Thriller Live: The Musical

Every year, the Society of London Theatre has a promotion offering cut-price theatre tickets for many of the West End shows. Me and about 8 others took this opportunity to see Thriller, the musical based on Michael Jackson and his songs. It's only just opened in London after having a successful run in Manchester and I mean, really, with Michael Jackson's songs, this was going to be some kind of good.

It was a bit difficult to find some background about the show e.g. storyline, detailed reviews etc. I concluded that the show would be a biographical re-enactment of MJ's life interspersed with songs. I was a bit wrong there.

There was no script, no conventional storyline, just people on stage singing MJ's songs wearing various outfits reflective of the era or music video. There was a voiceover narration which didn't narrate all that often and was only used to introduce significant parts of MJ's music career. That's not to say the 'musical' was bad but it more or less makes it an arena spectacular.......in a theatre. Once I realised that this was not going to be MJ's stage version of Tina Turner's 'What's Love to Do with It' (with MJ's Joe Jackson to Tina's Ike Turner), then I settled back in my seat. Not what I expected, but oh well, let's enjoy the show.

The child performing MJ's Jackson 5 songs was indeed very good who put most of the adult 'Michaels' to shame.

He misses one of the notes near the end (I think his first encounter with puberty has been immortalised on TV!) but it's a decent performance.

The role of adult Michael was not burdened on just one person; there were about four to five Michaels. Sometimes they sang solo, sometimes they performed together and other times there was a specific Michael who just danced. He was a professional impersonator and his Billie Jean and Smooth Criminal scenes were particularly noteworthy. Those epileptic-fit dance moves sure do look easy, but I appreciate they're not. Here's a bootleg clip.

They even built a contraption for the bit where they bend forward (fast forward to 4.56). Of course nothing.. NOTHING... can compare the Real Deal MJ in his heyday but you gotta give this guy kudos.

Now..... I'm gonna have a dig into some of the other Michaels. Every so often during the show Kahoons and I would shoot each other 'OMFG, he's so crap' looks. These songs are difficult to sing but you would think that the producers would at least do the song justice by casting better vocalists!

I assigned the Michaels nicknames to make them more easily identifiable. There was the Usher-lookalike who I thought was just the worst. He was having a really off-night.... either that or he was just simply bad. Not 'MJ Bad', just 'bad' bad. I'm no music student, but he missed soooo many crucial notes, or as Paula Abdul would put it - he was pitchy.

Then there was the Pudgy Brian McKnight. He was mediocre at most. He'd get applause for a good karaoke performance but it was not quite arena-worthy. Also, singing loud does not equate to singing well.

MJ-dance-impersonator - I don't think he sang. Or at least, I don't recall him singing.

Then there was the Token White Guy. I'd place him level with Pudgy Brian McKnight. His performance of 'Bad' made me cringe and he was trying a bit hard. Vocals were okay but wavered on so-so to not-so-good at times. I have a feeling he can do better judging by the other videos I've seen of him on youtube. His acoustic version of Bleeding Love is quite peaceful. Maybe he's just not suited to singing MJ songs.

The best Michael by a longshot was Female Michael. Yes a woman singing MJ's songs. Makes more sense than you think. From my dress circle seats, she also vaguely looked like Janet Jackson. She just put the other Michaels to shame. Her vocals were effortless - she had the MJ signature 'wooooh!' and vocal hiccups down pat. I particularly looked forward to her performances as she was the only adult MJ who would nail each song with flair. She looked like she was enjoying it too! *thumbs up* I am somewhat biased here, but I really enjoyed her delivery of 'The Way You Make Me Feel'. They had slowed the beginning of the song with an acapella section before pumping into version we all know and she was just so damn good. I couldn't find any bootleg recordings of her performances, but I found out her name is Denise Pearson and she was part of a band. That kinda explains it.

The sound is not so great on this video so her vocal qualities might not come through.

I couldn't find any recordings of Denise singing 'The Way You Make Me Feel' but I did find this video of Haley Evettes who I assume is her understudy. Maybe I have high standards but I just think this is just plain bad and somewhat representative of the general vocal quality of the show. Yes, that is why Mr. Wong and I often shuddered.

Uggggh!!! So painful!

Despite all my criticisms and the fact that it wasn't what I expected, I actually did enjoy the show and wouldn't mind watching it again! I think is partly due to the fact that MJ songs are so easily appreciated and you would have to severely butcher them to really ruin the show. Being a hardcore fan can have it's drawbacks. I think the show will split opinions and you'll either overlook it's flaws and enjoy it immensely or you'll think it's a travesty.

This was a preview performance and hopefully by the next time I watch it, the performances will be more polished. I just feel that the show has a lot of potential to be better than what it was. It should be on par with other jukebox musicals such as the super-slick Jersey Boys, though obviously there is much more choreography involved in Thriller. I do retract my comment of expecting a storyline. If there was a storyline, there would be no time for singing all the songs and musical would go for at least three hours!

My other highlights of the show was Billie Jean (cos it's an 80s club classic) and Thriller. Nothing beats zombie dancing!

Pink Knitted Hat

The thing about knitting is that there are TONNES of free patterns available online. I got the pattern for my knitted hat from here. I used the same wool as my waffle scarf, so I could have a matching set - yay!

This was my first project using circular knitting needles and a step up from the sewn up hat that I made last year. Man, circular knitting needles are easy to use! Also, you don't get that horrible seam on a sewn up hat! This knitted up fairly quickly as the yarn I used is kinda thick and the needle size was a 6.5mm. I modified the pattern slightly so it was more floppy like a beret rather than a beanie.

Look! I'm using the stitch counters from my knitting accessory kit! *clap clap* Prior to that I was using a mixture of rings and elastic hair bands.

The finished product after blocking (ooh knitting lingo) the hat:

One side... the other side!

Hippy doing a pretty good job at modelling the hat.

How it sits on moi.

All in all, I'm pretty happy with how the hat turned out. It's a pretty good project for first time circular knitting and gives you just a slight challenge with the button strap so it's not an overly repetitive knit. It's turned out fairly dense because of the thick wool but that pretty useful for the winter here. Otherwise, once I leave London, I might never wear it again!

Cool Knitting Stuff

Yes, I put the words 'cool' and 'knitting' together in the same sentence. It is cool! And fun! And somewhat satisfying too!

My birthday was hmmm a few months ago but my friends didn't forget. They were just hanging out for the perfect gift for me (one of which I specifically requested hehehe).

My current obsession for knitting needed to be fed and I was generously given a few pressies including a Clover knitting accessory kit - full of very useful items indeed. Also, I received a Cath Kidston knitting bag which is just uber, uber cool. I know there are people out there who aren't fans of the retro chic designs but I just ruv, ruv, RUV them! I want to buy the whole store!

Me filling up the bag so it looks good for it's first photo shoot. It's quite roomy too! I can fit several balls of yarn, plenty of knitting needles, my knitting help book, the accessory kit and have room to spare!

In addition, I also received the Porsche of interchangeable knitting needles, the Addi-Click Turbos :D I need never to buy another needle again! Ok, ok so maybe one or two pairs. Oh Addi, the product of German manufacturing, I do adore you.

The cords are made of gold. GOLD, I tells ya!!

Yep, I was pretty darn happy to get these.

The case is pretty darn sexy too. *purrr, purrrr*

Look at the kit *rawr* Like a sexy dissection kit. If this doesn't make knitting sexy, I don't know what does.

Also included was this pretty heart pin. The function of this pin is a bit mysterious. Might just be for pritti-prittiness only.

I can't wait to use my pressies! Thanks guys! *muah!*

Snow Day!

You may well have heard that London received a HUGE dumping of snow today. I sit here at home blogging about it after walking to work, arriving at a nearly empty building, being informed that public transport had been halted and about 90% of the working population remained at home. I felt like a downright moron. Hmmm that does explain the empty streets.... duh. I usually don't like it when it snows but hey I can get over my usual disdain if that means I get a day off. Now I just want it to snow all the time!

The snow began falling last night and Smee took a few pics. Here's one of the adjoining street.

Aaaah so fairytale-like.

Now, I'm just waiting for Smee to come home so we can go and make Snowmen!! By the time I come back to post this blog I'll have some more pics....hehehehe.....

A few hours later.....

Well here are the pics:

St Paul's Cathedral

The view from the Millenium Bridge.

The Millenium Bridge was where we began the Snowman Hunt after I spotted this little fellow on the railing:

Here are some more Snowmen found at various places.

I wanted to make an army of Snowmen, but little did I know, I'm not very good at compacting snow and constructing large snow balls. Impatience to command an army didn't help either. This was our first snowman:

A bit difficult to spot in the white, white snow.

He was a bit lonely, so we built him a friend:

They needed another friend, so we built him yellow-cap.

Not so much a Snowman Army than a bunch of Snowman Cuties. Hehehe..

We realised than an army was going to be a bit difficult so we decided to build a Snowman Family instead.

Happy to hold a big snowball.

Smee making Daddy Snowman.

Ta-dah!!! Snowman family complete with doggy. Yep, I brought accessories.

Here they proudly stand waiting for their house to be built.

Me giving Baby Snowman a cuddle.

Giving Doggy Snowman a pat.

Not before too long, there was an onslaught of admirers wanting to photograph our sweet little family.

Look! These girls even posed with them!

We did get one question from a passing admirer in regards to the Doggy Snowman. She asked "What's that?" like as though he didn't look like a puppy :S

It started getting dark and I have to admit, I was a little sad to say goodbye to my Snowman Family. *sniff* I wanted to take them home with me and keep them in the fridge to stop them from melting!

Knitting Project - The Shrug

My current knitting project (which has taken a very long time) is a shrug. I got the pattern for free from here and thought 'Yep, ok this is the next step from hats and scarves'.

Here is an almost-finished progress shot:

I've nearly finished the second 2x2 ribbed section! Yay, the home stretch!

The mock ribbing middle section took FOREVER and I tried to knit during idle time e.g riding on buses, the tube etc..

I kinda think I picked the wrong type of yarn because a shrug should be a light piece of clothing and already I feel it's too bulky. I'm going to complete knitting this anyway so I can see the final product. Then I'll sew up the seams and then decide if I hate it or not :S

I love this ad!

I frequent Liverpool Street station often. It's close to work and a major hub for City workers. I saw this ad tonight on TV and I just WISHED I was there to see it happen in the flesh! *winces* Too bad, I was sitting at my desk pencil pushing and paper shuffling.

Now this is not a real flashmob. Just a fake one, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. They all dance well! The station looks HUGE on the video but for anyone who's been there, it's a decent size, but not that big.