Theatre Reviews, Tom's Reviews

The Famous Five: A New Musical

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The Famous Five: A New Musical – October 2022

Who? A co-production between Chichester Festival Theatre and Theatr Clwyd

What? The Famous Five: A New Musical

Where? Chichester Festival Theatre

When? 21st October – 12th November 2022

What’s the show about? 3 children (Julian, Dick and Anne) go to stay with their cousin (George) for the summer. After George falls out with her dad, the four of them and their dog (Timmy) decide to run away and go on an adventure. Unfortunately, George and Timmy got kidnapped and the others had to come to the rescue.

What was really good about it? The music was great. I really liked all of the songs and the way they were performed. They tell the story by acting out the song instead of dancing and it’s really clever.

I also enjoyed the funny bits of the show. Bobby was particularly funny and had loads of jobs. It was a bit like Miss Rabbit from Peppa Pig. I wasn’t sure how he had the time to do every job! He also (weirdly) wore lots of hats. I wasn’t sure where I would store them all.

My favourite characters were Dick and George. Dick because he kept talking about food and I felt I was agreeing with him most of the time. George was great because she was so brave and courageous and always looked for adventures.

There were some amazing puppets in the show. There was a puppet for the dog (Timmy) for the whole body. I wasn’t sure where the treats went once someone had given him one though. There was a puppet for a sheep, that was very funny, it could even make noises, like baa. I also liked the birds (puppets as well) flying around and through the air and the seal puppet made everyone laugh.

Before the show, we had an afternoon tea at the Brasserie, I especially enjoyed the blue candyfloss. My sister’s favourite thing was the blue candyfloss as well (see pictures below).

What could be better? We had a massive afternoon tea before the show, so we didn’t get an ice cream at the interval. Disappointing. Otherwise, it was a good show.

What my dad thinks? “The kids loved it. The songs were great (especially Jump, Fly, Fall) and there was a lot of humour in the show. The character of Bobby offered a lot of the laughs with some genuinely funny lines, but I didn’t really get why this otherwise likeable, happy character decided to become the evil sidekick to the villain.”

Star Rating – ❤❤❤❤❤

Match Report, Tom's Reviews

Plymouth Argyle vs Bolton – Tom’s Match Report

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This was my first time watching Argyle since December 2019 and I was really looking forward to it.

When we got to Home Park we took our seats and found that we were sat right at the front. Luckily for me, I got to wave a flag on the pitch with some other supporters as the teams came out. This is me having a great time by the pitch.

The Line-Up

Argyle lined up with 3 at the back and were led by captain Joe Edwards who played at wingback. I was looking forward to seeing Villa loanee, Finn Azaz after he’d scored 3 goals in his first 5 games for the Greens.

Cooper

Galloway Scarr Lonwijk

Edwards (C) Butcher Houghton Mumba

Mayor Azaz

Ennis

First Half

The first twenty minutes were pretty even, but Bolton had the better chances. We also found out that the Bolton forwards like to dive, I feel that they should have got yellow carded.

The opening goal came from a long ball from Lonwijk that the Bolton defender missed and Niall Ennis latched onto, he put the goalkeeper on his backside and slotted the ball into the left bottom corner.

At Half Time

At half time Neil Warnock came out and was introduced to the crowd. He used to manage Plymouth Argyle.

Second Half

Bolton got much better, taking more chances and pouncing on the Argyle mistakes. Michael Cooper was brilliant between the sticks for Argyle and made a particularly magical save to keep it at 1-0. Diving to his right, Cooper lurched back to his left to tip the ball on to the post.

Ryan Hardie came on to score a great goal and secure the three points and sent the fans wild. Argyle are now up to fifth and are well placed to have a good season in League One and maybe even push for promotion.

Player Ratings

My man of the Match was Michael Cooper because he made great saves to keep Argyle in the lead and was a brilliant player throughout the match. Danny Mayor was great on the ball and calm under pressure while Dan Scarr was solid at the back. Mumba and Ennis were good at creating exciting chances.

Cooper – 9

Galloway – 7 Scarr – 9 Lonwijk – 6

Edwards – 7 Butcher – 8 Houghton – 7 Mumba – 8

Mayor – 9 Azaz – 7

Ennis – 8

Me and my Dad celebrate Ryan Hardie’s goal
The team celebrate Argyle’s second goal right in front of us
Outside Home Park before the match
With my Dad before the game
Theatre Reviews, Tom's Reviews

Crazy For You

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Crazy For You – August 2022

Who? Chichester Festival Theatre

What? Crazy For You

Where? Chichester Festival Theatre

When? 11th July – 4th September 2022

What’s the show about? The show starts in New York with Bobby Child whose mum and fiancée, even though they hate each other, want him to be serious about his job at the bank instead of dancing.

Bobby ends up in Deadrock, Nevada to close the theatre, because of his job at the bank, but instantly falls in love with the owner’s daughter, Polly. He tries to trick everyone by changing his look to look like Bela Zangler, the theatre owner and producer back in New York. Then, as Bela Zangler, Bobby tries to put on a show to save the theatre. After an annoying amount of only two people coming (they weren’t even in Deadrock to see the show!) they decided to stop because it was a failure.

Just when all hope seemed lost, the real Bela Zangler walks in and weirdly no one notices him until after about two or three minutes later. Later, Bobby, still dressed up as Bela Zangler, sees the real Bela Zangler having a drink so he joins him. Then they do the same movements at the same time which was very funny.

After a few mix ups, Bobby and Polly eventually end up in the same place at the same time and realise they both love each other. The live happily ever after, probably.

What was really good about it? This was the first big musical I’ve been to see and it was amazing. I really liked the dancing that went along with the singing.

My favourite songs were I Got Rhythm and Slap That Bass. The singing and dancing was all brilliant.

The best scene was when Bobby and Bela danced together while copying each other. It was really clever and really funny.

I liked Charlie Stemp’s acting as well. He’s a really good dancer and I even got to meet him a few weeks before when we were at the theatre, he was very friendly to me and my sister.

It was great that there was an interval because I got an ice cream!

What could be better? I think it would have been even better if I went to a matinee because I was really tired and didn’t go to bed until after 11pm.

What my dad thinks? “Charlie Stemp is really talented. He’s a genuine triple threat, but it’s his dancing that drives the show. He’s an absolute ball of energy. It must be exhausting.

Star Rating – ❤❤❤❤❤


With my family before the show
Taskmaster, Taskmaster in School

Talking Taskmaster at Pedagoo Hampshire 22

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On 10.9.22 I will be visiting #PedagooHampshire22 at Hayling College.

PedagooHampshire22 is the #teacher5aday inspired event that brings together enthusiastic and energetic practitioners who are keen to share their passion projects. With such a range of great people willing to give up their time for free you can not fail to be inspired and set yourself up for the year ahead.

As well as looking forward to seeing a wide range of interesting and inspiring speakers, I will also be hosting a session myself. My session will involve exploring how and when to use Taskmaster in Education. The main points I will be discussing will be around the following questions.

What is Taskmaster?

Taskmaster is an entertainment show where Greg Davies (the Taskmaster), with the help of his assistant (Alex Horne, also the show’s creator), sets out to test the wiles, wit and wisdom of five hyper-competitive comedians through a series of ludicrous tasks.

“Sublimely silly and funny”
Deborah Ross, The Mail on Sunday

“That something so pointless, so silly, so endlessly daft should exist is just delightful” Lucy Mangan, The Guardian

Why would you use it in school?

By using Taskmaster in school, children develop important life skills such as teamwork, problem solving, communication, lateral thinking and resilience, while having a lot of fun. It also supports children’s wellbeing because working as a team improves a child’s sense of belonging, and the varied nature of tasks means that it’s not always the same (sporty or academic) children who do well. Everyone has the chance to succeed, get involved and play their part.

“a big part of it involves problem solving, and it’s never boring to teach because every student will find a different solution to every problem. I did a day of Taskmaster challenges a short while ago (music and all!) and they absolutely loved it.”

Secondary Teacher

“I’ve used Taskmaster tasks within Girl Guiding NZ to teach the kids about problem solving and out of the box thinking.”

Guide Leader

“Taskmaster tasks in lessons…are great for getting students to think around questions and be creative with their solutions. Also, just really great fun.”

Teacher

“They worked in teams and it really boosted their collaboration and problem solving skills.”

Teacher

A recent Teacher Tapp survey found that 63% of the respondents believed that our education system is not currently equipping young people with 21st century skills. Taskmaster Education aims to do something about that.

When can you use it in school?

  • Transition Days
  • Start/End of term
  • Anti-Bullying Week
  • Children’s Mental Health Week
  • #SchoolTasking
  • Lesson starters
  • Topic Days
  • Any lesson, any subject

What tasks can you do?

  • From the show – plastic bag, teabag, score from the furthest distance
  • Subject specific – Learn a poem, put 100g worth of things in this bowl,
  • Positive outcome – Read a book to a child from another class, make someone laugh
  • Challenge – Physical – Quick – Extended – Prize

What should you be wary of?

  • Subjective tasks – can be fun, but also harsh
  • Time limits – allow enough time to get good outcomes, but not so much that the focus is lost – be flexible
  • Carefully consider the wording of the tasks – what’s the worst thing that could happen?
  • Consider groupings
  • Think about what you want the children to get out of the experience and tailor your Taskmaster Education experience accordingly

What next?

Get involved with Taskmaster Education (@TaskmasterEdu) / Twitter

Find out more and register an interest in School Tasking (warwick.ac.uk)

For more information on #PedagooHampshire22 visit

To get free tickets visit #PedagooHampshire22 Tickets, Sat 10 Sep 2022 at 10:30 | Eventbrite

Theatre Reviews, Tom's Reviews

The Rascally Diner

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THE RASCALLY DINER – July 2022

Who? LAS Theatre

What? The Rascally Diner

Where? Oaklands Park – Outside Chichester Festival Theatre

When? 16th July 2022

What’s the show about? The Rascally Diner is based on the book The Rascally Cake by Jeanne Willis and Korky Paul. It’s about a disgusting chef who makes a grotesque cake out of ingredients including snot and a cow pat. He tells everyone to eat disgusting things. They think the cake is evil and trying to eat Rufus Skumskins O’Parsley (the chef) so we helped them look out for the cake by doing the Cake Check. In the end though, the cake was quite nice and wanted to help Rufus Skumskins O’Parsley to cook nicer, healthier food.

What was really good about it? I really thought that the show was extremely funny and that I would definitely never want or try to eat those disgusting things even once.

It was really clever the way the set was designed because the cake sprouted out of it all over the place.

My favourite bit was when we got to join in with the Cake Check and bang our pans together. I also liked it when the big cake came out and scared Rufus Skumskins O’Parsley.

What could be better? My sister went up to the front in the show and it would have been better if they made her really eat some of the food made from rats!

What my dad thinks? “The Rascally Diner is a joyous bit of silly nonsense, packed with gross jokes about the most disgusting foods you could possibly imagine. There was a good amount of audience participation as well, which kept the children engaged and active.”

Star Rating – ❤❤❤❤

Theatre Reviews, Tom's Reviews

The Lion King

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THE LION KING – July 2022

Who? Year 6 at St James – Emsworth

What? The Lion King

Where? St James CofE Primary – Emsworth

When? 14th – 15th July 2022

What’s the show about? This show is based on the Disney film The Lion King. It’s the story of Simba the lion and how he becomes king. At the start we see Simba when he’s a young cub and his dad is teaching him all about the circle of life. When his dad dies, Simba takes the blame and runs away so his evil uncle (Scar) becomes king.

A few years later, after he’s met some new friends (Pumbaa and Timon) he returns to the Pridelands and faces Scar to take the throne back.

What was really good about it? I really liked the music and the way the children acted. The people I found the most funny were Zazu and Pumbaa. They were great because Zazu said few funny things and I think Pumbaa was funny because of the way he used his acting and voice.

What could be better? I wish I had said I would be in it. I’ll have to do it next year.

What my dad thinks? “This was a fantastic school production. The singing, acting, set, costumes and make-up were all exceptionally good and must have been the result of some phenomenal teamwork from the staff and pupils. Bravo.”

Star Rating – ❤❤❤❤❤

My sister performed with the choir for the show. She was a zebra. We called her Debra the Zebra!
Music, Year 6

Year 6 Leavers Song

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It’s the time of year where we begin to plan our Year 6 leavers’ assembly and this year we’ve written our own song based on the song Six from the hit West End musical of the same name. Originally written by Toby Marlow and Lucy Moss, Six tells the story of the six wives of Henry VIII using modern pop music and it’s really rather wonderful.

Some of our year 6 children are fans of the production and one of their parents came up with the idea of turning the title track into a Year 6 tribute. So she set to work on it and did a great job (shout out to Donna Giles). I then played with it a little bit more and put it to the music.

Below you can find the full version with the kids singing using a karaoke backing track from YouTube. After that is my original acoustic attempt. These are the lyrics.

Acoustic version – 1st 3 verses and chorus

If you want to play it on the guitar, you can find the chords on Ultimate-Guitar.com.

You’ll find our lyrics on this Google Doc, please feel free to use them to make your own version.

This is last year’s leavers’ song based on Shotgun by George Ezra
Arsenal, Football, Match Report, Tom's Reviews

Arsenal vs leeds – tom’s match report

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We met Gunnersaurus before the match.

We got to meet Gunnersaurus before the game outside of the Armoury. We also said hello to, Arsenal legend, Bob Wilson in the car park before the match. Finally, before going in, we got to see the Rugby League World Cup trophy. The Emirates will be hosted some of the matches later in the year.

Me and my dad with the Rugby League World Cup trophies

The Line-Up

Today Partey and Tierney will probably miss the end of the season with the long term injuries and I will be glad to see them again next season. I did not expect Martinelli to start over Smith Rowe, I thought Marinelli would come on for Emile Smith Rowe in the second half. Also Ben White is out with an injury, but hopefully he is back next week.

Ramsdale

Soares Holding Gabriel Tomiyasu

Ødegaard Elneny Xhaka

Saka  Nketiah  Martinelli

First Half

Before kick-off the Arsenal fans got to sing our new anthem, ‘The Angel’ by Louis Dunford. It was really good and should happen at every match. This is what is sounded like from where we were.

Within the first two minutes, Arsenal got a free kick from Saka being fouled. Odegaard whipped the ball in across the penalty area slightly missing one or two diving heads. Three minutes later, Arsenal super striker Nketiah pounced on a heavy touch by Illian Meslier, the young Leeds goalkeeper from France, and Eddie knocked the ball into the back of the net.

Ten minutes gone and Nketiah could not wait for more as Martinelli crossed the ball in and Eddie scored, slotting the ball into the bottom right corner.

Half an hour in and Luke Ayling, the Leeds United right back, got sent off for a ferocious tackle on Gabriel Martinelli, who had been only just able to actually keep the ball in play. The ref gave a yellow to begin with, but VAR made him check it. It did take some time, including a yellow card for Raphinha for protesting about the initial foul being a yellow card instead, but eventually he gave the red.

Arsenal did have some other fabulous chances to score, including two corners. Just before half time, Arsenal had another free kick, Meslier got a hand to the ball as Marcos Llorente bicycle kicked off the line, towards the corner flag.

At Half Time

At half time, the Arsenal 1971 double winning team came out. Players like Charlie George, George Graham, Frank McLintock and Bob Wilson all came out to applause from the crowd. My Grandad was jealous.

The legends of ’71 came out at half time

Second Half

In the 2nd half, Arsenal still had most of the ball but the Leeds fans were really helping to support their team. Leeds could have been able to catch Arsenal on the counter attack. During the first ten to twenty minutes of the second half Arsenal had six corners, four consecutive, two afterwards.

Sixty-six minutes in, Leeds had their 1st corner, whipped into the back post. Llorente slides downward tucks the ball under Aaron Ramsdale to score. Completely against the run of play. Arsenal were a bit nervy at times after that with Leeds on the attack. Ramsdale had to make some amazing saves to keep Arsenal ahead. Arsenal did have some more attempts though.

Player Ratings

My Man of the Match was Eddie Nketiah because of his cheekiness to sneak up on Meslier to score his first goal and class to score his second.

Ramsdale – 7

Soares – 5 Holding – 7 Gabriel – 7 Tomiyasu – 8

Ødegaard – 8 Elneny – 8 Xhaka – 7

Saka – 8  Nketiah – 9  Martinelli – 8

Arsenal are now four points ahead of fifth placed Spurs, with the North London derby on Thursday. We’re also a point behind third place Chelsea, so Arsenal might snatch third place!

Read my other match reports and review here.

Match Report, Tom's Reviews

Arsenal v Brighton – Tom’s Match Report

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The Line-Up

Tomiyasu, Partey and Tierney are now all out with long term injuries so Arteta played Granit Xhaka at left-back and Sambi Lokonga in midfield with Martin Ødegaard and Emile Smith Rowe. Having Xhaka at left-back meant the midfield had neither Xhaka or Partey and everyone in the ground agreed that was a bad thing.

Ramsdale

Soares White Gabriel Xhaka

Ødegaard Lokonga Smith Rowe

Saka  Lacazette  Martinelli

First Half

Arsenal were basically rubbish for the first 20 minutes but had a couple good chances to go in front, including a header from Gabriel Magalhaes from a free kick, swung in by Bukayo Saka. In the 28th minute, Leandro Trossard scored, easily slotting the ball in the top corner past Aaron Ramsdale, after a cross whipped in by Enock Mwepu, who got the assist.

Just before halftime, Martinelli equalised from a corner, again swung in by Saka, scoring a header from another header knocked on by Gabriel. Unfortunately, it was finally ruled out for offside by VAR after what felt like a few hours. I’ve watched it back loads of times and still don’t know if it really was offside. The point is, VAR is rubbish.

Second Half

Midway through the 2nd half, Mwepu scored Brighton’s second. It was a bullet strike, firing into the bottom left corner from the edge of the box following a great team move with an assist from Caicedo.

Arsenal finally improved and started to play well for the last 10 minutes. Ødegaard hit the bar from a freekick, then Nketiah hit the bar again from the rebound. Eventually Arsenal scored, in the 89th minute, through a deflected wonder strike produced by Martin Ødegaard from about 35 yards out. But it was too little, too late and the match ended 2-1 to the away side.

Arsenal are in a frustrating place right now, fifth in the table and on a bad run of form. Hopefully they can turn it around against Southampton next week.

Player Ratings

My Man of the Match was Martin Ødegaard because he used great technique to score his goal. The only really good thing about the game.

Ramsdale – 6

Soares – 6 White – 6 Gabriel – 5 Xhaka – 6

Ødegaard – 7 Lokonga – 5 Smith Rowe – 6

Saka – 6  Lacazette – 5  Martinelli – 6

Theatre Reviews, Tom's Reviews

Pinocchio

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PINOCCHIO – December 2021

Who? Chichester Festival Youth Theatre

What? Pinocchio

Where? Chichester Festival Theatre

When? 18th December 2021 – 1st January 2022

What’s the show about? It’s the story of a wooden puppet called Pinocchio and the toymaker who made him. Pinocchio just wants to become a real boy but he can’t because he’s made out of wood. It’s not easy for him because people want to steal from him and he doesn’t always listen or make good choices. Every time he tells a lie his nose grows longer. He gets lost along the way but in the end he finds his way home with Geppetto who is his toymaker and father.

What’s really good about it? I really liked all of it but my little sister, who is 6, found some of it a little bit scary. The singing and harmonies were really interesting to listen to. The set was clever because it moved around and it was a shop, a school, a café and even a sea monster. All of the acting was great even though they were all children. The ones who were pretending to be puppets were very funny and clever. I really like maths and there was a good bit in it when Pinocchio does some really quick mental maths and I thought it was surprising and impressive.

What could be better? If there was an interval we could have had an ice cream, that would have been good. My sister thinks the sea monster was scary, so if that wasn’t there it would have been better.

What my dad thinks? “The ensemble singing was particularly impressive this year and overall I think it’s the best CFYT production I’ve seen.”

Star Rating – ❤❤❤❤

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