Concert: Follies
Sunday evening I caught the Starlight Foundation's Charity Concert of Follies. Some jaded theatregoers had warned me over the weekend it would be a bit dire with its stunning array of B-list stars front lining it, but actually it was quite entertaining. There was something perversely amusing watching the punters in the packed-out Palladium go ape over a series of world famous (well, world famous in Britain) ladies in the 55 plus age bracket. Most I didn't recognise.
The show lends itself well to a concert version, as (much as I expected) while the music is great, the story is dire. Two hours of two couples - middle-class, middle-aged has-beens - bickering does not make a night of entertainment, even if that is the point. As a concert version it feels easier to ignore the story. But fortunately the piece has , and with the full orchestra on stage and even the odd cameo by ITV newsreader Sir Trevor McDonald...
Even sitting in the cheap seats it was a lot of fun, although I didn't hang around for the charity plug at the end of the evening... I had seen enough. Besides the people sitting either side of me seemed to both have a bad case of halitosis... Talk about that ticket being a false economy...
The show lends itself well to a concert version, as (much as I expected) while the music is great, the story is dire. Two hours of two couples - middle-class, middle-aged has-beens - bickering does not make a night of entertainment, even if that is the point. As a concert version it feels easier to ignore the story. But fortunately the piece has , and with the full orchestra on stage and even the odd cameo by ITV newsreader Sir Trevor McDonald...
Even sitting in the cheap seats it was a lot of fun, although I didn't hang around for the charity plug at the end of the evening... I had seen enough. Besides the people sitting either side of me seemed to both have a bad case of halitosis... Talk about that ticket being a false economy...
