Tag: Travel

The Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo

by Bookworm&TheatreMouse

The Royaly Military Tattoo has been part of the August Bank Holiday viewing for as long as I can remember, always looking like one of the greatest shows on earth. Miss W asked if I would go and see it, as it is also something that holds happy memories for her. And, I am so, so glad that we went; it was one of the best evenings of entertainment I have been to.

The theme of this year’s Tattoo is Kaleidoscope (a celebration of glorious symmetries), a celebration of the colour that makes this world the wonderful place we live in; a mixture of fabulous culture that makes up the rainbow of the world.

Military music has so much power and emtion behind it, from the moment the first note is heard, you have goosebumps and are engulfed in the Tattoo.

I don’t think I have the skill to describe how truly wonderful every moment of the Tattoo was. However, I can share that there were stunning performances from military bands from Nigeria, Germany, Trinidad and Tobago, France, New Zealand, China and the Shetlands Isles. As well as dancers transporting us all around the world and putting us right in the middle of their culture.

And then we are returned to the massed military bands, and massed pipers and drums. Together they create a human kaleidoscope as they continue to engage and entertain the audience.

However, for me, even more powerful than all of this and seeing a whole audience join for ‘Auld Lang Syne’ is when we were asked to remember all of those who have fallen or been impacted by war, supported by the projection of candles of remembrance on the castle and concluding with ‘The Lone Piper’ on the castle walls.

I may not have summed up every detail of The Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo because I am not sure words do it justice. However, military music, colour, dancers and fireworks make for one of the most marvellous shows I have ever been to. I would love to go back!

Edinburgh Fringe Festival 2019 – Part Two

by Bookworm&TheatreMouse

There is so much at the Edinburgh Fringe – it is like an assault on the senses – but this also means that there is lots of choice. So, the main theme of the rest of the trip was music.

All the King’s Men

From the moment I finally caught up with the real world and saw ‘Pitch Perfect’, I became fascinated by ‘a coppella’ music. So when we spotted the opportunity to see the all male a cappella group ‘All the King’s Men’, we could not turn it down.

Their covers of a range of tunes were brilliant. They engage the audience with their slick choreography and amazing vocal talents.

The favourite for me was the cover of ‘I wanna dance with somebody’. Who can’t enjoy a singalong to such a classic? However, every song was brilliant, and you can not help leaving with a smile on your face and singing some tunes.

Avenue Q

This is a musical I have seen before and this production did not disappoint.

Avenue Q is Sesame Street for adults (and is certainly full of adult themes – this is not a family show). Part of the charm is that we all remember Sesame Street with rose-tinted glasses, and this gives us an excuse to enjoy such things again.

The laughs in Avenue Q are continuous (even if you are not sure if you should laugh at every song and joke). The talent of the puppeteers is impressive, the taking on of their puppets’ characters as well as working the puppets themselves.

It was a great production with a minimal set that worked for all the scenes, and talented actors who took on more than one part.

The Dolly Parton Story

Miss W is a huge Dolly Parton fan, so we could not turn down the chance to see ‘The Dolly Parton Story’. This is a show which tells the story of Dolly Parton’s career up until the 80’s – and, as we go, songs are sung along the way.

The songs in thsi show are sung by Hannah Richards, and she does this beautifully. Dolly would be proud of the show that is put on for the audience.

The audience is offered the stories behind some of Dolly Parton’s famous songs, as well as learning what a real rags-to-riches life the Queen of Country has led, with its ups and downs.

It was wonderful to see the audience really embrace the chance to have a singalong to end the show. After such a brillaint morning, it was an afternoon of Dolly Parton earworms.

Unfortunate

This was a surprise favourite of the Edinburgh Festival for both of us, I think. A friend recommended that we should go and see the offering from the ‘Fat Rascal Theatre’, and so we went to see ‘Unfortunate: The Untold Story of Ursula the Sea Witch’. As ‘The Little Mermaid’ is my favourite Disney film, this seemed like something I would enjoy!

And, oh my word, we enjoyed it. It was laugh-out-loud funny from almost the very first moment. The songs are truly wondeful (and, no, you won’t them before you arrive), as they create quite a parody of that classic film. This is not a family show – it has rather adult humour – Ariel has a whole different character to the film.

The show is wonderfully presented with a brilliantly simplistic stage, and costumes and all parts played by one of five members of the company. It is brilliant how they manage to play such a range of characters.

I am really keen to go and see more shows by ‘Fat Rascal Theatre’, because it was all comedy gold.

Legally Blonde

Our final show was a production of ‘Legally Blonde: The Musical’. This production was put on by the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. This is a full production and is good fun.

This is the tale of Elle Woods as she wants to prove she can be the woman her ex-boyfriend wants. However, she shows she can be so much more. The tunes in Legally Blonde are good fun and were performed beautifully. The jokes were brought right up to date for the audience. It was a great production of a fun musical with very talented actors on the stage and another simple but impressive set, and was a great way to bring our awesome Edinburgh experience to an end.

Edinburgh Fringe Festival 2019 – Part One

by Bookworm&TheatreMouse

At the start of August, I went to Edinburgh with the lovely Miss W. She had planned a little trip for us to attend the Edinburgh Fringe; something that has been on my bucket list for years. Having grown up listening to brilliant radio comedy, I had always heard of the Fringe and it always sounded like it would be great fun – and the event did not disappoint.

So, in order to share my thoughts, I have decided to create two posts – one that focuses on the spoken word events we saw, and a second that share the music and theatre we saw. So, I guess I should begin…

Evil Genius with Russell Kane

Attending a recording of radio show is something that (again) has been on the bucket list for quite some time. So, I am over the moon that I have managed to tick that off by attending a recording of ‘Evil Genius’ with Russell Kane. This started life a BBC podcast, but is moving to BBC Radio 4. The concept of the show is that the panel must decide if a celebrity of choice is ‘evil’ or ‘genius’ – there is no grey area.

The focus of our show was Bernard Manning (not the turkey man, Miss W). I won’t spoil the outcome but the panel chaired by Russell Kane, discussed the subject with a balance of humour and serious focus to make for a very entertaining show.

I am looking forward to the episode being broadcast to remember I was there (and love Russell Kane, Miss W even let me swap seats so I could see – haha).

The Empathy Experiment

One of the great things about the Edinburgh Fringe is that there are a number of shows that are free. One such show was ‘The Empathy Experiment’.

This was a spoken word show by Rose Condo, sharing her experiment that suggests if we give up our phones, we will show more empathy.

The audience are taken through the steps of the experiment. An interesting comment on the world of modern technology we live with every day. This show certainly makes you consider the pros and cons of a world of devices.

Will you leave looking at your use of devices or level of empathy differently?

Age Fright: 35 and Counting

Wow, this was a brilliant piece of stand-up comedy as, let’s be honest, it spoke directly to me and Miss W. We were the perfect target audience (and even managed to get over our fear of being involved).

Jaleelah Galbraith leads us through the nineties again, reminding us of all theose things that made grwoing up in thet decade great fun. (Dean Cain was one of my first crushes too). It was such a giggle as we all together remember the retro decade.

However, something this show did well was not just to focus on the rose-tinted nineties, Jal also thinks about make the most of our age and the life we have, because not everybody is so lucky to see all the ages that they could go through.

Buffering

The final piece of spoken word stand-up comedy we saw was ‘Buffering’. A show based on the idea that the women feel that their life is buffering, waiting for their children to leave home, or caught in the middle of elderly relatives and children (and maybe the odd glass of wine).

Jenny Laville and Pauline Eyre take to the stage as a double act who then split into their individual stand-up acts. They use their experiences to create a relateable set of routines for all. There were so many laugh-out-loud moments and jokes for all.

There is a great chemistry between both Jenny and Pauline, which make it even more fun, and giggles galore.

We were lucky that every show we saw was absolutely brilliant, and I would recommend each one to anyone who see a good show when in Edinburgh enjoying the Fringe.

Simon Reeve – The Tour

by Bookworm&TheatreMouse

As you may know, my lovely friend Miss W and I love an adventure. This time it was a trip to Birmingham Town Hall to hear the travel presenter/adventurer Simon Reeve speak on his tour, which has coincided with the release of his book ‘Step by Step’.

We have heard Simon Reeve speak before as an ambassador for Kuoni, so we knew we were in for a good night. We were looking forward to hearing which stories he would share at this event.

To begin with he shares some information about his background – which, although he has never hidden it, may surprise some. Then he discusses and shares the different series of events which led to him presenting the amazing BBC documentaries. The joy of listening to Simon Reeve speak is not only the passion with which he speaks but also the humour. It is clear that he appreciates every chance he has but he also wants people to understand that we can all learn from travel. We can all be enriched by any kind of travel; we do not have to go far to experience adventure.

Also, the emotion with which he tells some stories shows that maybe we have to really appreciate the privileged position that we are in and build out cultural literacy and understanding of those that may not be so lucky. A chance meeting could also change lives forever (a little like my friendship with Miss W).

I certainly left the show ready for an adventure, ready to read my copy of ‘Step by Step’ and with a desire to have even more awareness of the world around us. We do not need to experience life on a screen – we need to go out and adventure. So, thank you Miss W for an amazing birthday present – where are we off to next?