional dancer. If he wants to change his career away from drumming, I reckon every door is open.

They whittled it down to a final two of Harry and Chelsee but the eventual winner was never in doubt. In a sense, the weakest part of the show is that the competition element seems a little unnecessary. The series has already taken place, and the winners and runners-up have been decided. If there had been more competitors from previous series, against whom you couldn’t so easily assess this series’ celebs (imagine if Zoe Ball and Mark Ramprakash had been part of the line-up, for example) the competition would have been more interesting. Nevertheless, it’s churlish to criticise it on those grounds. It’s a terrific lively show, colourful, spectacular, engaging and very funny too. I would certainly recommend it.

Review of the Year 2011 – The Second Annual Chrisparkle Awards

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Welcome to the Second Annual Chrisparkle Awards, celebrating the best in entertainment in Northampton and beyond! Every show that I saw in 2011 and that I blogged (actually only one show didn’t get blogged, more of which later) is eligible for one of these delightful – and virtual – awards.

So let’s get on with it, and start off with Best Dance Production.

As last year, I actually only saw three dance productions all year and they were all excellent. But the winner has to be one of our regular favourites, Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo (aka the Trocks) for their show at the Milton Keynes Theatre in March 2011. I’m awarding joint 2nd place to the other two productions, Rambert’s Awakening tour at the Derngate, Northampton in March and Richard Alston’s current tour at the Derngate in October.

Classical Music Concert of the Year.

We saw five concerts and they were all very enjoyable.
In 3rd place, it’s the BBC Prom we saw in July featuring the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra and Chorus playing Prokofiev’s Alexander Nevsky and with soloist Midori doing the Walton Violin Concerto;
In 2nd place it’s the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra at the Derngate with their programme of English Classics and soloist Julian Lloyd Webber in November; but just pipping it
In 1st place it’s the RPO again at the Derngate in May with their Grand Tchaikovsky Gala, and the spectacular solo by Alessandro Taverna of Tchaikovsky’s first piano concerto.

Best Entertainment Show of the Year.

An odd category this; it includes all the non-categorisable productions one sees over the year, including pantos, revues, circuses and so on. And it proved tricky to make a decision, but a decision has been made nonetheless.
In 3rd place, the adult-only Flathampton night at the Derngate in July;
In 2nd place, Theatre MAD’s late night charity show West End Eurovision at London’s Piccadilly Theatre in April; and
In 1st place, the wonderfully varied and superb Burlesque Show at the Royal, Northampton in July.

Regrettably, here comes the first turkey of the year – I am compelled to award a Worst Entertainment Show of the Year; which sadly has to go to the Chinese State Circus show at the Derngate last January, which was so boring and basically pathetic that I couldn’t be motivated to write about it.

Best Star Standup.

A new category for this year. This is to consider the best stand-up comic on a big stage, not the comics who have appeared at the Screaming Blue Murder club (see below). All four of the star comics we saw this year were new to us as live performers, so we saw them with no previous baggage. We thought one of them was a bit disappointing, but the rest were all excellent in their own way. So the top three is:

In 3rd place, Reginald D Hunter, Sometimes Even the Devil Tells the Truth, at the Derngate in November;
In 2nd place, Al Murray’s Barrel of Fun at the Derngate in October; and
In 1st place, Jason Byrne’s Cirque du Byrne at the Derngate in September.

Best Standup at the Screaming Blue Murder nights in Northampton.

I think we’ve seen over 40 comics this year at the Screaming Blue Murder shows. I’m not going to name and shame the few who were disappointing – they know who they are. This was very hard to whittle down to a top 5, and there are many terrific acts who are missing out on their Chrisparkle gong, but here goes:
In 5th place, the Raymond and Mr Timkins Revue (14th October);
In 4th place, Swindon’s own Tony Cowards (2nd September);
In 3rd place, Cornwall’s own Paul Kerensa (4th February);
In 2nd place, the superb comic creation Loretta Maine (13th May); and
In 1st place, the very hilarious Rob Heeney (1st April).

Best New Musical.

Last year we just had a best musical but this year it has been split into Best New Musical and Best Revival Musical. Only three contenders for each award, so here goes:
In 2nd place, Stephen Sondheim’s Roadshow at the Menier Chocolate Factory in August; and
In 1st place, Hamlet the Musical at the Royal in May. Hamlet won the award on the strength that by the interval I knew I just had to have the CD.

Best Revival Musical.

In 2nd place, and fully deserving of great congratulation, was the excellent revival of Avenue Q touring at the Derngate in July.
In 1st place, and fully deserving of even more congratulation, is Stephen Sondheim’s Company at the Sheffield Crucible in December.

No need for a worst musical nomination.

Best New Play/Comedy of the Year.

Again this has been split into new play and revival categories. We saw six “new” plays this year and they were all very rewarding in their own ways, but the top three is fairly easy to agree on.
In 3rd place, Clybourne Park at Wyndham’s Theatre in London in April;
In 2nd place, Diary of a Nobody at the Royal, Northampton, in March; and
In 1st place, One Man Two Guvnors on tour at the New Alexandra Theatre in Birmingham in October.
I also want to give a mention to the excellent Terrible Advice at the Menier which only just failed to get in the top three.

Best Revival of a Play or Comedy of the Year.

Eleven contenders on the shortlist for this award, so there are some great productions who have missed out on a mention.
In 3rd place, The Years Between at the Royal, Northampton in February;
In 2nd place, Hobson’s Choice at the Sheffield Crucible in June; and
In 1st place, Racing Demon at the Sheffield Crucible in February.

Turkey time: Worst play of the year.

Four plays really didn’t come up to scratch in my book: Oxford Playhouse’s Lady in the Van was generally tedious; Warwick Arts Centre’s Government Inspector generally irritating; the Derngate’s Yes Prime Minister generally offensive; but worst of all was Smash at the Menier. How I hated that play.

Best performance by an Actress in a Musical.

For a long time through the year there was only one real contender for this award, but then along came another production and pipped her to the post!
In 3rd place, Samantha Spiro for Company at the Sheffield Crucible;
In 2nd place, Jess Robinson for Hamlet the Musical at the Royal, Northampton; and
In 1st place, Francesca Annis for Company at the Sheffield Crucible.

Best performance by an Actor in a Musical.

The same applies; two excellent performances earlier in the year trounced at Christmas!
In 3rd place, Jack Shalloo for Hamlet the Musical at the Royal, Northampton;
In 2nd place, James Fox for Chess at the Milton Keynes Theatre in January; and
In 1st place, Daniel Evans for Company at the Sheffield Crucible.

Best performance by an Actress in a Play.

Lots of fantastic performances this year but these are the lucky three:
In 3rd place, Marianne Oldham for The Years Between at the Royal, Northampton;
In 2nd place, Zoe Waites for Hobson’s Choice at the Sheffield Crucible; and
In 1st place, Gina McKee for the Donmar’s King Lear at the Milton Keynes Theatre in January.

Best performance by an Actor in a Play.

Again many great performances pass without a mention, but the top three are:
In 3rd place Malcolm Sinclair for Racing Demon at the Sheffield Crucible (and also Rattigan’s Nijinsky at Chichester in August);
In 2nd place, James Corden for One Man Two Guvnors at the New Alexandra in Birmingham; and
In 1st place, Derek Jacobi for King Lear at the Milton Keynes Theatre. Daft really – how can you compare James Corden and Derek Jacobi? I’ve gone with Mr Jacobi’s fresh and insightful reading as opposed to Mr Corden’s onstage fireworks. I also want to give a mention to the excellent Jamie Parker for Racing Demon too.

Best Ensemble Performance by the Company.

This is for where a company works seamlessly together, something I always really admire in a performance!
In 3rd place, Diary of a Nobody at the Royal, Northampton;
In 2nd place, Propeller’s Henry V on tour at the Milton Keynes Theatre in December; and
In 1st place, Hamlet the Musical at the Royal, Northampton.

Favourite theatre of the year.

Very torn. Last year I had no question about awarding the Chrisparkle to the Royal, Northampton. But this year I feel it should go to the Sheffield Crucible for consistency of excellence.

It’s been a great year of theatregoing, thank you for your interest in my reviews and I hope 2012 will be a bumper year of theatre glory!

Review – Strictly Northampton 2011, Derngate, Northampton, 26th November 2011

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Nicely spinning off from the best Saturday evening entertainment show on television at the moment (yes, we’re strictly a Strictly family), this charity event at the Derngate encourages local celebrities, business people and dignitaries to strut their funky stuff on stage in fabulous costumes, impressing knowledgeable (and suitably kindly) judges (including Strictly Come Dancing’s Brian Fortuna no less), to the texting approbation of the audience (50p per text, at least 20p goes to the charity) and all held superbly in place by BBC Radio Northampton’s Bernie Keith as the masterful host.

My absolute admiration goes out to all the dancers for the effort and sheer guts to get up on the stage of the Derngate – on a packed Saturday night – to dance in aid of Macmillan Cancer Support. Some of them were remarkably good! One or two of them were not quite so twinkle-toed, but who cares?It was also impressive to see how well our young local talent can perform; the show was mounted by the Step by Step Dance School and they are obviously great at developing young people into skilful dancers.

There were eighteen contestants, and each had to do a waltz, a jive and a freestyle. The waltzes and jives were performed first, three at a time, so there was plenty to watch on stage at any one moment.The freestyles were then performed individually, so every couple had their minute or two under the lone spotlight. Terrifying. I couldn’t even have done the ensemble marching around the stage that all eighteen couples did without colliding into each other.

The winning contestant was Northants Cricket Club’s Rob White and his partner Ruth Supple, and in my opinion he was a worthy winner. Whether it’s because sportsmen and women are simply more competitive,or because they are more physically fit I don’t know, but they always seem to do well in this sort of contest. His freestyle dance was performed to the tune of the BBC Test Match Cricket show, and was a perfect mix of choreography and humour.

Other really entertaining freestyles included Stephen Church’s “Always look on the bright side of life” dressed as a tramp; Radio Northampton’s Pete Cooper dressed like Olivia Newton-John in her “Physical” video; Northampton Chronicle’s Sports Writer Tom Vickers as a nerdy superman doing “Holding out for a hero”,Barclaycard’s Caroline Pugh doing eye-popping lifts in “You Can’t Stop the Beat”, and Northants Police Deputy Chief Constable Suzette Davenport nicking her dance partner Adrian Laitt with his bag of swag and handcuffing him to a lamppost. All the other competitors were magic too. It was great that these people entered into the spirit of the fun like this for charity.

Other highlights included a couple of songs from Britain’s Got Talent finalist and local girl Faryl Smith, and a guest appearance by “Super Gran” Ann Timson who saw off the jewel thieves in that failed smash-n-grab robbery attempt in Northampton earlier this year. There was a super display of dancing from the kids of Preston Hedges Primary School as well, showing that even tiny tootsies can weave fancy footwork.Overseeing and presenting the whole thing was the wonderful Bernie Keith, with a couple of fantastic over-the-top outfits and a very very funny script. He should do more stage stuff – he’s brilliant! A thoroughly enjoyable and escapist evening that the whole town could support, and that raised over £30,000 for Macmillan. We look forward to next year’s show!

Review – Richard Alston Dance Company, Derngate, Northampton, 4th October 2011

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It’s always a pleasure to catch up with the Richard Alston Dance Company, on tour until the end of November. It’s been 18 months since I last saw them! The current programme of three highly entertaining pieces is a joy to watch and confirms (to my mind at least) that the company is the most skilled bunch of dancers doing contemporary work in the UK.

We started off with Unfinished Business, choreographed by Richard Alston to three movements by Mozart. It’s clean, crisp and athletic, but also thoughtful and reflective. It’s very much helped by the plaintive piano music played beautifully by Jason Ridgway. The second movement is a tender duo superbly danced by Anneli Binder and Pierre Tappon, which delighted the audience so much they broke into applause before it had finished.I also really enjoyed the sunny liveliness of Hannah Kidd’s performance. But the star of this piece was the terrific solo work by Liam Riddick, who I haven’t seen before but whom I predict Will Do Great Things.

They didn’t call the end of the first interval and Mrs Chrisparkle and I were so enjoying our Sauvignon Blanc that we only retook our seats ten seconds before the curtain rose on the second piece, Lie of the Land. This is a new(ish) dance choreographed by Martin Lawrance who was always my favourite dancer with the company in the past.This is another superb piece, full of vitality and style, bringing out the best again in Ms Binder and Mr Riddick, but also a fantastic performance by the wonderfully named Andres de Blust Mommaerts. It was a piece that reminded me of why I love contemporary dance, something I haven’t felt in a theatre for a long while.

Finally we had the return of Roughcut, originally created by Richard Alston for Rambert in 1990 – and I think I remember it. Now reconstructed (whatever that means) by Martin Lawrance, it’s another exuberant, engaging piece danced to electro rhythms with full-on joy.If I have a criticism, it’s that there wasn’t (as it seemed to me) overall much of a contrast of mood and style from the previous dance. The costumes for all three dances were all similarly neutral and plain, which again didn’t provide an additional visual stimulation to differentiate them in my brain. But this is the most minor quibble. All the dancers were on top form and it’s a highly entertaining performance.

When it’s done at its best, I still believe that dance is the purest and most eloquent form of entertainment you can see on a stage. That’s what I witnessed last night.

Review – Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo, Milton Keynes Theatre, 23rd March 2011

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Yay! The Trocks are back! Refreshed, revitalised and more athletic than ever! If you’ve seen them before you know they each take on the persona of a male and a female ballet star, from the finest Soviet tradition. You’ll also know this is no mere comedy show but a display of the most exquisitely controlled ballet you could possibly find outside the world’s top companies. We’ve been coming to see them for years now, and every time we get really excited at the prospect and always love their shows. I guess you could call us “fans”.

Over the years, of course, one develops one’s favourites, and some of them were on stage last night. My favourite Trock of all time, Comrade Ida Nevasayneva, a.k.a. M. Velour Pilleaux, a.k.a. Paul Ghiselin, is the Ballet Master of the company and regrettably wasn’t performing. When he takes on the role of von Rothbart in Swan Lake he completely cracks me up, I can’t think of a funnier non-speaking performance. Last night though we had another really excellent von Rothbart, Yuri Smirnov, as performed by the brilliant Robert Carter. I had hoped Mr Carter’s other alter ego, Olga Supphozova, would play Odette, as his/her interpretation of that role can’t be beaten. However he was a great von Rothbart, maniacally evil when things are going his way, pathetically impotent when the Prince pulls stronger on the Odette tug-of-war.

And what a Prince! Ashley Romanoff-Titwillow, as danced by Joshua Grant, absolutely embodied how splendid the dance can be on those moments when the comedy takes a back seat (which is never for long). His first solo was breathtaking. Mrs Chrisparkle gasped audibly. It was great.Odette herself was danced by Maya Thickenthighya (Emanuel Abruzzo in real life). He/she has joined the company since we last saw them and is a first rate new recruit. When you’ve seen the Trocks as often as we have, you get to see different incarnations of the same diva. She is very different from the Maya Thickenthighya I remember in the 1990s, who was a much more hirsute and stocky version!

The supporting corps were marvellous as always, with extra special comedy brilliance from Vanya Verikosa (Brock Hayhoe). She really threw herself in to it. I also enjoyed Christopher Lam as Boris Nowitsky playing (not really dancing) Benno.Great with the facial interpretations; best Benno I’ve seen since Igor Slowpokin. The Pas de deux that opened the second act was beautifully performed by (I think) Colette Adae (Claude Gamba) and Andrei Leftov (Boysie Dakobe, another terrific new Trock).Again the grace, skill and athleticism these guys create on stage is amazing. Apart from the fact that Colette looked a bit butch you would never know you weren’t at the Mariinsky.

Then we had Go for Barocco, to the music of the Brandenburg Concertos, simply, deftly staged, with its trademark dance that mixes pure classical style with Olympic Road Race Walk. I was delighted to see Lariska Dumbchenko (Raffaele Morra) join us for that one. Ms Dumbchenko exudes sheer elegance until she starts haring it across the stage all guns blazing.

And of course, the Dying Swan. I wish I knew how they position those loose feathers in the costume so that they continue to fall out at a constant pace. It never fails to delight, and Ms Thickenthighya executed her beautifully.

Of all the dance companies I can bring to mind, this is the one that most constantly achieves balletic excellence. The pointe work is amazing. Sometimes you just find yourself staring at their feet in awe and ignoring the comedy. Their leaps are stunning. That move they do, sorry I don’t know the technical name, when they spin round several times whilst kicking their legs out and in at the same place on each spin is extraordinary.And no one can do that like Ms Supphozova as she showed us in the final act, Raymonda’s Wedding. It’s a joyous piece that brings the whole company together, blending the finest dance with top physical comedy.The coupling of the extremely tall Katerina Bychkova with the extremely short Andrei Leftov is pure genius. And of course it leads us to their finale, which always brings whoops from the audience.

As you can tell, we loved it. Their UK tour lasts another three or so weeks, so see if you can get tickets for High Wycombe, Birmingham, Sheffield, Bradford, Edinburgh or Salford. And we even got a signed poster too for £10. Bargain!

Review – Rambert Dance Company Awakenings Tour, Derngate, Northampton, March 2nd 2011

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Having been somewhat starved of some decent dance for a while – the last dance production we saw was way back when – I was very pleased to see that Rambert had decided to include Northampton on its latest tour. They got a pretty good crowd too, so hopefully that might encourage more dance productions locally. We were a little alarmed at the beginning when we saw quite how many young female school-age dance fans were sat all around us in the stalls because – frankly – they don’t always shut up and watch the performance, and they tend to giggle a lot if a bloke wears tight tights. However, our fears were unnecessary as they proved to be attentive, unfidgety, untexting and above all quiet during the performances. So well done to you!

It was a triple bill – Cardoon Club, Awakenings and Monolith. My favoured sequence of seeing a triple bill is: first – the worthy difficult one that’s very moody and intractable; second – the startling but self-explanatory one that leaves you feeling very satisfied; last – the lively, funny, jolly one that’s a crowd-pleaser. If they’d ordered them in that sequence the programme would have been reversed. Not to worry.

There was an awful lot of good about Cardoon Club, but for me it was largely the peripheral stuff. It looked beautiful. The lighting was subtle and elegant. The use of front and back chain curtains was clever and enabled the dancers to change the mood of the piece very easily. The music my Benjamin Pope was terrific. According to the programme they use a Hammond Organ as a way of recreating trendy late 60s and early 70s easy listening, and it works a treat. It’s precisely the kind of music the very young me would have looked at in the record shop under the Studio2Stereo label, probably with a faintly erotic lady dancer on the cover and I would have longed to be able to afford. The costumes were excellent and the artichoke hat, which gets its own mention in the programme, is very amusing. And the dancers really committed to this piece and gave it everything. They were completely spot on.

However, I didn’t really enjoy Henrietta Horn’s choreography much. I felt it started promisingly, but the lengthy second section seemed to me a repetition of a very standard type of choreography – fast walking, arms stretched out in front – and not a lot else. There’s also a section where the dancers suddenly seem to become puppeteers, and reality and artifice mix – I think this should have been funnier than it was. There is also a scene (probably the most enjoyable) where the dancers take endless apparent curtain calls, including a very cheeky section where they do it in reverse – I liked that very much. But then it ended on a damp squib. I found it all unstructured, I could never tell where I was in the piece, there seemed no natural progression from scene to scene. Mrs Chrisparkle, on the other hand, thought it was largely just a piece of fun and that I shouldn’t analyse it too much. She enjoyed it a lot.

The second piece, Awakenings, is inspired by the patients of one Dr Sacks who treated flu sufferers who went on to develop sleepy sickness – encephalitis lethargica. Personally, I was riveted from the start. A fantastic performance from all the dancers –but I particularly liked Jonathan Goddard and Malorzata Dzierzon. They brilliantly recreated the sense of moving and going about daily life and then suddenly becoming frozen. At the post show talk by Mark Baldwin, he explained that each dancer had a case study of one individual patient and portrayed that person’s debility in their dance.I was very taken with the arresting performance of Otis-Cameron Carr as a patient who could only walk in a straight line. The character that Jonathan Goddard adopted was going through all sorts of angst. I was completely convinced by his plight.The opening tableau has all the dancers frozen then gradually coming to life, and is mirrored by the final scene which is identical apart from one dancer spinning in the centre of the stage. Aletta Collins’ choreography is stunning throughout. I thought the whole thing was magic.
I enjoyed it so much that Monolith came as a bit of a disappointment to me. Again the quality of the dance was exceptional – Mrs Chrisparkle and I agreed that the company have pulled themselves up a notch quality-wise since the last time we saw them – and it’s an evocative set with complementary costumes, but I found it all a bit samey. But it got an excellent round of applause so I am perfectly prepared to accept it was probably my fault.

I’d like to give a special mention to Paul Hoskins, the musical director, who we’ve seen come up on stage in his black suit at the end of dances so many times now. He’s been directing the music for Rambert for ages and that’s why he’s so good at his job. This is a very enjoyable programme and Rambert’s dancers in particular are on stonking good form.

Review of the Year 2010

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Here are the Chrisparkle awards for 2010, awarded to the shows that I saw last year. A few odd shows didn’t get blogged for whatever reason, and they have not been considered for the awards.

Let’s start with Best Dance Production

Easy! I’ve seen it so many times but it’s simply unbeatable. Matthew Bourne’s Swan Lake at the Milton Keynes Theatre.

Not going to give a “worst” award, as I only saw two other dance productions in 2010 and they were all very good – Richard Alston and Deborah Colker.

Classical Music Concert of the Year

Enjoyed them all, but I’m going to award the top prize to the Royal Philharmonic at the Derngate in Northampton with the programme that culminated with that breathtaking performance of Holst’s The Planets. A close second was the RPO’s programme that included Natalie Clein playing Dvorak’s Cello Concerto.

Again no “worst” award.

Best entertainment show of the year

Although the Birmingham panto was pretty fantastic, the absence of Joan Collins prevents me from giving it the award. Therefore the easy alternative is the wonderful celebration of Sondheim’s 80th birthday at the Derngate and starring Maria Friedman. I’d also like to give a special mention to Doon Mackichan’s Primadoona at the Menier Chocolate Factory for its unpretentious hilarity.

Best stand-up at the Screaming Blue Murder nights in Northampton

We saw 32 comics over the course of the year, but the really brilliant ones stood out:
3rd place – Marlon Davis
2nd place – Otiz Cannelloni
1st place – Paul Sinha

Best musical of the year

It’s got to be the first show we saw this year – Legally Blonde. OMG you guys it stands out!

Definitely worthy of worst musical of the year – Paradise Found.

Best Play/Comedy of the year

5th place – Honest at the Mail Coach in Northampton
4th place – Duchess of Malfi at the Royal Northampton
3rd place – Shirley Valentine at the Menier Chocolate Factory
2nd place – End of the Rainbow at the Royal Northampton
1st place – Out of Joint’s The Big Fellah at the Royal Northampton

Worst Play/Comedy of the year

5th place – My Zinc Bed at the Royal Northampton
4th place – The Talented Mr Ripley at the Royal Northampton
3rd place – Jus’ Like That at the Royal Northampton
2nd place – Educating Rita at the Menier Chocolate Factory
1st place – Calendar Girls at the Derngate Northampton

(None of these productions was bad. I didn’t see a bad production all year. It’s just that they were the five that disappointed most.)

Best Performance by an Actress in a Musical

3rd place – Jill Halfpenny in Legally Blonde
2nd place – Tamzin Outhwaite in Sweet Charity (Menier Chocolate Factory)
1st place – Sheridan Smith in Legally Blonde

Best Performance by an Actor in a Musical

3rd place – Marcus Brigstocke in Spamalot (no singing but a great performance)
2nd place – Mark Umbers in Sweet Charity
1st place – Alex Gaumond in Legally Blonde
NB Gavin Creel in the London production of Hair would have been in here somewhere but I never got around to blogging the show!

Best Performance by an Actress in a Play

3rd place – Janie Dee in A Month in the Country (Chichester Festival Theatre)
2nd place – Meera Syal in Shirley Valentine
1st place – Tracie Bennett in End of the Rainbow

Best Performance by an Actor in a Play

3rd place – James McArdle in A Month in the Country
2nd place – Hilton MacRae in End of the Rainbow
1st place – Thomas Morrison in Honest

Best ensemble performance by the company

3rd place – Sweet Nothings at the Royal Northampton (Young Vic production)
2nd place – The Duchess of Malfi
1st place – The Big Fellah

Favourite theatre of the year:

The Royal, Northampton

Here’s to another happy year of theatregoing!