Chicago and Blood brothers

Yesterday I went to London to see Chicago and I've been waiting so long to see this musical I honestly couldn’t wait. The only film I seem to watch lately is Chicago and I thought the show would be just as spectacular. To start with I was a bit disappointed because I found I really didn’t like the opening. I’m not sure why because the dancing was amazing and the girl playing Velma had such a stunning voice but for me it didn’t feel big enough for some reason. But I quickly fell in love with the whole production and especially the dancing. For me it was really hard not to compare it to the film considering the songs and speech were pretty much the same and this meant at some points I didn’t like how it was carried out on stage but for my mum who had never watched the film before it was amazing and perfectly portrayed on stage.
The dancing was the main thing I noticed throughout because it was so perfect and unique to the show. I started off being really unsure about the band being on the stage because it’s unheard of but I soon realised it made the show and Chicago is probably the only show that can get away with such a bold moved. I think anyone would love this show!
After walking out of the Chicago theatre I jokingly said to my mum that I hadn’t seen blood brother for a few years and thought it was about time I went again... and she said ‘ok is it near here?’ The next thing I know we’ve found half price tickets and are sitting in another theatre for the second time of the day. Best.day.ever!
Blood brothers is the all time perfect musical. It has absolutely everything! And there aren’t that many musicals I’ve seen that I would happily go back to again and again but you can’t ever get bored of this one. It’s so beautifully written and the songs just get to you. There is nothing bad about it at all. It always amazes me how child-like the adults are and they have to go from being impossibly happy to completely depressed and out of hope in such a small space of time it must be very challenging and I admire their talent. I am also very jealous of the performers who get to be in this musical.
Seeing two musicals in one day means you can’t help but compare them. The audience reaction to Chicago was nowhere near as good as the reaction to blood brothers. I think this is because Chicago is a very almost jolly musical despite its somewhat dark themes. Whereas blood brothers is a real journey and people do connect and sympathise a lot more.

Bob Fosse

Bob Fosse is known as one of the greatest pioneers of jazz dance. He was born on June 23rd 1927. He was born in Chicago he admired the great tap dancer Fred Astaire and wanted to follow in his footsteps with the hope of becoming a great dancer himself. For this to be even attempted he moved to New York early on in his life.
He first attempted to make it as an actor but found he wasn’t offered enough roles to continue this as a career his next move was to choreograph the Pyjama game a musical that is still popular today. Perhaps his most famous musical ‘Chicago’ is what most people know Fosse for. And its in this musical his influence on the world of jazz is really shown. His evolution of jazz dance meant that routines were more stylised and specific to the story that was attempting to be told as opposed to the more improvised style of jazz previously seen. Some admirers of his work say that Fosse added ‘sex appeal’ something that hadn’t been allowed into the world of jazz before.
Fosse’s style of jazz meant a lot more people wanted to learn the dance because now it was more appealing to younger people searching for a more expressive style of dance. Some of his moves such as jazz hands have stuck around and become a massive part in jazz dance.
Fosse was drug addict and self confessed womanizer which was shown clearly in his autobiographical film ‘all that jazz’. However its his struggle though life that makes his amazing work even more admirable.

Jazz costumes

Jazz costumes
Traditional jazz costumes are black with shoes that somewhat resemble tap shoes. The general stereotype is that jazz dancers wear black hats which is true in a lot of films and routines, this makes the dance more easily identified as people will recognise this sort of costuming. Jazz costumes are about fun and should reflect the dance style well. More modern costumes consist of crop tops and baggy trousers. These outfits must allow the dancers to carry out the energetic dance style well whilst not taking away form the all important dance moves.
Depending on what the choreography is aiming to get across to the audience also effects the costume choice. Jazz, like most other dances, lets the costumes compliment the dancing and more modern costumes are very bright to add to the impact of the fun music and enjoyable dance routines.

The history of jazz

Jazz
Jazz is a dance style that has had some influence in almost all modern dance styles today. Its recognised world wide as a fun, swing-like dance that films always portray as having a full scale band behind it as a music source.

The history of jazz
Jazz dance has been around for many years however what we class as jazz dance today is nothing like what the original forms of jazz actually were. Prior to the 1920’s jazz was used to refer to the African American vernacular dance. This vernacular dance was like a folk dance used at social gatherings to bring people closer together. It was mostly improvised but had an odd twist to it and was mostly based on improvisation. This completely different dance style had to have a completely different name and the term jazz was devised. Its not the dance itself that resembles modern jazz in any way it was more the instruments that go along side it that let it lend its name to what we call jazz today. Although this was the first time the term ‘jazz’ was used its thought that the dance side of the creation of jazz began in the 1800’s with African slaves dancing as a method of keeping fit.
However it wasn’t until the 1950’s that the dance we know and recognise as jazz began to take form. Jazz music came before jazz dance and the brass instruments with a smooth sort of sound led to the creation of jazz dance. Pioneers of the dance form such as Katherine Dunham took the traditional Caribbean/African dance and transformed it into a performing art that became not just enjoyable to perform but to watch. Still at this point jazz was not a very popular dance form.
As the music at the time was the main influence in starting modern jazz when the music began to make a regular appearance in Broadway it follows suit that jazz dance also found a way to the stage. It was on Broadway that the dance continued to evolve into what is known and taught as jazz today, much smoother and more flowing than the very first origins of the style.
Today jazz has become a dance style in its own right. Its thanks to inspirational choreographers such ad Bob Fosse that so many people have become interested in the dance style. Its break into the modern world through films such as ‘Caberat’ and ‘all that jazz’ mean that younger people are constantly being drawn to the style and mean its popularity continues into the modern world.

Ghost the musical

Ghost at the Piccadilly theatre
As a birthday present I went to see ghost the musical last Friday. I’ve been in love with the film for years and was desperate to see it before Richard Fleeshman stopped playing Sam. I was mostly curious to see how they could possibly make such a classic film a musical and as to how some of the effects would be carried out.
One thing I noticed straight away was how they kept it as close to the film as possible. Id clearly watched the film to much when I noticed big parts of the script were exactly the same. I thought this was very good even the set and costumes were as close to the ones in the film as is possible on a stage. I did think the very first song felt weird though. I think this was only because so far it had been so close to the film, and because I’d seen the film way too much, it just seemed a bit cringey and out of place to start with. But once I managed to stop comparing it to the film I think the songs made it all so much more enjoyable to watch.
The effects were amazing! When Sam (Richard Fleeshman) dies the way another body is there instantly to replace his when he runs into his ghost form was flawlessly carried out. All through the performance the ‘ghosts’ all had a slight blue tinge to them which was very effective in letting the audience distinguish between what actors we were meant to be seeing as alive and dead. Also the sections of the show carried out on the train station were extraordinary. The ghost of the train appeared to have the power to make people around him float along with their processions. The first time this happened I think the whole audience had a moment of ‘wow’. Then the next time this floating people thing happened I was determine to find out how it was done. So it very cleverly turns out that people dressed in black from head to toe performed balances and lifts with the actors which in contrast were all dressed in very bright clothes. And they were simply lifting the props to give the floating effect. The darkness of the current set and the low lighting when this happens means that unless (like me) you are purposely looking around desperate to find out how this was happening you would have no idea. When I realised my mum hadn’t sussed it I was quite pleased with my detective work and then the final time this happened she noticed the odd hand shape as well.
All the actors were fantastic but Oda May made the show. She was perfect! Following in the footsteps of Whoopi Goldberg must’ve been terrifying but in my opinion this actress was funnier, I couldn’t say why but just something about her and her natural flare for this character made her stand out a lot more than any other performer. Her voice was so powerful that it was impossible not to admire her.
I would recommend this musical to anyone i'm so glad I finally got to go and watch it!