EEEE me the trendsetter

It seems that Hunter is a little bit of a trendsetter.
First of all of course I created this blog, which you are of course reading.
Secondly my partner Julie decided to poke me in the eye and tell me that we are living the life too much, setting up this BLOG.
Now my dear daughter Emma has set one up...I think it was just to get out of cleaning the car, but she has some very unanswered questions...maybe you would like to help her understand, Emma's Guide To Reality


I thank you

My Fair Lady - preview- Whitley Bay Playhouse

Tynemouth Amateur Operatic Society presents My Fair Lady

Date: 28 Feb - 5 March 2011
Time: Mon - Sat 7.15pm & Sat 2.15pm
Ticket Pricing: £15 & £13 Conc. (No conc. Sat eve)

Group Bookings Available:
Buy 10 Tickets & Get 1 Extra FREE | Group Booking Information

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Tynemouth Amateur Operatic Society brings probably the greatest musical ever to the PLAYHOUSE. Awaited with fervent anticipation before its New York opening and greeted with rapturous notices, My Fair Lady has become a legend in theatre history.

Frederick Loewe

Alan Lerner and Frederick Loewe have retained the plot, characters and many of the lines from Shaw's PYGMALION and arranged them with a sparkling score. Every song is a show-stopper.

 

 

 

 

Timing Information

Monday 28 February - Saturday 5 March

Doors to Bars 6:30pm

Alan Jay Lerner

Seats Open 6:45pm
Start 7:15pm
Interval 8:45pm
2nd Half 9pm
End 9.55pm











Saturday Matinee

Doors to Bars 1:15pm
Seats Open 1:45pm
Start 2:15pm
Interval 3:45pm
2nd Half 4pm
End 4.55pm

Searching for Doctor Branovic -preview- Customs House

Searching for Doctor Branovic (by David Tristram)

Monday 21st - Wednesday 23rd February 2011, 7:30pm
The Customs House, South Shields visit website


Emma Tyler mourns the sudden and unexpected death of her husband, Joe. But all is not as it seems and, deep in the bowels of a nearby hospital, something stirs.
Enter Detective Inspector Monroe - a man who knows a thing or two about the unexpected. Last memorably seen in "Forget-Me-Knot", the grumpy, beleaguered detective soon finds himself right in the middle of another mystery which threatens to unhinge his sanity.
How did Joe manage to walk out of his own post-mortem? Where is the mysterious Doctor Branovic? How did the toaster get dented on both sides? Why has Monroe got a hole in his right hand? And, most crucially of all, does Emma Tyler really own a cat?
Throughout this highly unusual romp, the audience often know far more than the characters. But can they possibly see what's coming?

Review

"One of David Tristram's funniest and most inventive scripts to date - a sure-fire hit with all those who love his witty, madcap comedies."
Paul Taylor, Performing Rights Director, Samuel French
Visit the Customs House website to book your tickets now! Alternatively, you can ring the box office direct on 0191 454 1234.

When Harry Met Sally- Review-Whitley Bay Playhouse

Today, we have a guest review contribution from Noel Harris, friend of the stars of the local theatre scene.
I met Noel in the audience of Day8's performance of The Golden Days Of Music Hall, which I was reviewing. Since then we have been to a few productions together and I enjoy his critique and friendship.
When I opted to review Sweet Charity for The Shields Gazette I could think of no better man than Noel to work on my behalf. This is his first review....for my sake I hope that he sticks to the other side of the stage.





When Harry Met Sally
Whitley Bay Playhouse
Day 8 Productions

Having not seen the film version, I did not know what to expect from this play. Now then, I am more often on the stage than in a seat, and having worked with Day8 on their hugely successful inaugural show last year, (Jesus Christ Superstar) I had a feeling that whatever happened the production team would have done justice to the script.

The storyline is a fairly simple one, where Harry is hired to decorate Sally's apartment. Harry is used to playing the field and cannot comprehend a friendship with an attractive woman without feeling sexual desire. However, in this instance, his ideas are somewhat turned upside down, but the close friendship between them eventually leads to a bedroom scene and subsequent declaration of love. The direction by Steve Arnott was as expected, clean and precise throughout. The set was of minimalist design with cleverly constructed cubist levels, set in front of a New York backdrop. The magical part of the set was when a beautifully dressed double bed came forward from apparantly nowhere. The scene changes of sofas, table and chairs ( not forgetting the memorable exercise bikes for the gym scene) took place in virtual blackout whilst a projection screen came down, on which some beautifully shot film footage of various older couples were played. The interjection of these movie clips worked well, and I must say the audience loved the contradictory tales of how the couples met. The film quality and acting in the projected sequences was excellent with many well known faces from the coastal drama circuit making an appearance. Of course, George Knox and Christopher Carr will be remembered not only for their portrayal of an ageing couple, but the scary authenticity of their performance. I would love to see the out takes. I am sure there would be some fabulous humour in them.

The cast worked well from start to finish, with each actor playing their own part to perfection. Sally, played by Fiona Wilson, was believable as a single woman who yearned to explore her sexuality and indeed was already doing so. Her elegance  contrasted well with Harry, played by Alex Swan,who was suitably suave in his role of funky sex machine. The script gives the audience the feeling that he is more than on the edge of sleazy at times, but this seemed to endear him to the audience as the show progressed. The characters of Jack and Marie brought the comedy highs to this show, with convincing acting by James Charlton and Marie Whiteford. There was definite chemistry between the two actors who were clearly enjoying the script. The speed of their interaction, coupled with excellent facial expressions, enabled the precise delivery of every comic moment.
There were also three cameo appearances. James Mitchinson as a very toned and muscular Joe, who played his part with a high degree of sophistication and style-the audience certainly found delight in his skin-tight lycra gym outfit. Indeed so impressive was his stature, I heard one woman behind me chuckling to her friend, " Do you think it's real ? "
Toby Bridges and Sonia Hernandez ( with an H not an F as in the programme ) made a brief but well acted appearance.

So were there any downsides to this most enjoyable of evenings? Well yes, the sound could have been technically better,something that Day8 have had a lasting problem with. There were a couple of cringey moments when the side microphones picked up the bang of a passing bag, and decorators tape being pulled off the roll should not have sounded like a raspberry being blown. However, these really are minor points, and in consideration of the excellent acting and vocal projection of every cast member, these blips only added to the humour of this well performed romantic comedy.

Noel Harris

Health and the Mountains

Health and the Mountains

My lovely girlfriend Julie has created a blog, cataloguing our goal of heading to Everest Base Camp.
We really need to get fit and get it into our psyche.

We need to ask a fair amount of questions, before we book up and spend our hard earned money on this venture.

            

 

So it would be great if you could pop over to Julie and Michaels mountain madness blog have a look and if you are in the know, then help to answer our queries.



Michael Hunter

Who are you..??

Who are you..??

Hey,
I am really enjoying doing this blog, really enjoying reviewing all the wonderful performances that I have seen. To be honest I am really having trouble in finding fault with any of the plays that I have been seeing. Maybe I am lucky. Yes I know I gush over my reviews, but that is just the passion that I have for live stuff.
I am sat here watching Coronation Street, a show that I quite like, but I really want to be out there seeing actors doing the brilliant treading of the boards that they do!

I want to get better at what I am doing, from day one when I did this REVIEW I was hooked, but I know that little errors- grammatical, comprehension and outlay- exist. I didn't enjoying English when I was at school, so when it comes to writing down what I want it is sometimes a struggle. I love words and how they can conjure up a little bit of magic. It is really exciting to see some of my reviews being translated from blog to print. I have had the last seven reviews of shows in South Shields featured in The Shields Gazette, and I am getting a real buzz from it.

What I really need is somebody with a bit pointy stick to give me some good old fashioned constructive feedback. It is alright my family and friends telling me how good this was and how good that was, I really need you, my readership to come on board and tell my how good, bad or indifferent I am doing. I am getting some really good hits on here, I hope that I am helping people decide on heading out to the theatre rather than staying in watching TV, live is bloody good after all. I have a few followers and I thank you for doing that, but I would love to know who the rest of you are.
Here is a list of the last few page viewers:

1.	13 February	23:36		Comcast Cable, Woodbridge, New Jersey, United States
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Do any of you lot LIKE what I am writing?
If you do go and see any of the shows that I review, am I getting it right?

I would love you all to come and say hello from time to time, leave me a comment. Tell me what you think etc. This REVIEW and COMMENT left me wanting more! I love to get my teeth into my subject, and you lot  could really help me. I have set the comments page up so that anybody can leave a message, even anonymously, but if you don't wish to do that, my email address is included in my profile info HERE.

So thank you so much for clicking on all my links and looking at my blog.



Michael Hunter.