Rock ‘n Roll Pants. A review.
The scenery was nicely painted.
Hey… maybe I should quit now while I’m ahead. End on a positive note, as it were? Just go to bed.
But I can’t. The sound of Theatr Clwyd’s Rock ‘n Roll Panto is still ringing grating in my head.
They tried their best.
Well actually… No. They didn’t. Read the rest of this entry »
Catrin Morris
Album Page Proofs
Image files are compressed for faster loading over the internet and therefore cannot truly represent the tonality and quality of the finished printed portraits.
When you’ve had your fill of nativities and carol services, get yourself down to Liverpool’s Royal Court Theatre for the finest antidote known to man – Scouse Humour.
Merry Ding Dong is playwrite Fred Lawless’s Christmas Story about two warring families whose neighbouring houses in Speak are painted, respectively, Red and Blue
Are you beginning to get the picture?
And there is a touch of poetic irony in the fact that whilst the actors playing the feuding fathers are Merseyside football fans, Evertonian Jake Abraham has been cast as Noel the big Liverpool FC supporter, whilst Stephen Aintree who plays the ‘Red’ Chris has the exact opposite allegiance in real life! On stage they were very convincing in their new colours and kept us in stitches thoughout.
The story revolves around life-long friends Chris and Noel who fell out during a holiday both families spent at Talacre in North Wales. The actual reason behind the falling out is not revealed until late on in the play. I won’t spoil it for you, but if you are a football fan you will really appreciate the audience reaction when it happens!
I must say the entire cast displayed a remarkably proficient level of musical ability. Royal Court regulars Eithne Brown and Lindzi Germain were spot on as usual, whilst Stephen Fletcher and Rachael Rae (who played the neighbouring teenage lovers) where quite outstanding at times. Stephen turned out a remarkable Elvis impersonation with his comedic version of “Blue Blue Christmas” and the diminutive Rachel belted out a parody of Mariah Carey’s ‘All I Want For Christmas Is You’ that would have got her through to Simon Cowel’s final two with no problem at all.
This musical comedy is festively awash with dozens of Christmas songs, both traditional and modern. Although I have to say any of the songwriters who have graves to turn in would be spinning like tops if they heard what has been done to their lyrics. Very very funny. And totally irreverent!
Speaking of reverence, the part of the vicar was played by Alan Stocks. And he gave us one of the funniest, and at the same time most convincing, stage performances of a drunk that I have ever seen.
He too had a good singing voice. It was one you would definitely describe as baritone bordering on soprano. It was some surprise, therefore, when he appeared descending in a helicopter to the opening bars of “Walking in the Air”. The whole theatre erupted as he consumed the contents a helium balloon to perform the number, note perfect, as a tenor bordering on falsetto!
How the cast kept straight faces defeats me, for they obviously enjoyed performing as much as the audience enjoyed watching. I wasn’t the only one in that packed Wednesday night house wiping tears of laughter off my cheeks.
A standing ovation brought these seven talented actors back out to perform one last hilarious number as a curtain call – and we were all on our feet joining in.
Merry Ding Dong runs until January 23rd. We’re going to see it again – and you really shouldn’t miss it!
You can also read my review on the Liverpool Daily Post website
Gemma’s Proofs
Gemma’s proofs (final selection) from a recent studio session.
…and the rest of the shots (unretouched) from the initial short-list
Please note: the files have been compressed to facilitate faster loading over the internet and therefore cannot truly represent the tonality, sharpness and colour fidelity of the finished retouched portraits.
Can you remember what you were doing 29 years ago today?
I can. It was my day off. I dragged myself out of bed mid morning, turned the kettle on and then the radio.
The kettle boiled dry.
Shocked by the news, I never got my morning cuppa. I sat all day, stunned, as a crackly medium wave Radio City struggled to reach over the Welsh mountains. They played Beatles tracks all day back-to-back.
John Lennon had been shot.
The following day I was back at work for the Evening Leader newspaper. Myself and feature-writer Carol James were the only newspaper people John’s ex wife Cynthia would talk to at that sad time. We interviewed and photographed her at her home in Castle Street, Ruthin, whilst the photographers from the Nationals were dropping mind-blowingly huge cheques through her letterbox desperate for exclusive pictures and an interview. She tore them all up.
We got through the door because we were journos she could trust to be sensitive and not sensationalise how she felt about John’s death, having previously done a feature about her charity work a few months earlier and prior to that a promotinal peice about her book A Twist of Lennon.
For me, the whole thing was made far more poignant since I’d been part of the 60s/70s music scene myself.
My band, The Executioners, had graduated from the local village hall dances, through the Chester and Deeside working-mens clubs, to earn our place on the Mersey Beat scene. We played the Cavern, The Iron Door, Tower Ballroom New Brighton and many other Merseyside Clubs, alongside the likes of the Searchers, The Big Three, Freddie Starr and the Midnighters, The Black Abbots, and the Undertakers.
Sadly, we were never on the same bill as The Beatles, so I never got to meet John Lennon.
It was spooky when some time later, I photographed Julian Lennon as a young man because at that time he was just like his father during the Cavern years.
Today, 29 years after his untimely death, John’s music is as fresh and meaningful as back then. It will live on forever. But I often wonder what he would be doing now had December 8th 1980 never happened.
The Wheel
The Ferris Wheel, lighting up the night sky and reflected in the windows of the restaurants on the park above Liverpool One.
(Hit F11 to view Full Screen)
Twitter Banter
A bit of Twitter banter between the Hairy Photographer and the not-so-hairy Eamonn Holmes this morning.
Glad I was able to help him sort out such an important life-changing dilemma!! Read the rest of this entry »
December 2009 – Beauty and the Beast
Miss December
is Sue Evans.
Dancer Sue strikes up a pose from Cabaret.
At the moment, however, whilst her calendar page is gracing wall all over the world, Sue is contemplating the pose she will be striking in the maternity ward at the end of this month!
Mr December
is chef Jason Jones.
Jason can be found roasting his chestnuts in the kitchens of Bar-W at the Wynnstay Arms in Ruthin.
Check out the official calendar website.
