Theatre Days - Number 2 - The Comedy About A Bank Robbery & Half A Sixpence (Thursday 16th February, Matinee and Evening Performances)

After a very successful first theatre trip of the year to see The Phantom Of The Opera, I found myself in London once again (just two weeks later) with a ticket to see The Comedy About A Bank Robbery. This was originally just going to just be a trip to see the matinee performance then come home after the show. However, I spontaneously found myself buying a ticket for Half A Sixpence. Let me tell you now though, it was without doubt one of the best spontaneous decisions I've ever made, but more about that later! So onto theatre days number 2!

A trip to London always guarantees an early start for me, so sure enough, I was up just after 7 in the morning. I made my journey to Gatwick Airport by bus, then queued up for my all day travel card, then I was off on my way! Just like two weeks previous, I was lucky enough to get a seat on the train. To tell you the truth, it was surprisingly quiet on the train actually!

A seat on the train. Good start to the day!

I arrived in London just after 10am, which gave me plenty of time to explore. I hopped on the bus to visit Oxford Street. It was on the first bus journey of the day that I recorded my first ever Facebook Live video. I've always wanted to do a spot of vlogging, so I suppose that was a good way to start! Luckily it was quiet on the bus, so I didn't look like a fool while recording myself and talking to my phone! I have to admit I was slightly nervous when recording but I got more confident when making more live videos throughout the day.

My first ever attempt at vlogging!

After a browse around Oxford Street, although sadly with no purchases, I made my way to The Fresh Pizza Co. for lunch. I really do love this place, although I might treat myself to a lunch at somewhere different on my next theatre trip. Still, you can't beat the fantastic value of this place!

I had to have a selfie with my buddy R2-D2!

Lunch at The Fresh Pizza Co. always goes down a treat!

With a full stomach, I head off on the tube to Piccadilly Circus. Once there, I took a walk around the many theatres in the area, including my favourite, Her Majesty's Theatre, also the home of The Phantom Of The Opera. I thought I'd try my luck and see if I could spot any of the cast heading into the theatre before the matinee performance started. True enough, I was lucky enough to meet a couple of the cast I met two weeks ago, including the very lovely Matt Blaker, who had a quick chat with me about my day in London. I just find it so nice that all of these actors take their time to talk to the fans.

Me and Matt Blaker, such a great guy!

After my meeting with the Phantom cast, my day was about to take a dramatic change, in a good way though! As I was in London just for a matinee performance, I knew I had lots of time to do other things after the show. I started to walk around Leicester Square when I noticed the TKTS theatre tickets booth. I thought to myself 'Shall I treat myself and see a second show?' so I went over to the ticket booth and took a look at the deals on offer. Considering it listed every show in London and the fact I want to see as many shows as possible this year, I was quite spoilt for choice! One show did stand out for me though... Half A Sixpence! The show I'd heard so much about! My mum and some of my theatre friends said I'd 'probably' like it. I didn't have a single clue what it was about, other than being a refreshed version of an old 1960s musical (of the same name) starring legendary entertainer Tommy Steele. With so many good things in the press about the show (and recommendations from friends) it was most definitely one of my must-see shows of the year. With tickets on offer at just £25 per seat in the stalls, it was too good a deal not to miss! So naturally, I queued up and got my ticket! Lucky for me, it was actually the last ticket available at that price. I was also given a free Jersey Boys pen, something else to add to my growing collection of theatre memorabilia.

I'm one happy man!

With a second show lined up for the evening, I made my way over to the Criterion Theatre to watch the show I primarily came to London to see, The Comedy About A Bank Robbery. One of the things I loved most about this theatre was that it was actually underground! Even during the performance you could feel the underground trains shaking the floor beneath your feet! As with every show I watch, I always buy a programme. I went to buy my programme at the Criterion Theatre's bar, only to realise there was a £10 minimum on using credit cards. With no cash in my wallet I thought 'Oh damn!' So what to do? I know, treat myself to an alcoholic beverage, a first for me at the theatre. So after enjoying a glass of Prosecco (how classy!) and reading the programme, I made my way to my seat, which was just 5 rows from the front and almost right in the middle, a perfect view! Before the show started, lots of 1950s rock n' roll songs were played through the speakers, which had me tapping my feet. After a few minutes, the lights dimmed down and it was showtime!

Prosecco at the theatre. Just pure class!

It's almost showtime!

After over two hours of non-stop laughing and happy tears rolling down my face, I can honestly say that I've never seen anything as funny as The Comedy About A Bank Robbery. I don't need to give away the plot as the title of the show says it all really! I knew I would be in for a good show as the show's production company, Mischief Theatre, were people I was already familiar with. I remember watching one of their first London productions, The Play That Goes Wrong, on the Royal Variety Performance a couple of years ago. Their Christmas production, Peter Pan Goes Wrong, was on BBC 1 on New Year's Eve. Loving both of the TV performances, I couldn't wait to finally see one of their shows in person. I was so not disappointed, far from it actually! I absolutely loved the show! Like I said, I've honestly never seen anything so funny. The cast were so good too, especially considering they were the new cast in the show and had only been performing in the show for a week! I did think I would be seeing the cast from the TV performances but they left the show a week before I attended. I wasn't disappointed though because the new cast were fabulous! I would argue they were even better than the old cast I'd seen on TV! Stand out performers for me were definitely the hilarious Jeremy Lloyd, who played just about every character other than the lead roles. Steffan Lloyd-Evans and Sean Kearns also played memorable roles. I'd also like to give a shoutout to the performance from the utterly gorgeous Hannah Boyce, who could possibly be my new favourite theatre actress crush!

Someone got the diamond in the end!

With tears of laughter still rolling down my face, I thought I'd try my luck and meet some of the cast. Phantom is the only show I've ever met a cast before, so I thought it would be good fun to do it at another show. The stage door for the Criterion Theatre is pretty well hidden but I found it thanks to some directions from one of the lovely girls at the theatre. I didn't have to wait too long until some of the cast came out. They were all so nice, especially the girls! Everyone was so talkative and also so appreciative that I had waited to meet them. Naturally, I got all of their autographs and selfies with them! It just had to be done!

Me and the jokers! (From left to right - Mike Bodie, Steffan Lloyd-Evans, Niall Ransome)

Sean Kearns and Me.

Me and the very beautiful and equally funny Hannah Boyce.

Me and the very lovely Holly Sumpton.

After I met the cast of Bank Robbery, I headed over to Her Majesty's Theatre to see if I might catch any of the cast of Phantom after their matinee performance had finished. Much to my delight, I got to meet that day's Phantom himself, Scott Davies! Scott has played the lead Phantom before in London but is now the main go to man if Ben Forster isn't performing the lead role. Scott was brilliant! I told him that I'm a massive fan of the show and was yet to see him perform in the show. He then said that I could friend him on Facebook and he would send me all of the dates he was performing in the show.  I mean how awesome is that, one of The Phantom's actually being your friend on Facebook! Sure enough, I added him and he accepted my request later in the day and sent me all of his performing dates. What a guy! As with all of the other Phantom cast members, he was more than happy to pose for a selfie and sign my autograph book.

Me and my new Phantom friend, Scott Davies!

With Half A Sixpence starting pretty soon, I got myself a takeaway latte at The Theatre Cafe and said hello to my friends working there, who loved my Theatre Cafe hoodie, naturally! I had to get something to eat, so I thought a cheeky McDonald's would be my best bet! Only problem was that I couldn't find anywhere to sit in the restaurant, so I thought I'd sit in Leicester Square! After recording another live video, I started tucking into my McDonald's when I noticed something out of the corner of my eye scurry past me. It was a mouse! I turned around and saw there were at least 10! So naturally, I got myself out of there and decided to eat my food while walking to the Noel Coward Theatre, where Half A Sixpence was playing.

Live from Leicester Square! 

A cheeky McDonald's and update from Leicester Square!

I arrived at the Noel Coward Theatre, brought my programme, then made my way to my seat. I couldn't believe how good my view was! Considering I only paid £25 for my ticket, I was almost central and about half way back in the stalls, a perfect view! Even better though, there was two empty seats in front of me and one empty seat next to me! I couldn't believe my luck!

The Noel Coward Theatre. Absolutely loved this theatre!

Only £25 for this view, what a steal!

I couldn't wait for the show to begin!

The show. Oh my. What a show! I can honestly say that it was one of the best things I've ever seen! Considering I knew practically nothing about the show, it was such a pleasant surprise! I absolutely lapped it up. I've never smiled so much throughout a show. There are so many good things to say about this show that I could write a whole blog about it, actually, I might do that one day! Anyway! What did I love about the show? The songs, the performances, the sets, the atmosphere, just everything! There were so many catchy songs in this show to mention. I hadn't seen the original Tommy Steele film but even I knew the song 'Flash, Bang, Wallop', which was without doubt the best moment of the show. I can't mention the songs without talking about 'Pick Out A Simple Tune', which is one of the new songs written for the updated musical. This song was one hell of a set piece! It was so refreshing to watch an old fashioned musical which also felt surprisingly fresh. It really made made me feel like I was living in the Victorian era. As I mentioned above, the performers, my god, they were just out of this world. The two leading actresses, Emma Williams and Devon-Elise Johnson were fantastic in their roles. Interestingly, I saw Emma Williams in her first West End role, when she played Truly Scrumptious in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang at the London Palladium. The supporting actors were all also very fantastic. I can't go any further though without mentioning the extraordinary Charlie Stemp, who plays lead role Arthur Kipps. What a talent! He just has everything! At the age of just 23 (the same as me) he is going to have one very wonderful career ahead of him. He actually reminded of a young Lee Evans. Charlie Stemp can sing, dance, act, just everything needed to be a West End legend and he is definitely a legend in the making!

Charlie Stemp. What a triumph!

I left the theatre with one massive grin on my face, while singing 'Flash, Bang, Wallop' out loud, I didn't care! I had never felt so happy after leaving a show. Like I said, the show had me smiling throughout. I can honestly say I've never seen such a fantastic response from a crowd like I did at Half A Sixpence. The finale/curtain call ending had the whole crowd standing on their feet clapping and singing along to the music. It just felt so good! Buying my ticket on a whim was honestly one of the best decisions I've ever made in my life! Anyway, it was getting late, so I needed to make my way to Victoria Station as quick as I could. I still had the time to record a live video of course. Thankfully, the audio cut out, as I did mention a couple of 'F' bombs, although it was in a good way, saying how much I loved Half A Sixpence.

What a show! 

So I eventually made it to Victoria Station and hopped on my train home to Gatwick Airport. I was so tired! I hadn't expected to see two shows in a day, so I think it knackered me out in the end, although I will definitely be doing it again! I eventually got home from the airport about 12am and fell asleep almost instantaneously!

I was one very tired man!

Was theatre days number 2 better than theatre days number 1? Let's give it a quick review shall we?


Trip Rating: 10/10 

Stop the press! We have a full score! My second theatre trip of the year was simply awesome! There were so many factors for this. The day itself was great. Apart from rushing to get home, the rest of the day felt much more relaxed than my first trip did, even though I stayed overnight on that trip. I think the biggest factors for the best trip of the year so far were without doubt the two shows. The Comedy About A Bank Robbery was just utterly hilarious. I've honestly never laughed so much at anything! The cast were top notch! Then there's Half A Sixpence. Writing this now I can't stop thinking about how good the show was. I'm tempted to book a ticket right now to see it again! I can honestly say that the show has become an instant favourite of mine! It's definitely up there with The Phantom Of The Opera, and that's saying something, because Phantom is an obsession of mine! That's honestly how much I loved the show! 

"Pick out a simple tune!"

Like my last trip, it was great to meet lots of cast members this time. I was very gutted that I didn't have the time to meet the cast of Half A Sixpence as I had to hurry home on the train. It was nice to meet a couple of the Phantom cast who remembered me. Meeting Phantom Scott Davies was great, especially becoming friends with him on Facebook, something I wasn't expecting to happen! 

Talking of things I wasn't expecting to happen, buying my ticket to Half A Sixpence on a whim was a pleasant surprise. Having never brought tickets on the day, it's definitely something I'm going to be doing on my many more theatre trips this year! 

I didn't meet many people like I did on my last trip but I did meet one very lovely guy from Sweden at Half A Sixpence. As I mentioned above, I had an empty seat next to me, and this guy was sitting in the next seat along. We got talking during the interval about our love for musicals and all things theatre. He eventually revealed that he was a drama student. He said that his dream role would be The Phantom. Go for it mate! Let your soul take you where you long to be!

Theatre days number 2 was one heck of a brilliant and memorable day! It's going to be hard to beat but I'm sure there'll be many more great days out in London. 

No more shows planned for February but in March I've got The Book of Mormon and Thriller Live to look forward to! I may just sneak in another spontaneous show too!

Looking forward to seeing both of these next month!

Thanks for reading! Here's to theatre days number 3! 


Lots of love, 

Michael x

Theatre Days - Number 1 - The Phantom Of The Opera (Thursday 2nd February, Evening Performance)

With so many theatre trips to London planned this year, it's no surprise that my first show of the year would be my all time favourite, The Phantom Of The Opera. Of course, it wouldn't be anything else would it! My ticket to the show was actually a late Christmas present from my Grandparents and Auntie Kim. They know me all too well! My theatre ticket also included a pre-show meal at Planet Hollywood, which was something I did last year with my Mum when we went to see Phantom in November for an early Christmas treat. So really, I've seen Phantom twice for Christmas! Not a bad thing though, far from it actually! Anyway, onto my first theatre trip of the year!

Ben Forster, London's current Phantom.

On the Thursday morning I woke up early, most probably from the excitement of seeing my favourite musical for the 4th time! I had a quick breakfast (toast to be precise!) then made my way to Gatwick Airport, where I was going to get my train to London Victoria Station. One of the benefits to living in Crawley is being right next to Gatwick Airport, which means its very handy for getting trains to London! So once at the airport, I got my all day travel card and set off to London on the train!

Train journey selfie. It had to be done!

After a very delayed journey to London, I finally arrived at Victoria Station just after 11:30am. I knew I had a nice pre-paid meal to look forward to in the evening but I was feeling pretty hungry, so decided to grab a little lunch at my favourite cheap eat in London, The Fresh Pizza Co. at Victoria Station. It's the only place I know in London where you can enjoy a buffet and refillable drink for under £10!

Pizza anyone?

Feeling full but also comfortable, I decided to get the bus to Oxford Street to begin a bit of retail therapy! I didn't buy anything in Oxford Street, so decided to walk to the finest toy shop in the world, Hamleys of course, which was where I made my first purchase of the day! Being in Regents Street, I decided to walk down the road into Piccadilly Circus. Once there, I made my way over to the Criterion Theatre, to pick up a ticket I had ordered for The Comedy About A Bank Robbery, which will be my second show of the year.

Stormtroopers everywhere!

I found Princess Leia!

Can't wait to laugh at this show!

After picking up my ticket, I walked round to Shaftesbury Avenue and stopped by at the finest cafe in the world, The Theatre Cafe! This is such a wonderful place for theatre lovers. The cafe is full of theatre memorabilia as well as lots of signed show posters, which are dotted around the walls. I love this place so much that I've just recently ordered an official Theatre Cafe hoodie! I think that's going to come in handy on my many ventures to London this year!

A haven for theatre lovers!

What's not to love about this place!

Once I'd finished my coffee I decided to head to Kings Cross so that I could check into my hotel. That was an adventure in itself! Having stayed in Kings Cross before I expected my hotel to be closer to the train station, my god I was wrong! After over half an hour of searching, I finally found my hotel and thankfully checked in.

You can't go wrong with Travelodge!

First hotel room selfie of the year!

Having settled at the hotel, I made my way back to Piccadilly Circus on the underground. I still had a couple of hours to kill until I could have my meal at Planet Hollywood. Being a Thursday, I knew that Phantom had a matinee performance as well as the evening show I was going to. I thought I would try my luck and see if I could meet any of the cast after the afternoon performance had finished. I waited at the stage door, along with a couple of other people. One of the people waiting was a girl from Belgium, who had made the trip all the way from Belgium and was heading back the same night. We got talking about Phantom and our love for musical theatre. After talking for a while, one of my all time favourite people in the world, the utterly gorgeous Celinde Schoenmaker, made her way out of the stage door to greet us! Celinde has been playing the lead role of Christine in The Phantom Of The Opera for nearly 3 years now. I've met Celinde before when I saw Phantom for the second time and much to my amazement, she remembered me! She was very thankful for the fan mail I had sent her last year. I had brought along a couple of posters for her to sign, which she very kindly signed and dedicated to me. She also happily posed for a photo for me. In my opinion, Celinde is without doubt the best Christine of all time in the West End production of Phantom. I also think she's the most beautiful Christine of all time. If you couldn't tell already, I do have a little bit of a crush on Celinde!

Me and the simply gorgeous Celinde Schoenmaker!

One of my biggest disappointments when seeing Phantom last year was that I didn't get to meet the current Phantom, Ben Forster. Much to my delight though, Ben walked out of the stage door! Now let me tell you, I have honestly never met such a lovely guy! Don't get me wrong, I've met some very friendly celebrities in my time (Warwick Davies comes to mind) but Ben was without doubt the nicest! I told him how I saw him in the show last year and loved his performance. He also said he was thankful for the fan mail I sent him last year. Like Celinde, Ben was kind enough to sign a poster for me and also posed for some photos. Ben actually stayed talking with me for a good 10 minutes or so. It was honestly the best experience I've ever had with meeting someone famous! It's definitely my favourite moment with one of the Phantom cast! Sadly the experience did end with some disappointment. Unfortunately, Ben had injured his leg during the matinee performance, therefore meaning he wouldn't be performing in the evening performance I was going to. Ben apologised (not that he needed to) and reassured me that understudy Luke McCall would put on a good show. I have to admit that I was feeling pretty gutted as I'd loved Ben's performance as the Phantom last year but I was also quite intrigued by the prospect of an understudy Phantom!

Couldn't resist a selfie with The Phantom himself!

Me and the very lovely Ben Forster, proudly showing off my signed poster!

After my meeting with Ben, I decided to head to a few more shops in the area then finally sat down for my evening meal at Planet Hollywood, which is probably my favourite restaurant in all of London. Sitting in the restaurant and looking back at my signed photos of Ben and Celinde, I was getting very excited for Phantom.

My favourite restaurant in all of London!

White chocolate milkshake? Don't mind if I do!

Feeling very full from a very enjoyable meal, it was finally time to enter Her Majesty's Theatre, one of London's most beautiful theatres in my opinion. On previous trips to Phantom, the first thing I've done is look at the cast list when I enter the theatre. Now on this occasion, I was actually genuinely shocked when I looked at the cast list. 4 of the main cast were understudies! That's never happened when I've seen a show in London before. I wasn't disappointed but just shocked. The Phantom, Raoul, Madame Giry and Piangi were all being played by understudies. I was quite intrigued by the prospect of both two lead roles being played by understudies. If I'd not seen the show before then I'm pretty sure I wouldn't have been very happy. I was looking forward to it though as I'd not heard anything of the understudies before so was more than happy to give them a try!

Understudies everywhere!

So onto the show! Now I'm not going to go into too much detail as I don't want to ruin the show for those who haven't seen it, so what I will discuss is the cast, especially the understudies. As I've just mentioned, I was very intrigued to watch the understudies, and boy, I wasn't disappointed, I was actually enthralled! Ben Forster promised me that I would love Luke McCall's performance as The Phantom, well let me tell you, he certainly wasn't wrong! Luke was absolutely fantastic! Acting might not have been his biggest strong point but his voice, my god, what a voice! It's hard not to compare Phantoms but Luke had a voice very similar to Ramin Karimloo, and that is one hell of a compliment, as Ramin is one of the best Phantoms of all time! I was so pleasantly surprised by Luke's performance. Stand out moments for Luke were definitely the mirror sequence and title song. His 'Music Of The Night' was also very memorable.

Now the understudy Raoul I was looking forward to seeing. I've had the pleasure of seeing the regular Raoul, Nadim Naaman, on two occasions. I've also met him a couple of times before and he's always been a gentleman. One of my friends saw the understudy Raoul, Matt Blaker, the previous week and said that he was very good, so I was very happy to see that his performance was a real treat. I don't want to be disrespectful to Nadim but I could easily see Matt taking over the role of Raoul. I found his acting to be much better than Nadim's and I actually thought Matt's voice was better too!

The understudy Piangi was pretty good but his role isn't too significant in the show for me to really discuss. I have to be honest though and say that the understudy Madame Giry was disappointing. The regular Madame Giry, Jacinta Mulcahy, totally owns the role! Joanna Strand in comparison though was very disappointing. She was far too young for the role of such an old and wise character. Her voice was also quite poor.

Still, the understudies did the show justice, especially Luke McCall and Matt Blaker! It can't be easy filling in for the two main roles in the show but they did an absolutely wonderful job. Both could easily get the jobs full time when the show goes through it's next cast change. I'd be more than happy if they got the job anyway!

It wouldn't be fair to review the show without mentioning Celinde Schoenmaker's performance as Christine. Being my third time seeing Celinde as Christine, I knew I would be in for a good performance and Celinde duly delivered! It's safe to say that Miss Schoenmaker has one hell of a fantastic voice! She is also one very amazing actress! Her standout moments for me were without doubt 'Think Of Me' and 'Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again', the latter of which brought tears to my eyes. I really do love Celinde. I think she'll definitely go down in history as one of the finest Christine's of all time.

After standing up to applaud the actors at the end, it was time to leave the theatre and head back to the stage door. First out was the legendary Philip Griffiths. Philip is a legend when it comes to Phantom because he has been performing in the show for well over 25 years! He was very kind and gracious, also more than happy to pose for a photo!

Philip Griffiths, what a legend!

Next out was my favourite woman in the world! I'm talking about the beautiful Celinde Schoenmaker if you hadn't already guessed! She was more than happy to pose for another photo with me and also spoke with me about her love for the show and music in general.

Celinde, what a beautiful woman!

After meeting Celinde again, Daisy Hulbert then came out to greet fans. Daisy plays the role of Meg Giry in the show. To be honest, one of my least favourite characters in the show but Daisy puts a rather fun and ditzy spin on the role. Perfect casting actually! Just like everyone else, Daisy was happy to pose for a selfie with me.

Me and the lovely Daisy Hulbert. 

Understudy Raoul, Matt Blaker, was the next actor out to greet fans. I met Matt very briefly after the matinee performance and said I'd be looking forward to meeting him after the evening performance. True to our word, we met each other again and had a little joke about it. If there's anything to say about meeting the cast of Phantom, it's that they are all very down to earth and so very humble.

Me and Matt Blaker, possibly the next Raoul?

Last out was Lara Martins, who plays diva Carlotta. This was my third time seeing Lara in the show but actually the first time I had ever met her. She was really funny and talkative.

Trying not to laugh with Lara Martins.

I can honestly say that this was without doubt the most fun I'd ever had when watching The Phantom Of The Opera. Okay, it wasn't the best performance I'd ever been to, that would probably be when I saw John Owen Jones in the lead role in 2014, it was however the most enjoyable time I've had. Meeting the cast twice in the day was a memory I will forever treasure. They were all just so lovely and down to earth. I also think that they are the best photos I've ever had with the cast. Like I said, definitely great memories to treasure!

Her Majesty's Theatre. My favourite theatre in all of London!

After meeting and socialising with the cast for a good hour or so after the show had finished, it was time to head back to my hotel for a very well deserved sleep. I definitely needed it after such a tiring day but it was all so worth it!

Time for a well deserved sleep!

The next day I enjoyed a breakfast at my hotel, checked out of my hotel, then went to explore some of the theatres for a spot of photography. I also thought it would be helpful to find all the theatres so that I knew where to go on future visits! At about mid-day, I decided it was time to get the train back to Gatwick Airport.

Kinky! Looking forward to seeing this for the first time sometime this year!

Hoping to see 42nd Street this year! Can't beat the old school musicals!

All in all, my first theatre trip of the year was fantastic and one I'll treasure for a very long time!


Trip Rating: 9/10

I've given my first theatre trip of the year a very high 9 out of 10 for various reasons. My biggest reason for such a high marking was because of my time meeting the cast. I absolutely love to meet casts of shows. I've done it every time I've seen Phantom but I had never met the whole cast like I had done on this occasion. Meeting Ben Forster was a real highlight for me. I still can't get over how lovely he was. Meeting the gorgeous Celinde Schoenmaker once again was obviously a highlight for me too. All of my photos with the cast came out so well too, which was great! Staying overnight was also another big factor for such a high mark. I'd never stayed overnight in London alone but I absolutely loved the experience. I definitely think I'll be doing more overnight solo theatre trips this year!

It wouldn't be fair to talk about the day without mentioning all of the wonderful people I met. As I already mentioned, I met a friendly girl from Belgium who was visiting just for the day to see the show. In Her Majesty's Theatre, I was sat next to a really lovely couple from Ireland, who spoke to me the whole time before the show and during the interval. When I met the cast after the performance, I was waiting with a lovely young couple, as well as their little daughter who loved the show. This is what I loved about the trip. Despite going all alone, I didn't quite feel like I was on my own as I spoke to so many lovely people. It really was a great day!

Meeting Ben Forster. One of the highlights of my life so far!

So what's next on the agenda? The Comedy About A Bank Robbery at the Criterion Theatre on Thursday 16th February. I'm very much looking forward to seeing my first ever comedy play in London for my second theatre trip of the year!

I hope you enjoyed reading my first theatre trip report of the year! I look forward to posting many more this year!


Lots of love,

Michael x

Welcome!

Her Majesty's Theatre, one of my favourite theatres in London.

Hello there! My name is Michael and welcome to my new blog, Memoirs Of A Theatre Geek. As the name suggests, I am quite the theatre fan! This blog is going to be a celebration of my love for musical theatre, as well as a place for me to share my reports and reviews of my many theatre trips to London this year.

You can't have a theatre trip to London without visiting this fine establishment!

I had some pretty bad news last year which changed the way I would be going about things this year. The good news? Well, it meant that I could treat myself, and what better way to treat myself than trips to London to see shows! With that in mind, I decided to make it a fun challenge for myself to see a different show per month this year. So far I've already got 5 shows booked up until April.

Have to say I'm looking forward to laughing my head off at this show!

I'm the sort of person who loves to write about my experiences in life, so I thought this would be the perfect place to share all of my theatre trips. I'll be writing a little report of my days in London as well as reviews of the shows themselves. One of the things I'm most looking forward to this year is watching lots of shows that I've never actually seen before, like Les Miserables for example. I know I know, a theatre lover who's never seen Les Miserables? Well, I've got a ticket booked for April, so you can forgive me!

Can't wait to finally see this classic!

This blog isn't just about musical theatre though. Oh no, far from it! Stage musicals aside, I will also be talking about musical films, as well as stage plays. I'm a sucker for classic musicals like Singin' In The Rain and The Wizard Of Oz, so there's quite a lot of history for me to discuss, which shouldn't be too hard as I'm an ex-media student and love my films! With the unrivalled success of recent film musical La La Land, I think it's safe to say that musicals are still growing strong and are still a big passion for many people and will be for many years to come.

Think I've chosen a good show for my first ever stage play in London!

My love for all things musical began at a very young age. The first CD I ever brought myself was the original 1986 cast recording of The Phantom Of The Opera. Growing up, I was very fortunate that my mum took me to see a lot of shows, including Mamma Mia and We Will Rock You. I've always loved musicals! I just love the vast array of emotions that the songs and performances make you feel. I must also admit that I think life would be so much better if everyone occasionally broke out into song like they do in the musicals!

Me with London's current Phantom leading lady, the very beautiful Celinde Schoenmaker!

I have so many favourite shows that it would be hard for me to talk about them in just a few sentences (I'll save that for a future blog!) but I will tell you that my all time favourite musical is The Phantom Of The Opera, no contest! Some of my other favourites include Little Shop Of Horrors, We Will Rock You and The Producers. There's just so many of them to discuss!

Me with The Phantom himself, the very wonderful Ben Forster!

So that's a little bit about me and my intentions for this blog. I hope you enjoy reading my future posts!


Enjoy the blog!


Michael x