Don't wanna be an American Idiot... (American Idiot musical review)

After watching American Idiot, the Green Day musical, this weekend, I've decided to create another blog entry reviewing what I saw.

Show: Friday, 8.30pm, WMC in Cardiff, 19/10/12

Some plot spoilers will occur here, so I'm just telling you now before you get all angry at me for spoiling it...

Now. As an angsty teenager, American Idiot to me was the album that all the non-Green Day fans bought and then decided they were fans of the band. So I never really took a great interest, but secretly enjoyed singing along to the album's title track if it was played on the radio or dancing along if we were out in a club. But after looking into it, the idea behind the American Idiot album went deeper than Green Day trying to be a  more commercial band. Instead, it looked at the "new American dream" and how people went about pursuing it (which is incredibly evident just from listening to the lyrics).

Not being familiar with the entire album probably helped me when I went to watch this show, as I had no idea what a lot of the music would be like or what the ideas behind it were. I expected to be able to rock out - and this expectation was more than met.

The idea is this - three friends (Johnny, Will and Tunny) all live in a non-specified suburban town, and long for something beyond it. When Johnny gets cash to get out and go to the city, he asks Will and Tunny to join him. Will, however, is torn - his girlfriend Heather has just told him she's pregnant. Will stays, and watches his two best friends leave him behind. Johnny and Tunny aren't in the city for long before Tunny sees propaganda for the ultimate glory - joining the US Army. So off he goes, leaving Johnny in the big city all alone. That's when we meet Whatsername (the love interest) and St. Jimmy, an off the rails punk rocker with a pocket full of "pixie dust" and more. The rest of the show follows the three as they make decisions and end up back where they began their story. Johnny often refers to himself as the Jesus of Suburbia (another of Green Day's tracks that features in the show). The show opens to TV theme tunes, adverts and jingles, throwing us right in the centre of commercialism at its best (or possibly worst?).

At a glimpse, the entire cast are American themselves. Alex Nee played a fabulously arrogant yet angst-ridden Johnny, and was supported well by Casey O'Farrell as lazy Will and Thomas Hettrick as Army-bound Tunny. Alyssa Diplama, Jenna Rubaii and Kennedy Caughell all excelled vocally and otherwise as love interests Whatsername, Extraordinary Girl and Heather (Will's baby-momma). The only slight disappointment came in the form of St. Jimmy (Trent Saunders), who we (I say we, my two friends and myself) didn't feel was deranged, unhinged or demented enough to play such a part at times. His first entry should have been like the second coming of Jesus - instead it was more like jazz-hands and smiles (not the impression a drug-dealer would want to give, I'm sure). After hearing that Green Day frontman Billie Joe Armstrong has played the role himself, Saunders' interpretation wasn't kooky enough for me. Vocally, however, he was spot on each time. The company all had a chance to shine, with some taking on entire songs (such as Too Much, Too Soon as the act one finale) and having a chance to show off some killer vocals. The choreography was messy and contemporary, which fit perfectly with Green Day's sometimes erratic soundtrack.

Overall the show was different yet enjoyable - it wasn't so far from musical theatre that I felt uncomfortable, but the music itself was fantastic. A particular highlight was a very haunting version of 21 Guns, sang by the females of the cast as the leading men became vulnerable (especially Tunny, who has lost a leg by this point after returning from a war zone), and Letterbomb, which was a high-energy girl empowering number in which Whatsername leaves Johnny.

Personally, I would definitely see this show again, just to keep my inner emo-kid quiet!

Jesus Christ Superstar... Do you think you're what they say you are?

So here goes my mini review for Jesus Christ Superstar tour that I saw at the Cardiff International Arena on Tuesday 2nd of October 2012.

If you don't want to know, please don't read. Otherwise, join me on my journey through reviewdom...

To start with, the concept behind an update to Jesus Christ Superstar (the famously 70s musical) left me slightly sceptical... However it really works on stage, with news reports (think the beginning of the Baz Luhrmann version of Romeo + Juliet), Tweets and news reporters covering the buzz around the Messiah. The set is basic - moving steps and projections to add to the feel of it. The show begins with the disciples versus the police in a London Riots-esque scene and follows a similarly grungy feel throughout (aside from the house where judge Pontius Pilate resides and King Herod's television studio).

Tim Minchin as Judas is obviously the star of the night, with no question. His Judas Iscariot is an angsty, slightly unhinged character whose journey to his own demise is a fascinating one to watch. His vocal is strong and consistent, who arrives into the heart of the action in an anorak, carrying a backpack. The stunning revival into "Superstar" works immensely well as he gets down with the angels in the hotpants who ask the thorn-crowned Jesus "who are you, what have you sacrificed?"

Mel C (aka Sporty Spice to anyone of a particular age) is a beautiful Mary Magdalene, with a soft vocal that really works for the part of the vulnerable follower of Jesus. She doesn't overplay the part at all, but her rendition of the famous I Don't Know How To Love Him was one of "those" moments in the show. A difficult and well-known song done wonderfully by the former Spice Girl.

Chris Moyles in his cameo as King Herod (who is played in the style of a Jeremy Kyle/Jerry Springer chat show host) is very comical, which is what the role calls for. Tuneful and camp, Moyles really gets his teeth into the part as much as you can in roughly three-minutes of stage and song time. The "public vote" results of LORD OR FRAUD revealed that Jesus had fallen out of the favour of the general viewing public, much to my amusement.

All the supporting roles are sung fantastically by Alex Hanson as a Hoff-alike Pilate (except talented), Pete Gallagher and Gerard Bentall as councillors Caiaphas and Annas (respectively) and apostles Peter and Simon played by Michael Pickering and Giovanni Spano. I particularly liked Pilate's entrance in Act 2 before Jesus is sent to Herod - he enters in sports gear, followed by a personal trainer and exercises (gently) throughout the number, unsure of why someone from Galilee (because I know where that is) has been brought to him for trial.

However, my only disappointment was Ben Forster in the role of Jesus Christ. From the beginning, Ben is tired and has the expression of exhaustion on his face (where I imagine that the Jesus at the start of the show still has some optimism about the journey ahead). His talk-miming during Tim Minchin's opening number Heaven On Their Minds is very distracting, like a small child in a bad school production. His accent is an annoying muddle of various American ones - he's clearly been on YouTube looking at the Broadway revival version for tips and watching the Ted Neely film version in bed every night before sleep. He's got a long way to go yet. The role is too crucial to have been cast brilliantly from a public vote TV show - sorry Lord Lloyd Webber. Considering he is literally in the title role, Ben barely registered on my "Superstar" radar. Perhaps with enough training he could be a great performer, but I left feeling unsatisfied with his performance.

Christ's death was particularly weak during the Crucifixion scene, especially when Tim Minchin rocked out during Superstar just before it. If I wasn't overly-familiar with the show I wouldn't have been too sure of what was happening at that point - not ONLY at that point, but at various other points too as Ben's annunciation wasn't great. Maybe this was a result of the crazy American accent?

Overall, the show is a fantastic one. For everyone who didn't make it to a nearby arena (especially at those prices) the good news is that you can ask Santa very nicely if he'll bring you the DVD on Christmas Day. I also purchased a hoody and programme, but not a CD (because it's only a digital remaster of the original, not of the tour version which is also out in time for the Festive period). The modern take really works and it was a night I'm not going to forget in a hurry.

And so the end is near...

The fast-approaching end to the summer holidays screams into view, complete with typical UK Bank Holiday weather in tow. Fantastic. It's enough to make you want to put on a onesie, curl up in your duvet and block out the world while you read a book or watch a rubbish film.

For many of us it'll be back to school. For me, back to school - but not as I know it. My armbands are being firmly removed and I'm being pushed in at the deep end (this is all a metaphor of course). I'm very much hoping that everything will go smoothly, that my classes will be filled with angels and that my job won't be as difficult as I think it's going to be.

I'm obviously deluded. But strangely hopeful.

However, the new academic year brings new challenges to everyone, whether you're teaching or being taught. I have new shoes, new clothes, a new classroom and ... well, I'll have a bit of a haircut before I go back too. So also, new hair.

I don't like this "go in hard" business when it comes to the classroom. But that's just me. I've found angles that work for me and I've improved. I'm hoping I don't go backwards and have to start again, especially as I've (many of us have) been away from the whiteboard for so long.

So. With a week to go, it's safe to say I'm scared. Well. Excited and scared. That' horrible and wonderful mixture of emotions. And that's the truth!

Being Sorted into Slytherin.

Quite literally the worst day of the Easter holidays was the day that the stupid Pottermore website sorted me into Slytherin.

Now, I have been told that the sorting is done randomly, which has placated me somewhat (but not enough really). However I'm quite miffed that the Sorting Hat has put me in the worst house you can be placed in. I would much rather have been put in Hufflepuff. No one would have taken me seriously, but at least I wouldn't be surrounded by ridiculous fan girls who are in love with the fictional badboy Draco Malfoy.

If you're into that sort of thing (which I massively am), please feel free to add me as a Pottermore friend: GalleonPixie22820
The name was randomly generated and was the least lame one going. Honestly.

Apart from that, it's pretty cool so far. I'm not very good at unlocking the unlockable content. Far too impatient for that.

Wanted: Bernard's watch...

So, I'm sure like many of my fellow "PGCE-ers" I will be spending my holidays something like this:

• Sorting out my PS/CS/school files
• Applying for a thousand jobs I'm not going to get
• Writing PS2
• Writing even more lesson plans
• Not having a lie in
• Working

Yes, we do get an extra week off, which is lovely. But my concern is that there's not going to be enough time to get everything done that we need to! Anyone got a Bernard's watch they can lend me for such an occasion...?

Squeaking like a little girl - The Woman in Black

Last night, Steve and I went to see The Woman in Black in the cinema.

Now, after pooping our pants at the stage version and being told how scary it was by other people, we thought (well, I thought) it would be a good idea to go and see the film version.

After being thoroughly annoyed that it barely followed the same basic plot idea as the book and play, I was still rather scared. I think the kids were added to give it that creep-factor and the scenes with the idiot villagers and their superstition, but it was neither in the book or the play so I didn't like it.

Steve squeaked when his reflection in the window turned into a screaming woman. That lightened the mood a little bit. As did a group of teenage girls who were just screaming/laughing/"OH MY GOD"ing all the way through it.

Radcliffe did a good job of "not being Potter", in my opinion, and I liked the man from Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy who played his mate. And the dog (not the stupid twin chihuahuas who were added in for hilarity - I did laugh out loud at them). Apart from that, the local lawyer looked a bit... well. Weird. With big eyebrows and tiny eyes. Very strange.

This is why I'm not a film critic. I don't like many adaptations and I can't really remember the characters. I refer to them as "that guy" and "the woman with the hair".

Interviews, booklets and famous friends

Long time no blog. I am bad at this business.

Not much and lots has happened since we last spoke (so to speak...)

I took part in Me & My Girl at the Taliesin, our annual board-treading. Pictures are on Facebook. I was definitely taking it seriously at all times, even with a tiger on my head...

I had an interview - which I once again did not get. But then again, none of the candidates did. It was bizarre. I won't go into it but it was an experience I think I needed to have.

I made some booklets for school, for AS and A Level English Language revision. I'm impressed that the machine can do staples too. Tres impressive, computery robot, tres impressive indeedy.

Also, friends of mine have been filmed for TV and appeared on the radio. I am surrounded by fame at the moment, all the while I am up to my elbows in lesson plans as I'm sure many of you are.

This late night pathetic blog entry is merely to pimp out Roshi's appearance (can it be called that?) on the radio, listen here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/console/b01d8nx4 roughly 1 hr 18 in to the programme, but the other bits make interesting listening too! She talks about her successful book "Homesick", which I proudly own and am attempting to work into my lessons at school... somehow... someday...!

So yeah. How's your life going?

A link to Tom Bennett

http://behaviourguru.blogspot.com/?z

Fellow almost-educators! Remember Tom Bennett what did that speech at uni about tackling behaviour? His blog can be found here :) in case anyone was wondering.

Literacy - can I really hate Meyer for getting kids reading?

So this week I am back on school placement, yay! It's much more local to me this time (and familiar as half the teaching staff also taught me when I was in school... I think this makes them feel old somewhat) so that's a bonus. Looking around the English classrooms I saw book reviews written by the students, pinned to the walls on display for all to see. Which, I must admit, was very lovely and aesthetically pleasing.

One thing that I wasn't so keen on was the volume of reviews of the novel "Twilight" that were proudly on show. While we all know Meyer is an unimaginitive writer at best, I must admit I am still unsure how I feel about her as an author and what she is doing for independent reading in teenagers.

Yes - her writing is poor and I'm sure a talented 13-year-old listening to a Paramore album could churn out something a little more eloquent. And her imagined vampire theory is awkward and, frankly, bizarre. There is not anything remotely manly or scary about a guy who sparkles - sorry Steph. However, the mass following the first four films have generated has sparked a new generation to do something novel - picking up a book (ho ho, see what I did there?). So how can I, as a champion of literacy (in training), point a finger and dismiss this very lonely woman for writing a very annoying book that teenagers want to read?

I'm probably not the first person to think of this and I'm sure I won't be the last, but I am still unsure how I feel towards Meyer. I know some teachers hold contempt for Rowling, Wilson, and other "teen" writers, but should they really be hating these people for making children - specifically teenagers - want to read? I think these writers deserve a little more credit for getting a very awkward and very stubborn generation kicking it old school and having a good old fashioned reading session.

Twilight by Stephenie Meyer - the woman with too many "e"s in her name...

New Skirt-Suit and Shoes

So on Friday I had my very first interview for a teaching job. I didn't get it, but then I didn't expect to. Not as hideously scary as I had anticipated, and decked out in my new suit (I know, I bought a suit.. it's grey with a high-waisted skirt, and is sure to make appearances at an interview near YOU soon!) and shoes I felt confident as I taught a glazed-over class half a lesson on ballads and answered some questions I may not have been 100% able to answer, but it was all-in-all a good day and all-round experience. Onwards and upwards :)

In other news, I'm now on HTC Desire #3. Carphone Warehouse, what a bloody shocking phone company. I have many bones to pick with them.

One week left in university before we're kicked out and back into a school. I'm off to school in Swansea, grateful that I won't be driving 40 minutes there and back every day. I think we're all itching to be back in a classroom, I know lots are feeling frustrated about the comedown of being back in uni. Oh well. One more week, and off we go kids!

Did Shakespeare have Post-It notes?

Well. Today I had some very exciting news. I cannot possibly say more just yet, but I will keep y'all informed via the magic of the interwebs.

Had a lovely session on teaching Shakespeare today, using some things I'd never have thought about. I particularly enjoyed a post-it note task where different colours represented different things: green was what do I want to do next, pink was what do I want to say next, and orange was what do I think. After reading a conversation between Capulet and Juliet, where she refuses to marry Paris and - to be honest - Capulet isn't massively happy about what his daughter's telling him, we had to write Juliet's thoughts, feelings and what she wanted to or should say next. After swapping with another table, we had to jumble them up and make some kind of soliloquy with them, regardless of whether they were an action/quote/thought. It was very good and hands-on, something I definitely liked doing and want to try.

That is my teachery thought for the day.

"Edumacation. Learn me a book."

Carys Versus The Carphone Warehouse

So. I have lately been having an ongoing battle with The Carphone Warehouse. At first, my phone was randomly switching itself off so I took it to be repaired. They sent it off, blah blah blah, and I had a phone-call stating the phone was ready to be collected.
Except, when I turned up, there was no phone in store ready to be collected.
My phone had been delivered to the wrong store and was, therefore, lost. Forever.
So instead, the buggers sent me a refurbished version of the phone I already had, much to my utter dismay, especially after all the shite I went through with the refurbished BlackBerry Curves.
I had the refurbished one on Friday. No software issues, and no scratches. BUT there's a buzzing in the earpiece, so I've convinced them to send me another one while I keep the HTC, and I'll exchange them when the phone arrives.
This phone saga seems to be the story of my life. Utterly unfascinating as I am aware, but it's what's going on for now.
The plot thickens. I shall keep you updated, Lord knows you are desperate to know the outcome of my most tragical tale.

A New Year, A New Blog

And henceforth, these shall be the random ramblings of Carys. Not quite an adult, not quite a teacher, but definitely always busy. Always tired too.

The random bits of fluff and stuff you'll find here will be just short accounts of "stuff what happens to me" this year.

For those of you who don't know: My name is Carys and I'm a musical theatre addict/student teacher/tea drinker/serial sleeper.

I wonder how long I can keep this up...