Ask Me Anything: The Answer Post, Part 2

Hello readers! I seem to be making a habit of awfully long summer breaks in blogging, which I don't particularly like... But now I'm back with the second half of the Ask Me Anything event I hosted in April.

Before I get to that, let me remind you of another, rather more international-scale event that should be of interest to bookworms across the world: the Banned Books Week, 27.9-3.10. It's mostly an American event, initiated by libraries and booksellers, who are often pressured to remove "unsuitable" books from their selections. The Banned Books Week raises awareness of censorship and celebrates people's freedom to read and as these issues are relevant to readers everywhere in the world, I don't think we should let America celebrate all alone! Therefore, I'm inviting you all to pick a book that has been notoriously challenged or even banned and discuss it during the upcoming week in any medium available to you – blog, social media, circle of friends, anything that enables you to introduce this book and reflect on why you should have been prohibited from reading it. The American Library Association keeps lists of frequently challenged books from recent years, but there are plenty of notoriously challenged books all across the history of literature. I'm going to review Khaled Hosseini's The Kite Runner (2003), it would be great to see all of you fellow book bloggers participate with whatever you choose. Please throw me a link to your posts if you do! Let's really discuss censorship and read whatever the heck we want!

Now, moving on to the actual topic of the day. I'll be answering Hamlette's and Olivia's questions that they asked many... many months ago, and this little celebration for the second anniversary of Music & My Mind comes to an end. Thank you all for participating, I have had tremendous fun thinking up answers to all of these questions!

Hamlette asked:

What animated movie do you wish they would make a live-action version of next? Who would you cast?

As I'm supposed to be honest here, I'll have to tell you all that I'm completely bored and frustrated with this persisting Disney trend of live-action remakes. Not that I resist remakes on the whole or think that all of these Disney films are of bad quality – I'm absolutely open to the suggestion that some of them might be good films in their own right, even if I haven't bothered to see most of them myself.

The real reason why I don't applaud live-action remakes is that for me, the magic and the intrigue of the original Disney films is largely to do with the beautiful work they did with the animation. The older I got, the more awed I was by the fact that people could actually draw things like sunlight, thunderstorms and water – if you really stop to think about it, isn't it quite an achievement to animate even such an ordinary thing as a moving person? So I don't really see what the artistic gain is in telling essentially the same story as a live-action version. I hate to be cynical, but I get the feeling that Disney is after some easy profit in continuing with this trend.



What musical NEEDS a movie version but doesn't have one yet? Again, who would you cast?

I think some stage musicals are better off left on the stage in their awesomeness, but to be honest, I would be quite happy to see a film version of Jekyll & Hyde. The score is wonderful, the themes of addiction and ethics will never get old, and the Victorian setting would look gorgeous on screen – there would be so many things in this film's favour! As for casting, all I would ask for is actors with a strong musical background and at most a minimal amount of stunt casting. I would much prefer an unknown, interesting new talent with a gorgeous singing voice to a big-name Hollywood star who took a singing crash-course just before shooting.


Olivia asked: 

What is your opinion on the subject of Ramin Karimloo?

I can tell you that if you were to watch me listening to Ramin Karimloo,  you might witness something rather peculiar. There's this half-dreamy, half-zombie look in my eyes, I tend to clasp my hands really tight and perch on the very edge of whatever I'm sitting on. My goodness, what a voice. What a stage presence. Have you seen that look on his face when he plays Enjolras in the Les Misérables 25th anniversary concert and sings "The ABC Café Song"? And how, as the Phantom, he has incredibly expressive hands that more than make up for the fact that the mask hides half of his face? Just... wow.


Have you seen the new Cinderella movie? If so, what did you think?

I haven't, and as you can probably judge by my response to the question about Disney re-makes, I wasn't in a hurry to see it. However, a friend of mine saw it and told me that Cate Blanchett was magnificent, which I can easily believe!


Do you plan to pursue a career in theatre/musical theatre? Are you a soprano or an alto?

I would love to write plays and writing a musical is a crazy, ambitious dream that may or may not come true. I do like to sing though, and I'm definitely more of a soprano than an alto because my lower range is very limited and my belt voice is, quite frankly, pathetic.



What is your favourite version of The Phantom of the Opera? (Meaning any book, movie, or stage adaptation.)

That would be the stage musical composed by Andrew Lloyd Webber. I was lucky enough to see it at Her Majesty's Theatre in London, and it was one of the most impressive experiences of my life. Not only hearing but feeling the power of the music reminded me why I love musicals so much. I have also read the original novel by Gaston Leroux, which was quite a disappointment, unfortunately.

Romantic Duets for Valentine's Day

Romantic duets are one of the basic ingredients in the musical genre – which is why they have to be really good in order to stand out from the mass. A simple, dull "I love you", "I love you too" will not do. The best lovers' duets express joy and affection, and occasionally the hardships of love, without resorting to sappy lyrics riddled with clichés.

So, what else should a musical-loving blogger do on a Valentine's Day than list her Top Ten romantic musical duets? I know, right!

10. 'We Kiss in the Shadow'  

The King and I
Tuptim and Lun Tha
Music by Richard Rodgers
Lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II

Tuptim and Lun Tha have to meet in secret because Tuptim is a concubine of the King of Siam. The agony of forbidden love ensues. The lyrics aren't as memorable as some of the others on this list, but I do like the melody.

9. 'Sixteen Going On Seventeen'

The Sound of Music

Liesl and Rolf
Music by Richard Rodgers
Lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II

Alright, so this song is maybe a tiny bit depressing in hindsight, knowing what Rolf decides to do with his life in the end. I think for me, most of the appeal is in the specific performance by Charmian Carr and Daniel Truhitte in the film version (which I've linked above) rather than in the song itself, which frankly doesn't have an awful lot to say. I just love Liesl's dress and the dance in the gazebo.

8. 'A Heart Full of Love'

Les Misérables

Marius and Cosette
Music by Claude-Michel Schönberg
Lyrics by Alain Boublil and Herbert Kretzmer

I adore every bit of music that Claude-Michel Schönberg has ever composed, but even considering we're in the realm of theatre where the rules of credibility are frequently experimented with, I find myself shaking my head at Marius and Cosette who vow eternal love after literally just bumping to each other on the street for a couple of seconds.

7. 'As Long As You're Mine'

Wicked

Elphaba and Fiyero
Music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz

Rather than a promise of eternity, Elphaba and Fiyero go for "just for this moment". I love the intro to this song, it enticingly foreshadows the passion for life and the slightly fatalistic tone of the rest of the tune.

6. 'Mountain Duet'

Chess

Florence and Anatoly
Music by Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus
Lyrics by Tim Rice and Björn Ulvaeus

Once again we get a bit of a different angle to the traditional "love duet" because this is set in a reluctant, awkward meeting between Anatoly the Russian chess player and Florence, the assistant to his American opponent. It begins with the characters wondering what the heck they are supposed to be doing here, and then Anatoly goes "Listen, I hate to break up the mood..." And the mood really gets going from there!

5. 'I'll Cover You'

RENT

Angel and Collins
Lyrics and music by Jonathan Larson

I'm sure I've already gushed about the earnestness of Angel and Collins, the absolute joy that this song expresses, and Angel's overall awesomeness as a character. Lyrics, melody, mood, characters, I just adore the whole package.

4. 'One Hand, One Heart'

West Side Story

Tony and Maria
Music by Leonard Bernstein
Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim

This is on a much more solemn side. So why am I pointing the finger at Marius and Cosette's sudden confessions of love but ranked Maria and Tony practically rehearsing their wedding on fourth place? Well, I think West Side Story devotes a bit more more time and explanation to the main couple's character histories and setting up the premise that their lives are lacking fulfillment which they try to patch up with an admittedly hasty commitment. The tune overall has a beautiful simplicity to it. If I ever happen to get married, I want this song at my wedding.


3. 'Come What May'

Moulin Rouge!

Christian and Satine
Music and lyrics by David Baerwald

What power there is in three short words, 'Come what may'. I never get bored of this song! Once again, the tactic of starting soft and quiet and building up to a massive power blend of two voices works wonders.

2. 'Last Night of the World'

Miss Saigon

Kim and Chris
Music by Claude-Michel Schönberg
Lyrics by Alain Boublil and Richard Maltby Jr.

Claude-Michel Schönberg does it again, there's something about this melody that makes me obsess over it. The world around Kim and Chris is dark and dangerous, but they have this lovely song. And the solo saxophone.

1. 'All I Ask Of You'

The Phantom of the Opera

Raoul and Christine
Music by Andrew Lloyd Webber
Lyrics by Charles Hart and Richard Stilgoe

There never was any debate in my mind as to which duet should be the top of the list. Out of the overall amazing score in The Phantom of the Opera, this song has always been my favourite (though Past the Point of No Return and The Music of the Night aren't far behind). As a rule, I turn into an emotional wreck as soon as 'Anywhere you go, let me go too' comes out. I'm also eternally thankful to whoever oversaw the casting of the 25th Anniversary performance because they gave us the chance to hear Sierra Boggess and Hadley Fraser sing this song to perfection. 

Library treasures

Hi everyone! The local library was holding an outlet book sale, meaning they were selling out their old library books for just TWO EUROS each, so of course I went. Good thing too, because I found some pretty amazing books. 

First, something you never see on the shelves of Finnish bookstores: ALL of Charles Dickens' Christmas stories! 

Christmas Books contains all of the novellas, of which I've only read A Christmas Carol so far.

Christmas Stories compiles all the short stories, and I don't remember reading any of these. What a happy Christmas I'm going to have, getting through all of this!

Then there's this one little book that I picked up just because it was pretty and French. 

And finally, indulging my habit of collecting sheet music from musicals. 

Bucket List Tag

Hannah at Miss Daydreamer's Place tagged me for the Bucket List challenge – thanks for this really fun tag! The idea is to list ten things you want to do before you die, and then pass the tag to five people. So here I go, my Bucket List!

At some point in my life, I would like to...

See at least one of these insanely talented gentlemen live on stage: 

Benedict Cumberbatch

Tom Hiddleston

David Tennant

Go on a riding holiday in at least one of these places: 

Scottish Highlands 

Iceland 

South Africa

(Mind you, I could fill an entire book-length bucket list of countries that I'd like to visit, on horseback or otherwise!)

Sing at a karaoke bar

But only if there's a song selection up to my taste, so probably not in Finland.

See a play on Broadway

See these musicals on stage (I can't put an "at least one of these" on this one, these are all a must):

I saw a Finnish production of this once, but it was mostly dreadful so I demand another opportunity!

Own a beautiful Leonberger dog (or two)

Move to London

Learn at least one new language (because three isn't enough!)

Read all of Charles Dickens' works

So far, I've read Nicholas Nickleby, Oliver Twist, A Tale of Two Cities and A Christmas Carol.

Become a professional playwright!

Thinking up this list was really fun, so let's pass on the tag. Elwingda, Frankie Savage and Siiri L., are you up for the challenge...? I can't think of anyone else to tag, but everyone who happens upon this post is completely free to pick it up!

Miss Saigon cast update – Thuy has been found!

As you know, I was super excited when the main cast for the Miss Saigon London revival was announced, but there was still one important part missing: Thuy! Not only does he make pivotal (and scary as heck) appearances in the show, but I'm a huge admirer of original cast member Keith Burns' portrayal of him, and was eager to see what kind of a man they were going to find to do his job. Just listen to some of the material Thuy has to sing! Doesn't Keith Burns' raspy, menacing voice of power just send chills down your spine? (Thuy starts to sing around 0:40)

So yes, seeing the right man play the part of Thuy is very important to me, and now I'm extremely pleased to find that another fantastic casting choice has been made. Kwang-Ho Hong is his name, he's a Korean musical actor, and he gets his own little introduction video from Cameron Mackintosh. And, holy sweet goodness, his CV includes the title role in The Phantom of the Opera!

Kwang-Ho Hong as Thuy

I highly advise you to see the introduction video through the link, if you haven't already. Just the few notes that he sings there make it quite clear that he has a voice that I can only describe as insanely well-trained. However, just to see and hear more of him, I dug out a couple of videos from his other performances. It appears he has played Raoul and the Phantom in the Korean production, and there's a video of him singing All I Ask Of You. He sings quite softly here, but very handsomely.

Here's another performance from Jekyll & Hyde. The sound quality is even worse than the previous video, but you get a glimpse of his more powerful style of singing.

I'm so delighted to be introduced to all these wonderful talents from around the world by stalking Miss Saigon, and Kwang-Ho Hong gets a definite thumbs-up from me. The part of Thuy will be in expert hands!

Miss Saigon revival cast, finally!

Anyone who has taken a glimpse at my Miss Saigon Week posts knows how excited I've been about the upcoming West End revival of that show. When Miss Saigon opens at Prince Edward Theatre in May 2014, it will be 25 years from its original opening, which starred a now-iconic cast – headed by Lea Salonga, to whom Kim was the first of many notable musical roles. Just like with the original production, the Kim hunt required a long time and some very distant locations – auditions were held in Manila as well as in New York. The whole process was conducted with such secrecy that absolutely nothing of an affirmative nature – just a couple of names thrown here and there – leaked through till the final decision was made. Today, however, I finally get to do what I've been aching to do for months: list all the main cast and try to predict how well they will do their jobs next year.

Alright, let's get the most talked-about, the most difficult, the most mystery-shrouded, and of course the most important part done first: the actress who will play Kim!

Eva Noblezada as Kim

The production team wanted an unknown talent to play Kim from the very beginning, and I'm glad they stuck with that decision. Kim's portrayal requires youthfulness and innocence in both looks and presence, and I don't think any big-name stars have that kind of a quality. Kim's actress also needed a strong, beautiful voice and Asian origins. Many interesting names were thrown around, especially those of Filipina singers – that country seems to produce fantastic female singers like Finland produces pine cones. Rachelle Ann Go was one of the most popular Kim candidates, but the part eventually went to Eva Noblezada, a 17-year-old American with Filipino origins (unsurprisingly). Based on the one performance that is available on Youtube, I'm happy to say she will probably nail her part. Just like Lea Salonga back then, she's young, sings extremely confidently for her age (and even if you don't consider her age she still sounds amazing) and seems able to express emotions through song. Coincidentally, her aunt was a Kim understudy in the original London production. See her for yourselves – the video embedding thing refuses to work again, so I'll give you a link.


Jon Jon Briones as the Engineer

I have to confess I had never even heard of this man before I read this Broadwayworld.com article about the new cast. Turns out he's played the role before and he totally rocks it! I found a kind of trailer on another Miss Saigon production which starred him as the Engineer and Kerry Ellis as Ellen, to mention a few. Briones appears in the beginning wearing a purple jacket, and from 3:33 and 4:52 onwards wearing red. Can you guess which country he comes from? It begins with Ph... They barely pulled off (white actor) Jonathan Pryce with facial prosthetics in '89, but it would be impossible nowadays. I think there was a rumour going around at some point that Pryce would return as the Engineer in the revival, but I'm glad it didn't happen. He's much too old, and incurably Caucasian, let's face it.

(Just a sidenote, what on Earth happened to Kim's face in I'd Give My Life For You???)


Alistair Brammer as Chris

So my only wish concerning the Miss Saigon cast didn't come true... We won't see Gareth Gates as Chris yet. But I'm not as sad as I thought I would be, because Alistair Brammer is a WONDERFUL alternative. Every Les Mis fan out there knows him, and probably adores him. You've seen his face as Jean Prouvaire, un Ami de l'ABC, in both the 25th Anniversary Concert and the Tom Hooper film of Les Misérables. He has also played Marius. I can definitely see him as a romantic GI, and his voice will go very nicely with Why God Why? Oh no. Now that I started imagining those two elements combined, I can't wait to hear it, and goodness knows how long I will have to wait!

Hugh Maynard as John

Another unknown name for me. He was in X-Factor with a male group called Tenors of Rock. He has also played the part of John before, as you can see on the video. I've never regarded John as a very interesting character, but I think Maynard could make it so, judging by his performance here!

Tamsin Carroll as Ellen

I don't know this actress either, but she seems a little old to be playing 25-year-old Alistair Brammer's wife! Or does the hairdo and the mature voice just make her seem older than she really is? Carroll has played Nancy in Oliver! and various other musical roles. I couldn't find a video that would properly display her voice. So far, I don't think I'm entirely warming up to her as Ellen. (She's the blonde woman in the video below.)

Rachelle Ann Go as Gigi

So Rachelle Ann Go didn't land the lead role, but she did get a pretty good one! Gigi may not have a lot of stage time, but The Movie In My Mind is a great, great song. As I mentioned before, a lot of people rooted for Go to play Kim, and while I agree that she has a beautiful, powerful voice, I personally never detected the kind of "Kim presence" in her.

All in all, this seems like a (mostly) promising main cast for one of my favourite musicals! I will definitely be following all the Miss Saigon gossip in the future, and share my thoughts here if something interesting comes up. What do you think about the cast? Are you going to see this show in London?

Some minutes after I first published this post, the official Miss Saigon Youtube channel posted a video about the new cast, there's audition clips and other footage of all the performers listed here, and Sir Cameron's comments on them!

Celebrate Musicals Week: Miss Saigon Trivia Quiz!

I love quizzes, so I decided to make one where you can test your knowledge of Miss Saigon! I'll be posting the right answers on Saturday, when Celebrate Musicals Week comes to an end. Till then, you can send your answers through this post's comments! Well, of course I can't stop you from keeping your answers to yourself, but all bloggers love to see comments on their posts! And on Saturday, the one who reached the highest score will get... An honorary mention and eternal glory. (I'm sorry, were you expecting to get tickets to the show?) There won't be much point in quizzing if you all go and Google the answers, so please play nice :) However, checking out my previous Miss Saigon posts for possible hints is by all means allowed!

Now go and have fun with the quiz little dears – I will go "engineer"...

1. Where did Claude-Michel Schönberg get the inspiration to create Miss Saigon?
a) He met an old Vietnamese woman who shared her memories of the Vietnam War.
b) He saw a picture of a Vietnamese mother leaving her child with an American GI.
c) He made a trip to Ho Chi Minh City.

2. Which opera is Miss Saigon based on?
a) La Bohème
b) Carmen
c) Madame Butterfly

3. Which character sings If You Want To Die In Bed?
a) the Engineer
b) John
c) Kim

4. In which West End theatre did Miss Saigon originally play?
a) Theatre Royal, Drury Lane
b) Prince Edward Theatre
c) Apollo Theatre

5. The Last Night of the World is
a) a solo
b) a duet
c) an ensemble number

6. In 2014 when Miss Saigon returns to London, how many years will it have been since its first opening?
a) 15 years
b) 20 years
c) 25 years

7. Lea Salonga first auditioned for Miss Saigon in
a) Los Angeles
b) London
c) Manila

8. Monique Wilson was an understudy for Kim and also played the role of the bar girl
a) Mimi
b) Gigi
c) Yvette

9. What is the name of Kim's cousin whom she was supposed to marry?
a) Tam
b) Thuy
c) Tranh

10. What locations does Miss Saigon take place in?
a) Saigon/Ho Chi Minh City and Bangkok
b) Bankok and Singapore
c) Saigon/Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi

11. How many characters die on stage in Miss Saigon?
a) One
b) Two
c) Four

12. There is a song in Miss Saigon called The Morning of the...
a) Phoenix
b) Battle
c) Dragon

13. Who was elected Miss Saigon at the Engineer's night club?
a) Gigi
b) Yvonne
c) Kim

14. What is the Engineer's night club at the beginning of Miss Saigon called?
a) American Dream
b) Dreamland
c) Saigon Ladies

15. The Engineer is half Vietnamese and half...
a) Dutch
b) American
c) French

16. Fill in the lyrics: "Vietnam, hey look I mean you no offence. But why..."
a) does everything make sense
b) does nothing here make sense
c) does no-one here have sense

17. The lyrics from the previous question are from
a) Why God Why?
b) The Heat Is On In Saigon
c) Now That I've Seen Her

18. What is Chris' vocal range?
a) tenor
b) baritenor
c) baritone

19. In the new production there will be a song called Maybe, sung by
a) Ellen
b) Chris
c) Kim

20. Which of these can be seen on stage in Miss Saigon?
a) a train
b) a truck
c) a helicopter

Celebrate Musicals Week: My Top 10 Songs From Miss Saigon

Miss Saigon is full of wonderful music and moving lyrics, but on today's post I will share my absolute favourite songs and try to explain why I like them so much. I didn't put them in order of preference because it would be impossible for me to rank them – they are listed in the order where they appear in the show. Please remember what I said about the questionable language in the Miss Saigon lyrics!

The Movie In My Mind
This song takes place near the beginning of the show at the Dreamland club. Gigi, one of the bar girls, starts to sing about her impossible dream of escaping Vietnam and living the American Dream. Kim joins in, making it a wonderful female duet where Gigi's deep, dark voice contrasts with Kim's bright, youthful one. Female duets are much rarer in musical theatre than the traditional male-female ones, and I tend to like them as a rule.

Why God Why?
Chris has just realized he's in love with Kim and boy does he sing a beautiful song about his overpowering feelings! I chose to present a video with Gareth Gates singing, because I did mention how much I would love him to play Chris' part! I think his voice was made to sing this song. Blogger wouldn't let me put the video in like I did with the other songs, but I'll give you a link:

Why God Why? sung by Gareth Gates

This Money Is Yours
Chris asks Kim to tell him more about herself. While it's terrible to hear what happened to Kim's parents, I like this song because Lea Salonga delivers it with such deep emotion and maturity of voice that it's impossible to believe she is just 17 years old here.

Sun and Moon
This is Kim and Chris' first love duet (yes, they have two of those). I love the imagery in the lyrics, how it compares Kim and Chris' unlikely romance to the sun and the moon meeting in the sky.

Dju Vui Vai
I've cried at every real wedding I've attended, and I'm pretty sure I'm going to cry when I get to see this performance on stage. The girls' chorus is like from another world, and the atmosphere of hope and promise really reaches your heart, which is much more important than having an authority figure to make the marriage official.

The Last Night of the World
Chris and Kim sing another duet after their unofficial wedding, and this is my favourite out of the two. The arrangements for the two voices are wonderful and the melody is so memorable it's constantly playing in head.

The Morning of the Dragon
One of the many ensemble numbers in this musical which correspond to the word EPIC. The Viet-Cong takes over in determined song. The harmonica is quite interesting here, but I actually think it sounds good.

You Will Not Touch Him/Thuy's Death/This Is The Hour
These three are always grouped a little differently depending on which album they're in – sometimes This Is The Hour is a separate track, sometimes it's put together with Thuy's Death and isn't mentioned by name at all. Anyway, they happen one right after the other, I think they're all great and clumping them all together means I've got more room in my Top 10 list, so they're going to be one item in this list. The story gets to one of its highest points here when Kim shows that she really will do anything to protect her little boy when Thuy comes back and threatens him. After this comes This Is The Hour, another ensemble number that sends shivers down my spine every time I hear it, and features what I think are honestly the best harmonies in the universe of musical theatre. Yes, I'm really going to make such a huge statement!

Bui-Doi
The ensemble sings again, led by John. John has become such a different person than what he was in Act I – in a positive sense! Once again, I love the melody and the harmonies...

Now That I've Seen Her
This is Ellen's solo which will no longer be heard in the revival. Ellen gets a lot of dirty looks from fans because of how they interpret these lyrics, but like I stated in my earlier post, I can't see what there is to hate about her. She has to go through a lot emotionally, suddenly hearing that her husband basically has another family in Vietnam!

Celebrate Musicals Week: Tagged!

Time to start off Miss Dashwood's Celebrate Musicals Week – or, in my case, Miss Saigon Week! I'm really excited about this week, because I obviously love musicals a lot and I got to pick a really great musical to write about. So I would like to thank Miss Dashwood for hosting this blog party, and for providing the tag for this post. I will respect her wish of keeping the content of all my Miss Saigon related posts family-friendly. Please read the following about the content of Miss Saigon before proceeding:

Miss Saigon is by no means a light and fun play, I have to say. For those of you who don't know the plot I'll be giving a short synopsis in a minute, but first let's give the warnings of any content that some readers may find inappropriate. My language, as always in my blog, will be clean and I will not use any swear words or offensive language, but the lyrics and the plot of Miss Saigon include some very unpleasant words and references, including: extremely derogatory references to women, swear words, some negative language about Asians (though it's nowhere near the ugliest I have heard), prostitution, two deaths by gunshot and general things to do with war. I hope I remembered everything noteworthy.

And now let's move on to Miss Dashwood's tag, there are some nice questions to answer!

1.  What musical did you pick to "spotlight" this week and why?

I chose Miss Saigon by Boublil and Schönberg because I fell in love with most of its songs the minute I heard them (they are just as brilliantly composed as the score of Les Misérables!) and the story is extremely beautiful and tragic. I also liked the idea of spotlighting a musical that is currently under much discussion because Miss Saigon is returning to the West End and it's been very exciting hearing all the news regarding the new production!

Just in case there are readers who don't know the story of Miss Saigon, here's a short plot synopsis: Chris is an American GI who fights in the Vietnam War, and Kim is a young Vietnamese woman whose family was killed in an attack. The two meet at a night club where Kim works as a bar girl and a prostitute. The owner of the night club is the Engineer, a slimy character who only wants to get an American visa so he can move there and live "the American Dream". Chris and Kim instantly fall in love and Chris promises to take her with him to America, but then the Fall of Saigon happens. The Viet-Cong invade Saigon and all the American soldiers, including Chris, are evacuated while Kim is left behind.

Three years later, Kim is raising her and Chris' son Tam, while Chris has got married in America in an effort to get over his grief. The Engineer thinks up a plan to get into America – he thinks he will get the visa if he pretends to be the uncle of Kim's half-American child. Kim, Tam and the Engineer travel to Bangkok, where Chris also arrives with his wife Ellen after receiving news that Kim is alive and has had his son. Kim wants to send Tam to America with his father, but Chris and especially Ellen think it's a better idea if they support Kim and Tam financially in Bangkok. Kim is so desperate for her son to have a better life in America that she shoots herself. 

2.  How did you discover the musical you picked (hereinafter referred to as "your musical")?

I first got obsessed with Les Misérables and then found out that Alain Boublil and Claude-Michel Schönberg had made other musicals too. I found the Original London Cast recording and fell in love.

3.  If you had to pick three favorite songs from your musical, which ones would they be?

Oh dear, only three songs from a score where at least every other song is my favourite? Okay, I'll try...

• The Last Night of the World, a beautiful love duet by Kim and Chris
• This Is The Hour, a stunning ensemble number, the harmonies give me chills every time
• The Movie In My Mind, a duet by Kim and Gigi, another bar girl

I'll be discussing more of my favourite songs somewhere during the week...

4.  What's your least favorite song from your musical?

I don't think any of the songs are bad, but the one I definitely like the least is The American Dream, sung by the Engineer near the end of the show. He sings about how he's going to make a fortune in America, which he basically said already somewhere earlier. The way he talks about his mother and father's professions is really quite disgusting and the composition isn't as memorable as in the other songs. 

5.  Who are your favorite characters (choose up to three)?

Kim, because she is such a well-developed character and has so many great songs. It's probably one of the hardest musical roles to cast – the original London production's auditions went on for a long time before Lea Salonga was found, and even now they're still looking for a Kim for the London revival.

Gigi, because she's an interesting character too even though she doesn't have much stage time. First she appears to be completely hardened by life, teasing Kim with the other girls. Then she starts singing The Movie In My Mind and reveals the hope she still has in her heart even though she knows it's foolish.

Ellen, because she is in such a difficult position regarding Chris and Kim. It would be easy to hate her for "taking Chris away" from Kim, but I can't because Ellen suffers from the situation too. I think her solo Now That I've Seen Her is great. It has been replaced by a new song Maybe, and I can't wait to see if I can like that song too.

6.  Which versions of your musical have you seen/listened to, and which is your favorite?

Unfortunately I haven't seen Miss Saigon on stage at all yet. There was a production in Finland in 2004, but I wasn't such a musical freak back then so I didn't know anything about it. Only two cast recordings exist: the Original London Cast recording and the Complete Symphonic Recording. I like the first one better, because Lea Salonga and Simon Bowman are so amazing as Kim and Chris.

7.   Is this your favorite musical of all time?  If not, what is?

It's definitely in my Top Ten list, but not the ultimate favourite. That is... Les Misérables!

8.   Which cast album/musical soundtrack in your collection do you listen to the most?

I haven't really kept track of that... Lately, I've been listening to the Miss Saigon OLC a lot to get inspired for this blog party. The Les Mis 25th Anniversary Tour recording is definitely one of my favourite cast recordings which I listen to a lot. 

9.   What is your favorite costume from your musical?

Actually, Miss Saigon isn't filled with lovely costumes like The Phantom of the Opera, My Fair Lady and such. Most of the men wear army uniforms and most of the women wear, well, skimpy clothes. Kim wears something tattered and unattrctive most of the time. However, there is one scene where she gets to dress up nicely – the wedding scene. I couldn't find a better picture of it, but here you can see Kim, kneeling in that white dress:

10.  If you could change anything about your musical, what would you change?

I would want to make it clearer that Chris was just as devastated about being parted from his beloved as Kim was, and that he only married Ellen after losing all hope of being reunited with Kim. Chris gets a lot of hate from fans because people think he married Ellen without looking back and forgot all about Kim. I think it would be good for him to have a proper solo in the second act, either right after he finds out he has a son, or when he has arrived in Bangkok. He could sing about what his life was like after he left Kim behind, and what led to his marriage with Ellen. 

11.  Which role(s) would you most like to play in any musical, if you had the opportunity to do so on stage?

I think Éponine is my number one dream role in a musical! She has great songs and gets to die on stage after singing a touching duet with Marius, and then gets carried off by singing young men. Not bad at all! And I really like that hat she wears.

Another great role to play would be Eliza Doolittle. She's such a funny character, and quite demanding too as you'd have to portray both the Cockney-speaking flower seller and the "fair lady" she becomes. I love all the four solo songs she has!

I've been planning a separate "My Dream Roles In Musicals" post so I won't go on about this forever, but other great roles to play would be Maureen Johnson in RENT, Nancy in Oliver! and Ilse in Spring Awakening. Just to name a few...

12.  If you could choose one performer to play any part in your musical, who would you choose and which part would you have them play?

I really have just one wish about the upcoming West End revival: Please, please, please have Gareth Gates play Chris! I absolutely adored his voice as Marius on the Les Mis 25th Anniversary Tour recording, and I think he could express Chris perfectly! He's even sung Chris' solo Why God Why!

13.  Do you consider yourself a musical theatre fan in general or do you just like a few musicals?

Musical theatre as a form of art is pure awesomeness! Alright there's bound to be some musicals that I don't like that much, but not very many!

14.  Are you tired of the word "musical" yet?

No I'm not, and I never will be!


15.  Turn your music playing device on shuffle (or utilize Pandora if you don't have one) and tell us the names of the first three show tunes that come up-- no cheating!  How do these rank on your favorites/most-listened-to list?

• The Bitch Of Living from Spring Awakening – I listen to Spring Awakening from time to time. It's not one of my absolute favourite musicals but there are some things I really like about it. This song is angsty in a really funny kind of way... Or maybe it's just my weird sense of humour.
• Any Dream Will Do from Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat – It's an OK song, nice and mellow. Again, this isn't on my favourite musicals list, I think it's weird though kind of fun too.
• Sympathy, Tenderness from Jekyll & Hyde – I discovered this musical quite recently, haven't listened to the cast recording enough yet to really give my proper opinion about the songs. This one does have an interesting, eerie atmosphere.

So the blog party has begun... Have a great week with musicals everyone!

Announcements!! Celebrate Musicals Week & Six Months Anniversary!

Today, I'll go off-topic from what I usually blog about to make some important announcements. Read on so you'll know what will be happening in Music & My Mind!

Item one (à la Julie Andrews' Mary Poppins): I will be participating in the Celebrate Musicals Week blog party, hosted by Miss Dashwood. You can use the link or the blog button in the sidebar to see all the details, but basically it means that from September 23rd to 28th I'll be devoting my blog to one musical, which will be... Miss Saigon! Because it is one of the most beautiful stories ever, has some amazing songs and it's coming back to the West End next year! I can't review a stage version or a movie version because the first I didn't get to see on its first West End run, and the second doesn't exist yet. I haven't quite decided what my Miss Saigon posts will be, but it's safe to say I'll be sharing my favourite songs and some videos, and Ms Lea Salonga simply has to be mentioned where Miss Saigon is concerned.

Item two: The six months anniversary of Music & My Mind is approaching! The fact that the number of page views has increased by a thousand at an astonishing speed has convinced me that some people in the world actually read this blog, so I want to celebrate in a way that you readers can participate! And better yet, you'll be able to help me improve my blog, because I'm going to ask you really nicely to make a review of it. However, you don't have to start worrying about that just now. The six months anniversary takes place on the 15th of October (I'm counting from the day I published my first post, about Nicholas Nickleby) so somewhere about a week in advance, I'll be making another post and giving you some review questions to answer. I hope you'll take the tiny little trouble of completing the review, it would mean really much to me to know how readers feel about Music & My Mind. And remember, even if you've never ever written a comment here before, you are still more than welcome to review!

Bye for now! I'm off to prepare my Miss Saigon posts...

London Culture Explosion!

Last week was was possibly the most wonderful week of my life, and the reason for that was spending four days in my favourite city: London! Em and I had started planning this visit months ago, booking tickets for Ryanair and Les Misérables at Queen's Theatre. I can't possibly describe how over the moon we were at the prospect of not only seeing our favourite musical on stage for the first time, but also of seeing our first West End show. The excitement threatened to turn into stress and anxiety as I waited, waited and never received the confirmation email that I was supposed to get and print out to show at the Queen's Theatre box office. However, as you'll read in my travel diary that follows, everything turned out spectacularly fine.

Monday

The Tampere-Pirkkala airport is one of the dingiest, most depressing buildings in the Universe, but being stuck there for a couple of hours was completely worth it considering where we were going. To make our destination even more exciting, Em got a phone call from our hotel before we boarded the plane. We were told that the room we had booked had become somehow unavailable, but in recompense they had arranged us a room in another hotel just around the corner, and we would get the hotel breakfast free of charge.

It didn't take us long to turn into "lost little tourists asking questions" once we arrived at Stansted Airport.  We had a very amusing conversation with the ticket booth man who patiently explained to us that the Stansted Express would take us to Liverpool Street and yes, that was indeed in London.

By the time we were transported to our newly-arranged hotel room, Em and I were already completely in awe about how nice and polite all the people in this country seemed to be. From now on, I will call Finland Grumpyville in my mind. We were a little travel-worn from the plane and the train, but nevertheless we couldn't bear to stay shut up in that beautiful hotel room, when the city was calling us out! Not that we got too wild on our first night. It consisted mainly of wandering around Piccadilly Circus, admiring how pretty the city looked in the dark, and ogling at theatres and their advertisements. We went to admire Queen's Theatre in advance and also Her Majesty's Theatre, which of course is the home of The Phantom of the Opera. 

Something surprising happened too, something which I'm immensely glad about in retrospect. After seeing dozens of those "half price theatre tickets" booths along the streets, Em had the unstoppable urge to make her way into one of them and ask if they had tickets for The Phantom of the Opera this week. The answer was: "Would you like to go tomorrow?" Can you guess what we responded to that?

Tuesday

The first thing I did on Tuesday morning was find out what the situation was with our Les Mis tickets because we were genuinely scared that we wouldn't be let into the theatre at all on Thursday. In the end I only had to make two more phone calls and as both of the personnel I spoke with were extremely helpful and efficient, I had the much-needed ticket confirmation number in no time. We may have had a little hype attack with Em after the ticket business was officially settled.

Now we were completely free to enjoy a shopping spree to London's most celebrated shopping area, Oxford Street. Em found herself a very nice dress to wear to the theatre, but as neither of us are big fans of shopping in the traditional sense, our morning of shopping turned out to be a little tour around the different Waterstones bookshops. I have to admit that going to Waterstones was, right after seeing Les Mis, the thing I had been looking forward to most! We first went to Oxford Street Waterstones, where I made a rather surprising find: there, in the small selection of DVDs, Liza Minnelli was staring right at me from the cover of Cabaret! I couldn't possibly leave her there. Next up was the Waterstones at Piccadilly Circus aka "Book Heaven". It has five floors!! And in one of those five floors there was an entire shelf dedicated to Shakespeare, and I found this:

I haven't had the chance to properly read this book yet, but according to the back cover and the table of contents, it contains articles about challenges in staging Shakespeare plays, such as costumes, props and stage fighting. Just you wait, Royal Shakespeare Company, I'll be joining your ranks in a couple of years...

Between the Waterstones visits, we managed to find a gigantic CD/DVD store (everything in London seems to be at least six times bigger than in Grumpyville) where we went absolutely hyper when a salesperson told us they had a whole shelf for musicals. So there we went, and met the glorious sight of stacks of movie musical DVDs which we would never, ever find in our dear country. Anttila Megastore should be ashamed. I managed to control myself enough to settle to buying just four new movies.

Shopping haul from the morning's excursion:

• Book: Shakespeare & The Making Of Theatre, edited by Stuart Hampton-Reeves and Bridget Escolme
• Movie: Cabaret
• Movie: The King and I
• Movie: Hairspray
• Movie: RENT

Once Em and I were satisfied with our shopping, we returned to the hotel to get ready for the evening's ex tempore programme: The Phantom of the Opera! We were slowly starting to realize that we were in fact going to see the show that we had been drooling about for such a long time. We absolutely didn't want to be late at Her Majesty's Theatre, so we gave ourselves plenty of time to get pretty and find our way there, because with two people with almost no sense of orientation on the move, we had to give ourselves time to get lost on the way to the theatre. We didn't get lost, but somehow the hotel's elevator managed to get stuck while we were in it! Was the Phantom stalking us even before we entered his theatre? However, we got out safely and arrived at Her Majesty's Theatre an hour before the show started, which meant there was loads of time to take pictures of the posters outside and do some Phantom gift shopping. I have a thing for bracelets with things dangling from them, so I had to buy the Phantom-themed bracelet they had there (and then find a way to shorten it because apparently they manufacture those things to people with huge wrists). I also bought the programme leaflet with lots of gorgeous pictures in it.

Unfortunately I won't say anything about the performance itself here... because I'll be making separate blog posts for each of the plays we saw in London! That is the only way to do them justice, don't you think? All I will say now is, I will never stop thanking Em for bursting into that half-price ticket booth.

Wednesday

The sun was shining brightly from a dazzlingly blue sky – what a perfect day to go walking along the Thames! Our plan today was to cross south of the river via London Bridge, see if we'd be lucky enough to get return tickets for the matinee performance of Macbeth at Shakespeare's Globe, and then cross the river again to visit St Paul's Cathedral.

We took the underground to the Monument and finally found out what that immensely tall construction was. There was a wonderful surprise in the train as well: three guys scrambled in with their instruments and played Irish jigs!

The entrance to London Bridge is practically next to the Monument, but somehow we managed to make some strange detour before we eventually found ourselves on the Bridge. Walking across the Thames was awesome, especially as we had an excellent view of the famous Tower Bridge as well. Actually, my whole infatuation with London began when I saw a picture of Tower Bridge in a book – why it was a picture of a bridge that had such an impact, don't ask.

Once we were on the south side of the bridge, we began the search for a site that I particularly wanted to see as a musical fan: Nancy's Steps, where Nancy dies in the musical Oliver!. It turned out to be very well hidden for a famous site! We had to ask directions from two people before we found the Steps, where the plaque bearing their name and history had somehow been taken away!

Picture taken by Em

While making our way towards Shakespeare's Globe, we stumbled upon Southwark Cathedral. As we had still hours to pass before the Macbeth return tickets would be sold and Em is a huge cathedral junkie, we popped in for a visit. Southwark Cathedral, it turned out, is the oldest cathedral in London, and has a memorial for William Shakespeare – his grave, of course, is situated in Stratford-upon-Avon.

The Thames looked absolutely beautiful in the sunshine, and the temperature must have been even higher than the 24℃ that the weather forecast promised. So it was really quite comfortable camping outside Shakespeare's Globe in the return ticket queue. I was once again amazed at how popular this theatre is – I already witnessed it during my previous visit to London, but now I got to see how many desperate people there were besides us as the return ticket queue got longer and longer!

It had been our plan from the start to see Macbeth at Shakespeare's Globe, but the tickets were sold out at lightning speed, which left us the option to trust our luck with possible return tickets. I don't know if those people at the end of that huge queue got tickets, but Em and I did! They were much pricier than the standing tickets of ₤5 that we would have wanted, but it didn't matter at all in the end, because we got the best possible seats: in the lower gallery, almost exactly in the center, with a completely unblocked view to the stage! There aren't many seats like that in the Globe. Because it is built exactly like it would have been in Shakespeare's days, from most seats the view is obstructed by pillars. However, this is the spectacular view from our seats (I took the picture before the play started, because taking pictures during performances is of course forbidden)

The sun kept shining, which was nice because the Globe is an open-air theatre so if it rains, the people with yard tickets get wet. However, I did feel sorry for the poor actors (among them Billy Boyd as Banquo!) who had to perform in the sweltering heat with those heavy Renaissance costumes on. Once again there will be a separate post for Macbeth where I will tell you more about it.

I bought this poster from the Globe giftshop:

Our plan to visit St Paul's didn't work out because it closed at 4 p.m. so that would have to wait till the next day.

Thursday

We left our hotel room later than usual today, because we were going to give up the room so we had to pack and make sure we didn't leave anything lying around. However, we still had one whole day to spend in London. We were going to visit St Paul's Cathedral again (properly) and take a look at the British Museum before the long-awaited Les Misérables in the evening. While we were able to leave our big suitcases at the hotel for the day, we had to take our theatre dresses and everything else we needed for the theatre night (shoes, jewellery, hairspray...) with us on the road.

We went to St Paul's with much better success today. We got inside and saw the famous cathedral in all its magnificence. Every time I see such a massive church, I can't help but marvel how those buildings were put together with none of the technology we have nowadays, and how many decades and how much supplies of all kinds the process must have taken. St Paul's, however, does use modern technology: all of a sudden, there was a voice coming through a loudspeaker, inviting everyone to join in the Lord's Prayer! If I was a practicing Christian, I wouldn't necessarily choose St Paul's Cathedral for my prayers – so many tourists in there, must be impossible to get into a peaceful state of mind. St Paul's has attractions both high and low. We visited both the Whispering Gallery high up in the dome – a climb of 232 steps – and the crypt down below, where the air was so bad I got a terrible headache.

Police horses!

Unfortunately Em and I weren't as lucky with the British Museum as we had been with all other things so far. Everyone goes to the British Museum to see the Egyptian mummies, but we weren't really interested in those. We wanted to explore the rooms of European history, especially the Renaissance and Victorian eras, but those very rooms happened to be closed that day. Well, at least we found fabulous glitter masks from the gift shop, so we can now pay homage to the Masquerade number in The Phantom of the Opera.

After a tasty Italian dinner, we had to find a place to change into our theatre clothes. We ended up invading a Pizza Hut ladies' room, where we might have got a couple of funny looks from people as we liberally sprayed perfume and hairspray all around. We had a nice extra addition to our outfits tonight: Em had sewn us tricolor sashes in honour of Les Amis de l'ABC.  The nice guy at the Queen's Theatre box office didn't even have to ask me which tickets we were collecting. He, the theatre giftshop salesman, and even the man at the cloakroom were very genuine in wishing us a good time at the show, something which a citizen of Grumpyville finds very uplifting. It had been my plan for days to buy this t-shirt from the Les Mis shop:

Once again, my thoughts on our very first, long-awaited experience of stage Les Mis will be posted separately.

Friday

There wasn't really anything Culture Explosional about this last day – all we did was transport ourselves with all sorts of vehicles in a dead-tired state.

I think we baffled the hotel personnel just a bit when we returned there to collect our luggage and then asked to use the toilet, going in wearing theatre dresses and getting out wearing jeans and Cosette shirts. Then it was time to say goodbye to that beautiful, comfortable hotel and journey into the night.

We took the underground to Piccadilly Circus once more, only to find out soon after that that all tube stations would close for a couple of hours, meaning we would have to find another way to get to Liverpool Station. Once more we got advice from a helpful stranger and found a bus to take us there. Another closed gate: the station was also closing for the rest of the night! For the past three days, we had been living like London posh people, going to the theatre every night – tonight, we tried out the life of London hobos, camping outside the station gates and devouring McDonald's nourishment. The man who finally opened the gates at 3.40 in the morning was such a welcome sight.

The Stansted Express took us smoothly to Stansted Airport, where we miraculously ended up at the right gate despite our sleep-deprived states and were extremely depressed to hear Finnish being spoken around us once again.