8th May Not quite such a little voice after all


On Friday night TOM and I had a jolly out on another thespian adventure, this time to the lovely little theatre in Derby. Lovely because its a very pleasant little venue with a great view wherever you sit, even from the cheap seats that we often opt for. Not quite so lovely is the drive there from Matlock which both TOM and I really don't like doing esp coming home on dark twisting roads that seem to go on forever. But I digress...

We had gone to see The Rise and Fall of Little Voice, a play originally written by Jim Cartwright but made famous through the 1998 film that featured Jane Horrocks, Brenda Blethyn, Michael Caine and Jim Broadbent, a cast many directors would love to be able to assemble today. This touring production was not be able to draw on such star names, but Shobna Gulati, playing a very different role from those she portrayed in Dinnerladies and Coronation Street, was one familiar face, whilst American actress, singer and impressionist,Christina Bianco, was I am sure a revelation to many in the title role.

Whilst on occasions the material felt just a tad dated, it really was a good night out, one that balanced laugh out loud moments, pathos and some slapstick with occasions that made the audience gasp in shock at language and attitudes that were perhaps not as acceptable in 2022 as they might have been almost 30 years ago.

The story is of course about the transformation of shy agarophobic Little Voice into a singing sensation, a role very well played by Christina Bianco. Tiny in stature, but monumental in voice, the first act offered just snippets of the vocal power that was about to be released during the second half of the show. Set partly in the slightly seedy and definitely rundown club owned by Mr Boo, the theatre audience were also transformed, from one watching the play, to the club audience, about to be left slackjawed by the vocal gymnastics of Little Voice as she took us through a repertoire of show tunes including Liza Minelli, Peggy Lee, and Julie Andrews. 

Each one was pitch perfect and a wonderful tribute to the original singer being mimiced, it was also a talent to Christina Bianco that she could transform from painfully shy, agoraphobic Little Voice into someone whose stage presence and mighty roar could and indeed did give Shirley Bassey a run for her money.

The audience lapped it all up and it was not surprising that the cast got a standing ovation at the end. The tiny timid mouse had gone to be replaced by the fabulous floor filling diva, something I might try in the coming weeks.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

6th May Olbia

Image
  A chance to stretch our legs today with our first port of call; Olbia, Sardinia. And it was a quick stretch too due to it being only a five hour stay. Up bright and early, so early in fact that the hot food at the buffet wasn't even ready to be served. Still it gave us a chance to watch the ship glide into port past a host of oyster/mussel beds, before performing a 180 degree turn to reverse into it's berth. A couple of short bus rides later and we were in downtown Olbia. But there an hour or so before anything appeared to open, the disadvantage of being early birds and something we don't seem to learn! Not that Olbia had a great deal to see or maybe if we had done the slightest bit of planning beforehand there might have benn but we didn't. It was pleasant enough but that's about it. It was pleasant enough but nothing special, indeed we were back on the ship after just a couple of hours ashore and then managed to sleep away most of th...
Read more

7th May Naples

Image
 I'm sure I've heard the phrase 'see Naples and die' suggesting that it is perhaps not the nicest location in the Mediterranean but if it's good enough for Diego Maradona fir a few years then it's good enough for me for 10 hours. Although the millions of tax free pounds he was paid might have eased his stay. By the time we got up, washed, dressed and up to The Kitchens, the rest of the ship were already there. Compared to the Marie Celeste of yesterday it was absolutely packed, presumably with people having breakfast before heading out on 8am excursions, our excursion was simply going to be the city of Naples itself as possible trips to Vesuvius, Pompei or the Amalfi coast would have been too much / tired.  So on a day when the weather initially seemed uncertain, we jumped aboard route A for the Hop on Hop off bus and headed out into the mayhem that is the Napoli traffic where it was every van, car and scooter for the selves. I think it's bes...
Read more