pryordurkin™

We went along with Andrew and Wendy, to see Laurel and Hardy at York’s Theatre Royal last Saturday evening.

Written by Tom McGrath and Directed by Damian Cruden it proved to be a surprisingly entertaining and informative evening given my original expectations were quite low.

Even after booking the tickets when they first came out, I wondered how Andre Vincent as Oliver Hardy and Martin Barrass as Stan Laurel would pull this off.  I clearly hadn’t realised that the writing by Tom McGrath would structure the evening in such as way as to include an interesting insight into this famous duo’s life as well as managing to bring with it, the music and humour associated with the original comic pairing that I spent many hours watching on a Saturday an Sunday morning as a kid.

Martin Barrass is well known to the loyal York Theatre Royal audience and never fails to deliver even though he has had a very busy summer season.  Andre Vincent has played this role before and clearly has a deep understanding of Oliver Hardy, mannerisms and all.

As their website says it is “An unmissable comedy contemplating the life, loves and losses of the prolific comedy duo Laurel and Hardy“  and we highly recommend you catch the show which runs up to the 5th November.

Show description taken from York Theatre Royal Website below.

Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy are stuck in a waiting room somewhere between death and eternity. Before they can pass into the next world they take a look back at their lives and loves and offer a fascinating insight into their off-screen relationships and personal heartaches.

With some of their finest comedy routines, musical numbers, dance and slapstick, the charm and wit of Stan and Ollie are reborn in a warm and affectionate homage to one of the most successful and prolific comedy teams in history.

Pryordurkin rating 4 stars.

More at http://www.miserybear.com/films.html

What with us being two sophisticated consumers of the arts, we are booked up with a couple of our friends to see Madam Butterfly at the Royal Albert Hall in early March.  Not wanting to rough it in any way, we have managed to bag seats in a central box with perfect views of the stage. 

We have very little idea of what this opera is about (is it an opera – to be fair I am guessing), other than an old work colleague once recommended that if it ever returned to the Royal Albert Hall, that I must go see it.  Apparently the setting of the Albert Hall add something extra to the show itself. 

We will know doubt report on our experiences.  If you fancy it yourself, check the website.

Don’t tell anyone but we like Glee. 

When working 25 * 8, there is nothing better than getting home and putting all thoughts of work behind by watching an episode of Glee. 

The new series has just started on E4 and this week it has focussed on Britney Spears.

Very camp, very easy on the brain and a great way to wind down.

Pryordurkin recommend.

We went along to watch The Wind in the Willows at York Theatre Royal last night.  We had booked up more out of curiosity really because we had heard that the theatre had been transformed in a way that many would not recognise.  Not quite believing that was possible, I particularly wanted to see how they had done it.

We weren’t disappointed.  It was a very good show, professionally produced, wonderfully played by out by actors and musicians alike, with a gently flowing story that the old and young could follow with equal amusement and pleasure.

The set design was stunning.  They had effectively built the set on top of what used to be the Stalls and used what was the old stage as additional seating.  What you had in the end was a stage surrounded by the audience, some of whom played their own minor parts.  Taking a traditional old fashioned theatre and turning it into something different was a stroke of genius.

The audience last night was made up of old and young alike.  Even with many a kid in the audience, the story playing out on the centre stage kept them totally amused so that there was none of the usual crying out of boredom.

Finally, if you are still yet to see this show, don’t do what we did.  It turned out that we arrived with one minute to spare before ‘curtain up.  The show starts at 7pm and not the usual 7.30pm we are mostly used to.  Thankfully my approach to time management, meant I always build a little contingency in for the unexpected, so we were still able to take our seats before the action kicked off.

Pryordurkin rating 5 stars.