What the show is about? This musical is based on the Charles Dickens classic, Oliver Twist, with music by Lionel Bart.
Oliver is a young orphan boy who has been brought up in a Victorian workhouse following the death of his mother shortly after his birth. He was sold to an undertaker where he ran away after being bullied. Seven days later, he ends up on the outskirts of London and meets The Artful Dodger who welcomes him to Fagin and his gang, of which he plays a crucial part.
Once Oliver settles in, he goes out on his first pickpocketing job with Dodger and Charlie Bates, another member of Fagin’s gang. Oliver then is taken to court for a crime he didn’t even commit. After he was proved innocent, Mr. Brownlow, the person whose pocket Oliver allegedly picks, takes him in and takes care of him.
Nancy, who is part of Fagin’s gang, kidnaps Oliver just to make sure that he didn’t tell Mr. Brownlow about Fagin and the gang. He then stays with the gang up until Bill Sikes, the bad guy of the story, steals Oliver and ends up killing Nancy. He then attempts to kill Oliver as well, but as they stand on the bridge, someone in the crowd shoots a gun, it hits Sikes’ stomach, and Sikes dies.
After all of the chaos of this scene, Mr. Brownlow decides to take Oliver in and take care of him. They later find out that Mr. Brownlow is Oliver’s grandfather. Oliver and Mr Brownlow live happily ever after.
What was really good about it? The set was quite good and it had a double-revolve so it moved when needed. The bridge was always there and when the cast didn’t want it in their scene, they moved it to better fit what was happening within it.
Fagin was brilliant. He was really funny and kept on taking to the audience, I’m not sure if he was meant to but it was very funny. Nancy was a brilliant singer because she held the notes that she needed to, when she needed to and the emotion in her singing was great as well. Her acting was also good.
My favourite dances were You’ve Got To Pick a Pocket and Consider Yourself. Both had a lot going on and the way they were performed was good. The show-offy spectacle of the dancing and performance as a whole was noticeable. The dancing was really good generally but that’s not surprising as the show was directed by the famous choreographer, Matthew Bourne.
What could be better? The bit near the end, when Bill Sykes dies, was a bit confusing with lots of running around and spot lights moving all over the place. I saw it early on, during the previews, so that bit might have got better by now.
What my Dad thinks? Oscar Conlon-Morrey rinses every last drop of potential comedy out of his version of Mr Bumble. Shanay Holmes’ interpretation of As Long As He Needs Me grows and grows into a powerful, gut wrenching masterpiece and is simply stunning. For me though, Simon Lipkin steals the show as Fagin. his comic timing, adlibs, asides and audience interplay are masterful, but he still perfectly finds the right balance for the more poignant moments.
Go and see Oliver, while you can, before it inevitably transfers to London and the ticket prices double.
This was the second year of Alex Horne’s Comedy Football match. Comedy football because it’s played by comedians, but also because of the rule changes that Alex introduced.
You must shout your own name every time you shoot.
A goalscorer can double their goal by pulling off a crossbar challenge immediately after.
Goalkeepers must go up for every corner.
Managers must be in the centre circle at all times but mustn’t touch the ball.
When ‘Wrecking Ball’ by Miley Cyrus is played, a second ball will be introduced.
If you get a yellow card, you must wear a yellow marigold glove for the reast of the game.
If you get a second yellow card, you must do the washing-up after the match.
If a team goes three goals up, every outfield player on that team must hold hands with another of their players while ‘I Want To Hold Your Hand’ plays (This rule was never introduced throughout the game).
If the referee thinks that you’ve done something very well, you must wear the wonderful wig – a pink curly one! The player wearing the wonderful wig at the final whistle gets a £20 cash prize.
Each manager has a party popper/ confetti cannon each and they can fire it whenever they want (but the ball must be out of play.) They then must choose one player from each team to play a one-on-one for the next two minutes. Both goalkeepers keep playing too though.
It was a really hot day and the match was taking place at the home of Chesham United, the Meadow.
My mum’s favourite bit was the songs that were played before the game. There were lots of well known songs that had place names in, but the place names were all changed to Chesham. Galway Girl, by Ed Sheeran, became Chesham Girl, Back in the U.S.S.R by the Beatles, became Back in the C.H.E.S.H.A.M and Walking in Memphis by Cher became Walking in Chesham. There were loads of others and they were all very funny.
Before kick off the teams lined up for the anthems. You can see the lyrics below.
The teams line up for the anthems
The Teams
Both teams were made up comedians with a handful of players from Chesham United’s men’s and women’s teams helping them out.
Chicken City
The reigning champions who played in the home kit of Chesham United in claret and blue.
Stuart Laws (GK), Mathew Baynton, Doc Brown, Maisie Adam, Ivo Graham, John Kearns, Matt Winning, James Gill, Elis James, Gemma Fraser (CUFC), Ellie Doerr (CUFC), Kieran Murphy (CUFC), Eoin Casey (CUFC), Ennis Alhashimi (CUFC), Hugh Dennis (Player Manager)
Egg United
The host, Alex Horne’s, team were wearing the Chesham away kit of yellow and black.
Tom Rosenthal (GK), Alex Horne, Tim Key, James Acaster, Mike Wozniak, Mark Watson, Sophie Duker, Charlie Baker, Annie McGrath, Alex Brooker, Jon Richardson, Jim Daly, Andy Devonshire, Becky Fraser (CUFC), Tasha Smith (CUFC), Lewis Rolfe (CUFC), Jeanmal Prosper (CUFC), Matt Rose (CUFC).
Director of Football – Nish Kumar
The Match
First Half
The game began with both teams in their own goals and when the ref blew the whistle, they all ran to the middle to try and get the ball. To start off, the holders, Chicken City, looked like the better team. The control then changed hands when Egg United scored the opener.
Then one of the Egg Utd players attempted the crossbar challenge and… failed. The Chicken City players continued to attack and their continuous relentlessness finally resulted in a goal. The Chicken City player failed the crossbar challenge and it was at 1-1.
The Chickens continued to press and it became 2-1 to Chicken City not long after. Can you guess what happened for the crossbar challenge? If you said that it would be missed, you would be correct. The Chicken City players weren’t as attacking but still scored again to make it 3-1, the crossbar challenge remained unconverted.
Now in came rule 5, the one about ‘Wrecking Ball’ by Miley Cyrus. The second ball caused some chaos, with the host, Alex Horne taking advantage and scoring for the Eggs. 3-2! Egg-citing! The crossbar challenge still remained uncompleted. Do you think that this rule is pointless?
Then Egg United had all of the momentum and, using that momentum, they score again just before halftime but, again, they didn’t convert the crossbar challenge.
Half-Time
During halftime, there was a penalty shootout between 75 local schoolkids and it only took two rounds to find a winner. At first glance, the goalkeeper looked tiny, but he made some great saves. in the second round, there was only one goalscorer out of about 35 kids.
Also during half time, Sam Campbell presented Chesham United with their new mascot, Chess Ham. Chess Ham is a pig with a big chess piece on it’s head. Unfortunately, soon after Chess Ham came onto the pitch he started being chased by a butcher who wanted to make sausages out of him. It was very funny.
Second Half
The second half contained even more silliness and fun. The fox in the box, Alex Horne, kept causing havoc in the City box and made the 7th goal occur with the luckless John Kearns steering it into his own net. Oops! The crossbar challenge conversion was failed once again.
As the second half progressed, the Chicken City player/manager, Hugh Dennis, became the first of the two managers to fire his confetti cannon. This meant that there was a 2-on-2 match, including goalkeepers, happening for two minutes before the rest of the team rushed back on to join in again. This was a clever and funny rule, however, it didn’t result in any goals and the players involved looked quite tired. The same happened later on when the Egg United manager played his.
Throughout the second half, the tempo slowed due to the intense heat and the game looked to be heading for a 7-5 Egg Utd win. However, in the 90th minute, Maisie Adam scored to make it 7-6. As she stepped up to take the crossbar challenge conversion, the crowd were silent. Then, she became the first player, at the 13th attempt, to complete the crossbar challenge. 7-7! Adam celebrated in the same way that Chloe Kelly celebrated her winner at the 2022 Women’s Euros. She took her shirt off and sprinted around in extreme ecstasy. The crowd went crazy. The referee blew his whistle. The game had ended.
Penalties
The penalties were taken in a MLS-style shootout. Each player had 5 seconds from the referee’s whistle to score from about 40 yards out. They ran forward and tried to beat the ‘keeper. Most missed, finally Andy Devonshire scored meaning Chicken City had to score to stay in the game, but Elis James stepped up but couldn’t round Tom Rosenthal. Egg United were the Comedy Football Trophy Champions for 2024!
Congratulations to Egg United who lifted the massive pineapple
Notable Performances
Mat Bayton: Good on the ball driving forward from midfield.
Maisie Adam: A really good player and the only one to hit the crossbar making it a very exciting end to the game.
Elis James: Not great, but not as bad as Nish Kumar was telling everyone he was.
Alex Horne: He was clever by taking advantage of the confusion of the two balls on the pitch.
Mark Watson: A good defender who runs a bit like he’s stepping on Lego.
Mike Wozniak: Good at passing.
Jon Richardson: Tidy on the ball.
Tom Rosenthal: The only one to wear the wonderful wig twice because of some good saves. He looked really hot in it.
Nish Kumar: A funny commentator.
Stuart Laws: Decent in goal and unlucky with a few ‘offside’ decisions that didn’t go his way and led to goals. He told us afterwards that the linesman had warned him, he’d be booked if he carried on complaining about it. Harsh.
The Hawks are second from bottom and running out of games to turn it around. They won the last match and were looking to make it two in a row against Tonbridge Angels. Earlier in the season, however, against the same opponents, the match finished 4-1 to the Angels in the reverse fixture.
It was a bit of a scrappy start with lots of high balls and not many players able to control the ball on the ground, they mostly headed it instead. Tonbridge took an early lead with Tariq Hinds chipping helpless goalkeeper, Ross Worner, after just six minutes. Quarter of an hour in and it was 1-1 after the pressing paid off for the Hawks. Jake McCarthy was in the action with a shot firing to the back of the net.
On 25 minutes, Ryan Seager, The Hawks’ main man up front, turns in a well placed cross from the right wing. 2-1!
Moments later, James Roberts breaks free down the left and the header from his cross was glanced narrowly wide. Havant were on top and looking to extend their lead.
A few minutes later, Tonbridge had a good chance and when the ball got chipped towards the box, McNerney, the Hawks centre half, attempted to clear the ball and, by doing this, inadvertently cleared the ball with a shot on his own goal, with Hawks’ ‘keeper, Worner, saving the shot with a quick reaction leap.
Half Time: Havant and Waterlooville 2-1 Tonbridge Angels
At half-time, I got myself a 25th anniversary edition Havant and Waterlooville 3rd kit, which is a dark blue colour and really nice. We also got The Hawky Porky from the food van. It’s chips covered in pulled pork, BBQ sauce, crispy onions and cheese and you have to get one if you ever go to a match at Havant. So good.
Second Half
Havant brought on Roarie Deacon and Jack Jebb for Callum Kealy and Alfy Whittingham at half-time to take further control of the game, but I think that it’s safe to say that the plan quickly backfired.
Mohammed Dabre made it 2-2 with a fine finish from 30 yards out 5 minutes into the second half. This forced Havant to try and regain control of the game. The majority of the crowd were Havant supporters but there were a group of Tonbridge fans who’d brought a drum along with them, which they banged quite a lot, singing different songs and they got particularly excited when Dabre scored.
The 25 minutes that then followed were mainly controlled by Havant, with a couple of Tonbridge counter attacks, but still no goals for either side.
Jake McCarthy had a rasping shot tipped over by the Tonbridge ‘keeper on 75 minutes after lots of Hawks’ pressure and attempts on the Angels’ goal.
It was fairly even for much of the second half after the Tonbridge equaliser but there was some good link up play between Deacon and Stanley down the right hand side for the Hawks during that time.
Harry Jewitt-White was tidy in the middle of the park, throughout and looked composed on the ball. Surely a career at a higher level is ahead of this loanee from Portsmouth.
Full time: Havant and Waterlooville 2-2 Tonbridge Angels
The game ended as a draw which isn’t much good to Havant who are still 10 points from safety with 10 games to go.
What? Fantastically Great Women who Changed the World
Where? Chichester Festival Theatre
When? 14-18 February 2024
What the show is about? The show is about a girl called Jade who gets lost on a school trip and ends up in an off limits part of the museum. Whilst there, she meets some of the women who changed the world in wonderfully different ways.
Jade usually always does the right thing and usually gets the feeling that she is invisible. The women she meets throughout the play inspire to be braver and take more chances her by telling her their own incredible stories.
The women she meets include: Frida Kahlo, Rosa Parks, Amelia Earheart, Marie Curie, Emmeline Pankhurst and many more motivational women who you may have heard of.
What was really good about it? I liked the songs and the dancing especially ‘Quiet Children’ because the chorus sounded quite good. Another good one was ‘ Where do you wanna go?’ because the harmonies sounded brilliant. Also ‘ Deeds not Words’ sounded good because the lyrics talk about the hurdles the women had to jump over to get the vote. I also enjoyed ‘World of Colour’ because they talk about having ‘wings to fly’ and ‘painting outside the lines’ which basically means breaking some of the rules at the time and just having fun.
I really liked that we could see the band above the stage during the show. There were 3 of them who played a variety of keyboards and percussion instruments and one of them came down to join the actors for one song when they did a drum solo.
What could be better? Maybe an interval to have an ice cream in but it was a 1hr 15mins performance so that is ok and anyway afterwards I had ice cream for the dessert after my meal at the Bell Inn to top off a very nice fish fingers and chips.
I can’t think of much but my sister suggested the sound could have been better because at the beginning of the show she couldn’t hear what the actor were singing properly. I only had this problem for a couple of minutes but after that it was fine.
What my Dad thinks? It’s the second time we’ve seen this show and I think it’s got a bit better in the last two years. The whole thing was just that bit tighter, the asides that bit funnier, the songs that bit more impactful and just generally a better show. That said, I couldn’t pin point anything in particular that was different, but it just was, okay? We sat slightly to the side this time and it’s clear show is designed to be played on a proscenium arch stage and it would have probably been a better experience both visually and in terms of the sound quality. A thoroughly enjoyable show though and a really inspiring one to take the children to.
What’s the show about? The show is about a girl called Pi and it is her recount of the ship, the Tsimtsum, sinking along with the rest of Pi’s family and how she survived.
She starts the recount by setting the scene in an Indian zoo, where she lived. The government had had a few arguments with one another and India became a dangerous place to live. There is also a Bengal tiger named Richard Parker, who is new to the zoo and he eats a goat, who does nothing to her, and this makes Pi annoyed.
The family decide to move to Canada as India has become too dangerous. They do this by boat. On the boat they had put the zoo animals in container ship crates. The ship’s cook is quite the butcher. Pi turns down the offer of food as she and her family are vegetarians. They then meet the friendly sailor, who is also Indian.
The ship sinks in a storm and everyone, except for her, drowns and goes down with the boat. She then finds a lifeboat with an injured zebra lying on the deck. The Bengal tiger, Richard Parker, also finds the boat and is hungry. The hyena, from the zoo, is on the boat as well, and is also looking for a meal. It’s a very dangerous place for any child to be. The hyena eats the zebra and after a few days, Richard Parker eats the hyena.
She is telling this story to the Canadian and Japanese government’s officials in her hospital room after being saved after 229 days at sea after the ship sunk. Back to the recount…
For the next few weeks, it is just Pi and Richard Parker. One day, when Pi cannot see anything because she was hallucinating through lack of fresh water, she thought that Richard Parker was talking to her in a French accent. This was my sister’s favourite part of the show and probably mine too because it was funny.
The government representatives don’t believe her and they ask her to tell them the real story with the proper facts and so she does.
In this version the ship also sinks and Pi’s dad and brother both drown. She also finds a lifeboat but this time the cook from the ship and the Indian sailor are on the boat as well. Then her mum comes across the boat and joins them. The Indian sailor’s leg is broken and Pi’s mum is the best doctor she can be to him until the cook suggests amputating the leg. He amputates it himself using his butcher’s knife. After a few weeks, the cook kills Pi’s mum. Pi then gets so angry at the cook that she also ends up killing him as well. It’s all pretty gruesome and very sad.
This time, the government representatives believe the story more than they did the first recount Pi told them. Pi asks if it matters which story was true because they both involve her losing her family, the ship sinking and all of the crew and animals dying. They agree it doesn’t really matter, but that the one with animals is the better story.
What was really good about it? The set looked really good with the lifeboat being on set most of the time. The hospital room/bed looks good also. The projections on the stage looked like the water was real and when the characters touched it, the water actually rippled. There were also sea creatures along the stage, or at least it looked like that anyway. The storm also looked menacingly good.
The puppets were very nicely done. The main puppet was Richard Parker but other puppets, like the hyena, needed more than one puppeteer. Another puppet was the turtle. All of the acting was good and I enjoyed watching the show.
What could be better? It was a bit too gory for me to give it 5 stars. I know it had to be in there because that’s what’s in the book but I didn’t really enjoy those bits.
What my Dad thinks… This was so good. I didn’t know the story beforehand as I’ve never seen the film or read the book, but I adored it. There are some quite dark and graphic moments, so it’s not suitable for younger children really, but my 8 year old thoroughly enjoyed it. I wouldn’t have thought children younger than that should see it, really, but we were careful to explain what to expect to both of the children and that some of the animals die in the story, so it will have sad moments.
The puppetry (and acting generally) was fantastic. The staging, including excellent projections, was really cleverly done. The reoccurring theme of religion is handled really well and it made for an excellent conversation starter with the kids. For me, the plot turned into a modern day parable that hits really hard was the bit that will stay with me. As humans we often find it more palatable to use animals in stories in place of the humans to explain some of the more extreme behaviours. Overall, it was simply brilliant. The national tour continues into 2024, so go and see it if you can.
It was a top of the table clash between 2nd and 3rd in the league. Chesham were looking to bounce back from 3 defeats in a row, 2 in the league and 1 in the FA Cup. It was my 1st time at The Meadow, home of Chesham United, who are nicknamed The Generals, and they hosted Gosport Borough, who, like us, had travelled up from Hampshire.
The Line-Up
How the teams lined up…
First Half
The first five minutes were with lots of long balls in the air and it was fairly end-to-end and scrappy.
Chesham settled into the game well and had a few chances. Ogochukwu Obi and Ricardo German, who represents Grenada internationally, couldn’t quite find the space and time to convert the chances and the Gosport Borough defence were very well organised.
On around 40 minutes, the Gosport striker went through on goal and the goalkeeper (Algerian, Zaki Oualah) made an amazing save to keep the scores goalless just as the linesman raised the flag to signal offside anyway.
On the brink of half-time, Ricardo German scored a powerful header from a Harry Rush corner to make it 1-0 to Chesham United! The crowd erupted and went into half-time happy.
Second Half
Gosport started the second half quite strongly. Both teams had a couple of good chances in the first fifteen minutes of the half. I got a hotdog and it was good.
The game was then settled around the 80th minute when the Gosport goalkeeper, Toby Steward, took out Zak Joseph inside the box and he got a red card. Joseph showed pure tenacity to chase down the ball that seemed lost to give Steward no choice but to take him out. This meant that an outfield player (Harvey Rew) had to go in goal as Gosport didn’t have a ‘keeper on the bench.
The penalty was converted by Ricardo German to collect a brace and up his tally for the season to fifteen goals from fifteen games in the league, which includes 3 hattricks so far this season. He went hunting for his fourth, and the game was over for 10-man Gosport Borough.
When German got taken off for Jordan Edwards without his hattrick it was safe to say that he looked quite annoyed, and I don’t blame him.
Ricardo German scores a penalty to make it 2-0 to The Generals
Full Time!
Chesham 2-0 Gosport Borough.
Chesham stay 3rd but close the gap on Gosport to three points and Chesham have a game in hand over them and 1st placed Salisbury.
Player Ratings
My man of the match was Ricardo German due to his two goals and looking dangerous throughout the 2-0 win for the Generals. I also enjoyed watching No. 7, Zak Joseph, the winger who also looked dangerous over the 90 minutes.
The official Chesham United Man of the Match was Harry Rush because he tirelessly worked hard in the centre of midfield.
Oualah 8 , Jones 8 , Duru 8, Rolfe 8, Murphy 8, Brown 8, Rush 8, Upward 8, German 9, Obi 8, Joseph 9
It was my first time at Westleigh Park this season to watch Havant and Waterlooville who are yet to win in their 2023/24 campaign. I wasn’t expecting a win considering the Hawks start to the season. My pre-match prediction was a 2-2 draw even if they were at home.
The first chance came on six minutes for the home side with captain James Roberts crossing in for Muhammadu Faal, and after taking a touch he blazed the ball over the bar. Faal made up for his mistake two minutes later. From a second Roberts cross, Faal, from near the penalty spot, headed the ball home. 1-0 to the Hawks!
Just 4 minutes later, Kealy finishes off a move and it was 2-0 to Havant. The Hawks were flying.
Roberts looked lively down the left from the start and I could see why he was captain.
On 26 minutes, Yeovil pull one back through Olly Thomas. 2-1 to Havant!
Yeovil brought a good sized crowd with them and were well supported by 658 passionate fans.
Just on the brink of half-time, Jordan Maguire-Drew was bundled over in the box. Maguire-Drew took the penalty and scored. 2-2!
But the first half action wasn’t over there. Another penalty was awarded, this time to the Hawks after five minutes of added time. Faal stepped up and Buse, the Yeovil keeper saves the first attempt but the rebound fell to Faal and he began his hunt for his hattrick. 3-2 to the Hawks at half time!
Faal’s second goal makes it 3-2 to Havant at half time
Second Half
On 51 minutes, Jamie Collins, the Hawks manager, gets sent off after speaking to the linesman. Yeovil spent much of the early part of the second half on top, but it was Havant who had the better chances in the opening exchanges, hitting the bar and the post with two chances in rapid succession.
It was quite scrappy for most of the second half with loads of yellow cards – 8 in total. Eventually, Yeovil did create an opportunity when Rhys Murphy went through on goal and slid the ball across Worner into the far corner. 3-3! This was getting exciting!
But it wasn’t over yet. In the sixth minute of stoppage time, Kealy finished off a smart move. 4-3 to the Hawks and the crowd went wild.
There was still time for a little bit more drama when Charlie Cooper got a second yellow for diving in the box and trying to win a penalty. Yeovil finish the game with ten men!
Speaking after the match, Jamie Collins said, ‘The quality of the goals we scored was superb but I think the grit, determination, desire not to lose, to concede a goal in the 90th minute and to come back and get a winner just shows what the team is about.’
Full Time!
Player Ratings
My man of the match was James Roberts, he was involved in everything good in the first half. He dropped off a bit in the second half though but was still probably the best Havant player. Two goal each for Muhammadu Faal and Callum Kealy was pretty good as well.
What’s the show about? The show is about a lion cub called Simba who is next in line to become king, the king being his father, Mufasa.
Scar, Mufasa’s brother and Simba’s uncle, is the bad guy and he tells young Simba about the Elephant Graveyard to try and tempt him to go there. When he goes there with Zazu, Mufasa’s trusty African red-billed hornbill assistant and Nala, Simba’s best friend, they meet Scar’s evil sidekicks, the hyenas. They close in on Simba and Nala and Zazu can’t do anything to help them but luckily they are then saved by Mufasa. He then teaches Simba about the mighty kings of the past, and that they are watching him from the stars above and so when he’s alone the kings will be there for him.
At a stampede of wildebeest, Scar sets a trap for Mufasa’s death and puts Simba in the middle of it. Mufasa saves Simba, but couldn’t save himself, as Scar shoves him away into the middle of the stampede where he falls to his death.
Simba is told by Scar to run away and never return and Simba obeyed, so Scar claims the crown of the Pride Lands. Scar claims that it was Simba who killed Mufasa and that Simba is dead.
Simba runs away and finds a meerkat and a warthog, Timon and Pumbaa, and they teach him Hakuna Matata which means take it easy. Over the many, many years they spend together they become a good trio.
Meanwhile, back in the Pride Lands, there is no food left because Scar has made it a barren and lonely piece of land. Nala eventually also leaves and then comes across Simba in the jungle. At first, they don’t recognise each other, but once they do, Nala tells Simba all about what has happened in the Pride Lands and that Scar is king. Simba still doesn’t yet decide that it’s time to leave Timon and Pumbaa, but after a talking-to from Rafiki, he goes back to challenge Scar to take the crown back as he is the rightful heir to the crown.
He completes his mission and becomes king with Nala as his queen.
What was really good about it? I enjoyed the songs and the performances to go with them. I especially enjoyed I Just Can’t Wait To Be King and Hakuna Matata. The puppets were also really impressive and there were loads of them, including; lions, Zazu, Timon & Pumbaa as a duo were great, the giraffes, the hyenas & elephants as well.
I Just Can’t Wait To BeKing included Zazu and a few giraffes. Some of the characters came right down the aisle beside us which was quite cool.
The stampede of the wildebeest was impressive and it looked like the wildebeest were literally stampeding.
Scar, played by George Asprey, was an impressive bad guy. He came across as a really scary and cunning character.
The hyenas are funny, especially Ed, whose puppeteer is called Mark Tatham. Ed just sticks his tongue out and laughs a lot which made me laugh a lot too.
Timon (Jamie McGregor) and Pumbaa (Mark Roper) were probably my favourite characters because they were funny but also really kind to Simba when he needed a friend.
This was my first show in London and it was great to go to the West End and we got to see Covent Garden before the show. There was a juggler performing and he was really good. The Lyceum is a big, old theatre and I enjoyed sitting in the stalls.
What could be better? I think it was quite hot in the theatre, but that meant that we needed an ice cream at the interval, so that was okay. I had a strawberry one and my sister had a salted caramel one which she didn’t like. According to her, the salted caramel ones in Chichester are much better.
What my mum thinks? Ireally enjoyed seeing this for the first time with the family – its been on the list for a while! The opening was epic and I loved seeing the animals walk past and onto the stage. Visually impressive with epic singing and costumes/puppetry. Great for the kids and I loved it too. Also big shout out to the staff who were super helpful and friendly.
What’s the show about? The show is about a young nun called Maria who is sent by Mother Abbess on “God’s errand” to become a governess to the seven von Trapp children. As soon as Maria arrives in the house she is welcomed in by Frau Schmidt, Captain von Trapp’s housekeeper, and after only a matter of few seconds Captain von Trapp enters and greets Maria.
The Captain brandishes a golden whistle and uses it to command the children to march down the stairs and into a straight line. However, only six arrive on time and around ten seconds later the seventh child enters the room, engrossed in a book and Captain von Trapp snaps it shut and she runs to join her siblings. Captain von Trapp tells Maria that they each have a whistle signal in case Maria needed them.
He tells Maria to listen carefully and then instructs the children to step forward and step back once they have said their name. The order is oldest to youngest, like this: Liesl (16), Friedrich (14), Louisa (13), Kurt (11), Brigitta (10), Marta (7) and then Gretel (5).
Captain von Trapp goes to Vienna for a visit to Frau Schraeder and his friend Max. He ends up being engaged to Frau Schraeder and nearly getting married. Meanwhile, Maria had taught the children how to sing (starting with the unforgettable Do, Rey, Mi) so that when the children meet Frau Schraeder for the first time, they sing to her. Afterwards, Captain Von Trapp sings Edelweiss to the children.
They then have a party where Maria feels as if she is falling in love with Captain von Trapp and, because she feels like that is unprofessional, she leaves to go back to the abbey. After having a talking to from Mother Abbess she decides to face the problem rather than hide from it, and so she goes back.
Once Maria takes her job up again she finds out about the engagement between Captain von Trapp and Frau Schraeder. However, the Captain and Frau Schraeder have an argument and the engagement is called off.
Then in a scene where Maria and Captain von Trapp are alone together, they find out that they both love each other so they get married and go on their honeymoon. When they return the Nazis have taken over Austria and the Captain is expected to join their navy and fight for them. He doesn’t want to do that, so they make a plan to sing at the Salzburg Music Festival and then flee the country. It’s sad that they had to leave, but good that they could stay together as a family.
What was really good about it? I enjoyed every song and the way it was performed. I was told that the singing was quieter and the lights were brighter because we went to the relaxed performance, I didn’t actually think the singing was quiet because it still sounded good to me.
Just, on the whole, it was an amazing show to see. If you don’t go to see this show you will regret it.
Gina Beck as Maria was incredible, especially her singing. She was just like Julie Andrews in the film.
Ed Harrison plays Captain von Trapp really well. I liked him because he sticks to his morals throughout but changes from being a stern father to a nicer, more loving one.
I really liked Max’s character because he was funny because he always wanted to be around rich people and was always trying to get his own way by getting performers for his show. Ako Mitchell was great as Max.
I got a salted caramel ice cream at the interval. It tasted so, so nice.
I was lucky enough to meet some of the cast after the show and they were all really friendly. There was Ed Harrison who plays Captain von Trapp, Ako Mitchell who plays Max and Rebecca Ridout who plays one of the Nuns. You can see me with them in the photos below.
What could be better? I think the only problem was that, in my opinion, there was slightly too much kissing and that is not one of my favourite things.
I didn’t really like all of the Nazi symbols and soldiers because they were a bit scary, but it did give us a good understanding of what it would have been like for them.
What my dad thinks? I’m not ashamed to say I got a bit misty-eyed at this one. The first act is all warm nostalgia brilliantly executed but the second act hits a whole other level of powerful poignancy.
All of the singing was fantastic, but the harmonies created by the Nuns particularly blew me away.
The performance we went to was a relaxed performance and I must give enormous credit to the cast of SoM and the staff at CFT who did a great job. They really considered everyone’s needs and made it an enjoyable experience for all. Inclusion really does matter and they did a great job of making everyone welcome.
Star Rating – 🧡💛💚💙💜
Me with Ed Harrison, Ako Mitchell and Rebecca Ridout from the Sound of Music cast
Ed Harrison plays Captain von Trapp in the Sound of Music
Ako Mitchell plays Max in the Sound of Music at CFT
Rebecca Ridout was one of the nuns in the Sound of Music
What’s the show about? The show is about a mother called Caroline Goose, her husband Vic and son Jack, who all look after a group of animals including a cricket, a tortoise and a cat.
Then Cilla Quack come along – she’s a goose from Gooseland. She finds her way into the family and she helps them with paying the bills by laying golden eggs. The golden eggs help to pay off the evil energy company and all is going to plan.
However, Mother Goose gets tempted into a life of fame and fortune by Malignia in return for Cilla who is sent back to Gooseland.
Caroline Goose gets everything she ever wanted, but leaves her family and friends behind. Eventually she realises her mistake and tries to right her wrongs. This means she has to go on a mission to Gooseland to save Cilla and win back her family and friends.
What was really good about it? I enjoyed lots of it. The bit that I liked the most was the songs and the way that they were performed. I knew a few of the songs because they were famous songs that just had some of the words changed.
I also enjoyed the funny parts and laughed a lot but then again it’s a panto so I kind of expected some laughs. There were some parts that I didn’t understand but my dad laughed at which I didn’t understand as well. Interval meant ice cream! Yippee!
It was nice that it started at 5pm rather than 7:30pm, so when we got home I wasn’t too tired.
What could be better? I think that there wasn’t much I didn’t enjoy or think that could be better.
What my dad thinks? Mother Goose is packed full of laughs for everyone. Quite a few were more for the adults but they sailed merrily over the heads of our children, so we all had a great time. The singing, particularly from a few of the ensemble, was very impressive. It was a privilege to see Sir Ian McKellen on stage again, and I hope he didn’t hurt himself too much when he took a tumble.
