Team Starkid's 'Twisted'

I have been a fan of Starkid Productions since I first came across ‘A very potter musical’ on Youtube.

When Twisted: The Untold Story of a Royal Vizier, was announced, I was excited. Twisted shows the story of Aladdin, but from the point of view of Jafar. This production was funded through Kickstarter which is proof how big their fanbase is. Twisted is a hilarious yet touching look at a tale we all love.

This version of the well-known Disney villain is simply trying to help the Kingdom but is blamed for other’s mistakes—the line “This is all your fault, Jafar” becomes a running joke.

 From the start, the musical is lively and hilarious. From one-liners, to running gags, Twisted made the audience laugh harder and more frequently than any other Starkid production. The musical keeps at a good pace and moves quickly, even when it reaches the second act.

Although the musical was incredibly funny, it also had a really heartfelt storyline involving Jafar.

The great thing about Twisted is that all the musical numbers run seamlessly into the storyline. The songs range from  silly (Think “Robin Sucks”) to tear-jerking (like “The Way I Do”).

The three new faces in the production include Robert Manion (the “fan-turned-friend”), Alex Paul, and Rachael Soglin. They all individually fit in very well with the rest of the Starkid actors. I look forward to hopefully seeing more of them in the future.

Dylan Saunders plays the main part of Jafar in this show. He gets to show his comedic timing and the emotion he can put into a part. He gives a very powerful performance and if you've ever seen a Starkid show before, you know that has a particularly good voice.

Other great performances come from original Starkids such as Joe Walker, Lauren Lopez, Jaime- Lyn Beatty, Jim Povolo  and recent members such as Meredith Stepien, Jeff Blim and Denise Donovan

Twisted was written by Eric Khan Gale and Matt  and Nick Lang. Music by AJ Holmes and lyrics by Kaley McMahon. It is directed by Brian Holden. They all did an excellent job in bringing this show together.

Overall the show was very touching and hilarious at the same time. It has a great storyline, great actors and it is topped of with brilliant humour.

The Day Of The Doctor Review

This review may contain spoilers.

Isn’t it strange to think that the 50^th Anniversary of Doctor Who is being celebrated across the world even in cinemas after a risky reboot back in 2005?

SYNOPSIS - We have the main story of the Doctor Who villians The Zygons (monsters that can mimic people around them but otherwise look like big, ugly creatures) breaking free from oil paintings in London’s National Gallery to take over the world. Meanwhile, Matt Smith’s Eleventh Doctor jumps through a time fissure to team up with David Tennant’s Tenth Doctor and save the day. We also have the ‘War doctor’ (John Hurt) who was about to trigger a weapon of mass destruction named ‘The Moment’ which would destroy Gallifrey. The War Doctor has a chance in this episode to meet his future incarnations and see first hand the consequences of his actions.

I enjoyed the 50^th anniversary special a lot, especially the interactions between the three doctors. There were great performances all round. The current incarnation, The Eleventh Doctor (Matt Smith) was his much-loved wacky self, while David Tennant brought back all the quirks which made us love his doctor so much. Added into this is the brilliant John Hurt, whose Doctor seemed to be the only adult among the three of them.

Watching the tenth and the eleventh Doctor on screen was great and what many people were looking forward to. They make fun of one another and it is brilliant to watch. With Tennant's doctor it feels like nothing has changed at all and he seemed to come back to the role easily.

I think that this episode overall satisfied the fans. This episode covers all that happened in the gap where Doctor Who was not on the TV and exactly what went on. 

A great performance from Billie Piper also, but, if there was one thing I could change it would be that The doctors were able to see and interact with Rose…even though it wasn’t actually Rose. Never Apply Logic to Who.

It was a good celebration of 50 years and a way of looking back with a cameo from the brilliant Tom Baker, but also looking forward as there was a glimpse of Peter Capaldi as the 12^th Doctor.

As a drama, it does all that you can ask for – it's funny, moving and exciting.

Wow. 50 years. Happy Birthday Who. I look forward to another 50.

The Escape Artist - Final Episode

Though it has divided opinion, I personally enjoyed The Escape Artist. There were many twists in the final episode, which means that I have waited till after the drama has finished until I put up my review. If you are yet to watch the finale, it may be best to leave this until you have seen it.

In this episode, I was surprised as I thought it would all be centred around the trial of Liam Foyle for the murder of Will’s wife, Kate. Instead, in another twist, the case was thrown out of court after the first ten minutes of the episode due to insufficient evidence.

Meanwhile, we see that Will somehow feels that he’s let Jamie down. During this episode Will reaches out to men who he’d previously represented in order to carry out some sort of dodgy operation. Later, he and Jamie return to the cottage where they go fishing in the rock pools, little did we know at the time that the knife used to gut the limpets would have such a profound effect. While travelling to Scotland, most likely for a job interview, Will is soon seen following Liam as he finds him at a country house. As the two argue whether or not Kate died slowly, It is revealed that Will was taping their conversation in order to get a confession. When the two come to blows, Will ends up stabbing Liam with the knife that he’d previously used at the cottage. Though the cut is minor, Liam starts to have an allergic reaction, assuming that this was from something that was left on the knife.  Instead of letting Liam to die, Will phones the emergency services who talk him through how to administer the shot that would save Liam’s life. But, Liam emerges from his attack and attempts to kill them both when he knocks a lamp over and ends up setting fire to the whole house. Even though, Will is able to carry them both out of the house, Liam ends up dying in hospital.

The end of the episode sees Will on trial for the murder of Foyle. Will decides to defend himself and infuriates the judge several times during the trial. The central question would be whether or not Will knew about Liam’s allergy and if he’d accessed his medical records at some point while defending him. Elsewhere, Maggie comes to supposedly to ask Will a legal question, but it seems as if she has more on her mind than just that. The ending plays out with a few final twists which I don’t think many people saw coming.

The Escape Artist definitely split many people and their opinions throughout the series. One thing I think everyone can say about The Escape Artist is that it was very well directed by Brian Welsh. The sequence involving Will’s stalking of Foyle was incredibly shot and really made me feel tense, but on the edge of my seat.

Tennant portrayed Will as a smart and emotional man and we saw  both of these characteristics.

Overall I very much enjoyed The Escape Artist, every time an episode finished I just wanted to see what was going to happen next.

What did you think of The Escape Artist? Leave a comment below.

Modern Family - "Suddenly, Last Summer"

Season 5 of Modern Family got off to a great start. The jokes hit well, and there were some touching moments too. The promo for this episode was hinting at a proposal by saying ‘Modern Family will all change with one simple word: Yes’.

SYNOPSIS- When Cam and Mitch both want to propose to each other, Cam enlists Gloria’s help, and Mitch enlists Claire’s help. Claire, being a Pritchett, is not so much of a romantic. Claire has some quite unusual marriage proposal ideas, which Mitchell does not exactly approve of.


Cam being the more romantic of the two, wants to propose where they had their first date. Mitchell plans to propose at their house, where he has set up two old rocking chairs and a bottle of champagne, this is because Cam has always said his idea of romance was having someone to grow old with. When they reach the restaurant (the place of their first date), Mitch instantly realizes Cam is going to propose to him. While he’s touched, he wants to prove to Cam he can be romantic too, and pretends to be sick. They agree to head home, where Cam has a backup plan: He will recreate a picnic under the stars they had when they moved into their first apartment. In the meantime, Phil and Claire try to earn themselves some time away from the kids. The kids are all leaving town at different times, and Phil tries to trick them into changing their plans so they can all leave at the same time and result in some kid free days.

Cam and Mitch’s real proposal happened when they had a flat tyre. As they go to change the tyre, they look back at their memories together. They both kneel down to change the tyre, look at on another with a smile and both say “Yes” at the same time. Brilliant! I loved this moment as it just showed what the characters of Cameron & Mitchell are like as a couple, that they didn't even need to ask the question, but they both knew what the other was thinking.

Although Manny’s storyline with his trip to Columbia was mostly entertaining, perhaps it dragged on a little too long, and it felt a bit like something that always seems to happen, where Gloria is being too protective of Manny and will not let him do anything and in this case, doesn’t want him to go to Columbia. But this storyline did show how far the Jay and Manny relationship has come, as they have grown to be full father and son regardless of the lack of their biological connection.

The episode on a whole was very well written, and did something which I’ve only experienced Modern Family do, which is to have me in fits of laughter one minute, and crying the next!Possibly the best quote from this episode was from Phil Dunphy – “Sometimes I don’t know if I love how much I fear Claire, or if I fear how much I love her”.

Ghost: The Musical UK Tour

SYNOPSIS –  Sam Wheat (Stewart Clarke) and Molly Jensen (Rebecca Trehearn) are a very happy couple in love and just moving into a new apartment with help from friend Carl (David Roberts) . Walking back to their apartment after a night out, they are seen by a thief in a dark alley, and Sam is murdered. He finds himself as a ghost not being able to communicate with anyone and realises that his death was not an accident. Throughout the show he is trying to warn Molly about the danger that she is in. But as a ghost he can not be seen or heard by the living, and so tries to communicate with Molly through Oda Mae Brown, (Wendy Mae Brown) a psychic who didn't even realise that her powers were real.

Personally, I have never seen the film ‘Ghost’ so going in to see the show, I had only heard one of the musical numbers. Although the songs are very varied in style I think that they all fit together quite well.

Probably the most impressive part of this show are the effects. In the movies, you can make almost any kind of effect work, however on stage this is very difficult. This show involves illusions of actors walking through doors and the transformation of a dead body turning into a ghost.

The actors playing the main characters of Sam, Molly and Carl were, in my opinion very good and seemed to convey the emotion and what the characters were going though during the show.

In terms of the ensemble and chorus, the singing and dancing was exceptional and everything was very much in time and sharp. The main comedy in the show was from Oda Mae Brown. All of the scenes between Sam and Oda Mae got many laughs from the audience, although, in saying this there were a few scenes where it was more serious, and perhaps the comedy was not needed, and where Sam and Oda Mae would be speaking over one another and therefore you could not hear what was being said.

Overall I enjoyed the show, with some great songs and brilliant special effects which brought the audience in to the story. I recommend you to go and see this if you get the chance. You can learn more about touring dates on the official website - http://www.ghostthemusical.com/

Welcome!

Welcome to BackstageBroadcast. 
This will be a way for me to review new musicals/plays and television shows. My name is Megan Watt, a theatre and television fan from Glasgow, Scotland. Please feel free to comment any of my reviews, but please do so politely.