Farewell 2008, Hello 2009!

There is no denying 2008 has been a spectacular year of ups and downs all over the world and for many different reasons, not least for Jessie. So whilst we've all been gorging and revelling in the excess of Christmas, I thought it appropriate to induldge in something a little more waistline friendly - a nostalgic look back over Jessie's fantastic highlights of '08.

First of all, however, I'd like to point out that over on Rachel's Blog, David, Andy, Rosie, Karen and Chris have all done a sterling job of recapping their 2008 Rachel highlights so do hop over to read them if you have a spare moment.

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Jessie first appeared on our TV screens on 15th March in the first audition show of the new quest to find a Nancy and an Oliver for the West End revival of 'Oliver!'.

Click here to watch Jessie's first audition

She must have caught the attention of the panel of judges, as Jessie got through to the call backs and impressed the audiences at home with her rendition of the Ray Charles song 'Hallelujah I Love Her So'.

Now, I can't confess that I even watched these first two audition programmes and had no intention of watching the show. However, one rather party and plan-less Saturday night caused me to sit down in front of the TV with my Mum who loves musicals and these types of television shows. Nevertheless I became intrigued to watch the show and follow the search for Nancy, first and foremost, as Oliver! was the primary school production we did and naturally, Nancy was the part all the girls wanted. As well, having seen the film adaptation many a time, seeing the touring production that a friend from school was in and reading Dickens' original 'Oliver Twist' this naturally became a show I subconsciously formed a very strong opinion about.

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Performing in front of audience averages of 5million every Saturday night, Jessie excelled and stood out as a potential winner of the role from early on. When it got down to the last 6, the bookies had Jessie on 2/1 and some had her as evens! Despite Jessie's popularity waning amongst some members of the judging panel, the support from viewers stayed strong. Here are my favourite highlights from IDA:

One Night Only, Week 3: For me, Jessie's electric performance of this song was the moment I realised her as my choice for Nancy even though she had still impressed me in the 2 previous weeks. From the sweet smile at the end of the song (shown in the picture at the top), you couldn't have guessed that Jessie had started the performance full of gritty Nancy characteristics. I'd say the studio audience enjoyed it as much as we did as well as Andrew who said "well one night only, the only thing I can say to you is eight shows a week only! You're a star!"

The Man That Got Away and Pub Mission, Week 6:

Week 6 on IDA was Jessie's ace in what was already a very strong pack. She surpassed all expectations when delivering an absolutely astounding performance of Judy Garland's song 'The Man That Got Away' and as we could see from training she blew away the Lord himself and reduced him to tears. It would seem all of you blog readers who voted in the poll agreed as this peformance was your favourite from I'd Do Anything by a long stretch.

Just when we thought Jessie couldn't have done any better, we saw just how brilliant her acting is when the girls headed off to a pub in the East End for their mission. Jessie impressed Barbara Windsor, Denise and all the local Cockneys with her acting from a scene of Blood Brothers.

The Semi-Final: I have to say, Jessie's performance of 'What I Did For Love' from A Chorus Line, has to be one of my personal favourites. Check it out on YouTube if you can't remember how brilliant it was!

The Final:

After a tough semi-final night, it was Jessie's night to shine and boy did she rise to the challenge! From the beautiful 'The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face' to the heart-warming duet with Gwion, to taking us back to the brilliance of week 6 with 'The Man That Got Away' and finally to her incredible rendition of Nancy's song 'As Long As He Needs Me', Jessie produced an absolutely flawless final performance. Unfortunately, though she looked to be a dead cert for Nancy, sadly it was not to be. Regardless of this, I'm sure everyone who watched the IDA final will remember just how fantastic Jessie was; her starlight shone brighter than anyone elses.

A cute compilation of lots of Jessie moments from IDA by YouTube user MissAVuk, who was an absolute star during IDA!

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A mere one month, 17 days and one mad holiday in Ibiza later, I started up the Blog on the 16th July greatly inspired by the success already achieved by David, Andy and their merry gang. I won't talk much about it as this isn't the focus of this post but since being set up it has racked up 43,000 hits from all over the world. Believe me when I say that they've come from as far afield as Australia, the USA and Canada as well as all over continental Europe and from the more obscure places such as Brunei, Hong Kong and Sri Lanka!

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In June, we were thrilled to hear that Jessie won the AIMS award for 'Best Actress' which was great recognition from her peers back home in Ireland for all her hard work.

August was an awesome month for Jessie too. We learned that she would be taking to the stage in front of thousands to celebrate Andrew Lloyd Webber's 60th birthday in Hyde Park as well as a great street performance in Tralee for the Irish Rose of Tralee festival.

With a fantastic summer coming to an end, September was just as good for Jessie as she performed in Dublin and London only 4 days apart. It provided one of the best highlights of a great year summed up in two words - Hyde Park!

Jessie produced an unbelievable performance of 'I Don't Know How To Love Him' from JCS - a song so powerful and evocative provided a zone that she could tune into to help her deliver such a magical performance.

In spite of this being the evident highlight of the concert for me, the entire show was really enjoyable and it was amazing to see such stars such as Idina Menzel and a yummy Lee Mead so close up! A brilliant end to the evening was provided by the Josephs and Nancies with a very fun performance of 'Light At The End Of The Tunnel'!




In spite of various speculation over what Jessie would do next, in October it was finally announced that Jessie would be taking to the stage as Anne Egerman in Trevor Nunn's production of 'A Little Night Music'. By all accounts and to no surprise, Jessie has performed brilliantly in a role which couldn't be further from that of Nancy.

I was fortunate enough to be able to come back from Uni for the weekend to go and see the show which was thoroughly enjoyable. Also I was lucky enough to meet Jessie for the first time which was brilliant!


Jessie will be performing at the Menier Chocolate Factory until March and even though tickets have sold out, you can find all the reviews and photographs on this site if you have been unable to get tickets for yourselves.

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So, what a year it has been!

I'd just like to take the chance to say thank you to all the readers out there for giving your support in the simplest of ways just by clicking on this site and reading what I have to offer. If someone had told me this time last year I'd be running something like this, I would never have believed them. Special thanks must go to everyone who has contributed photographs, reviews and video footage; without some of these, we would have missed out on some gems!

Finally, saying thank you to certain people just wouldn't be enough to show my gratitude for everything you have done and supported me with. You know who you are! Of course, these thank you's wouldn't be complete without extending the biggest of thanks to Jessie for just being her brilliant self.

Knowing something is appreciated makes anything worth its while, and doing this is certainly worthwhile!

Thanks for having read this far if you've managed it and here's to a fantastic 2009!

Happy Birthday, Jessie!

I'm sure many of you know that today is Jessie's 19th birthday!

Succumbing to my writer's block, I've decided the best and most sincere thing to do is to simply wish Jessie the happiest of birthdays!

I'd bet that at her last birthday Jessie couldn't have imagined all that she was to do and achieve before her next birthday - the stuff of dreams for many. However, Jessie has materialised those dreams and I really hope and wish that she achieves all of her other dreams and aspirations in the future and over the next year.

Right now nothing seems more fitting than an apt quote from Shakespeare's "Much Ado About Nothing",

"There was a star danced, and under that was I born."

A Special Message

Jessie would like to wish all her fans and supporters a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. She would also like to take this opportunity to thank everyone for all the support over the past few months.

Happy Birthday, David!

People who have a birthday on Christmas Day or around this period often get a rough deal; they don't tend to get as many presents as those who have birthdays at other times of the year and their special day is often treated as less important.

However one person who shares his birthday with the biggest day of the year is David from Rachel's Blog. So to reassure him that we haven't forgot, I just want to wish David the biggest and happiest Happy Birthday!!

In all fairness David, along Andy who also runs Rachel's Blog (we mustn't forget him either), is probably the reason why this website for Jessie is in existence! His hard work, dedication, loyalty and passion is an inspiration to anyone who wants to go and start something up and I know this certainly was the case for me.

Moreover, David is a top laugh and so easy to get on with and I have had the privilege of meeting him twice, once at We Will Rock You and when he came over to see A Little Night Music.

So, all that is left to say is that I sincerely wish David the happiest of birthday's for tomorrow and I hope you join me in the same sentiment! *cheers*

Photographs

I'm delighted to be able to publish on the Blog, with the kind permission of the photographer Roy Tan, some new photo's of 'A Little Night Music'. To keep this post short and sweet I'm only posting the photo's which Jessie is in however if you are interested, the rest can be found here at www.londonupdate.co.uk














Photographs courtesy of Roy Tan.

A Little Night Music - One Month On.

For the benefit of us all, Derek kindly obliged to writing his thoughts on A Little Night Music when he saw it for a second time on 18th December, almost one month on from the previews.

"Walking into the welcoming atmosphere of the Menier, it was hard to believe that almost a month has passed since we all assembled there for the opening preview night. Once again, I descended the stairs into the enveloping semi-darkness of the auditorium. I had been fortunate in being allocated a seat in the front row, dead centre of stage on the end of the centre aisle. This was the ideal viewpoint to carry out my intention, which was to view the play to assess the performance of the cast rather than just watching for the pleasure of the story. I also wanted to see what, if any, changes had been made to the production since the opening night.

Those who attended the first performance will remember just how good it was and find it hard to imagine how it could really be improved upon. Again, the whole cast gave a excellent performance and there did not appear to be any major changes, although I imagine there to have been some more subtle ones if Sir Trevor’s frantic note-taking during the whole of the first night’s performance is anything to go by. What I did notice was that the whole production seemed very much more cohesive than before, but this could simply be due to all the cast settling into their roles, coupled with the fact that the first night was also the first full dress rehearsal!

The only things that seemed to go wrong on the first night had mainly been due to props. The cuff link that flew across the stage, the wine glass that fell from the table to roll around on the floor and the tree that fell down. It always amazes me that inanimate objects suddenly seem to develop a life all of their own once they get onto a stage! This time all went well though, but I noted that the table had been repositioned to avoid the wine glass being knocked off again.

Well, it’s about time I mentioned Jessie. Could she maintain or better her excellent first night performance?

Of course she could! Whilst singing the number “Soon” she hit the high notes perfectly and tackled the challenging semi-staccato delivery that some of the lines demand convincingly. Her upper register really seems to have matured and strengthened whilst in this role, especially in having to hit the very high notes and move at the same time. Once again, she acted the part of Anne superbly. Like most of us, I have not been privileged to see Jessie act in any other role, so I did pay a lot of attention to her (sorry Jessie if I appeared to be staring at you an awful lot!). What really impressed me was not just when she was centre stage, it was all the times she was in the background of the scene listening to what was being played out by the central characters. It was her mannerisms, the half smile, the quizzical glance, the raised eyebrow, the way she communicated her mood or feeling just by the way she moved or stood. The attention that Jessie gives to the level of detail is superb and truly professional. She was so focused or “in the zone” as she herself in the past has described this state.

It was because of this that later in the second act, I was to have a rather strange experience. During the scene where Henrik is lying on the ground with a rope around his neck having failed in his suicide attempt that was initiated by his unrequited love for Anne and his own self-disgust of being in love with his step-mother, Anne approaches and even then, laughs and mocks him. At that moment I felt great anger and dislike for Jessie in her treatment of this young man who was prepared to die for her love. What did he see in her anyway, this immature child who was even afraid to consummate her marriage?

I was so taken aback at the strength of my feeling and realised that, despite my intentions of remaining detached and objective in viewing the play, Jessie had drawn me so unwittingly into believing in the character she was playing, I was actually feeling hostile toward her, and that takes some doing I can assure you! Simply, without realising it, I was now reacting to a different person - a person who was no longer Jessie.

So, if in the future anyone asks me if Jessie can act, I will remember how she made me feel toward her in that scene and answer very definitely in the affirmative.

In the interval, when people were filing past me, I heard only positive comments for the whole production and several singled out Jessie. However, two guys sitting behind me who were discussing the actors made the best one. They did not have a programme, so were unsure of the names. The conversation went something like;

“The girl playing Anne. She was on TV on I’d Do Anything wasn’t she?”

“Yeah. She didn’t win though.”

“Why the hell not? She’s really brilliant.”

“Yeah. She’s fantastic.”

Well gentlemen, I couldn’t agree with you more. What I found so encouraging was that they obviously hadn’t come to see the play as Jessie fans, but I bet they’re leaving as such.

After the show Jessie came out, looking far too fresh and sparkling than anyone who has just put so much into a performance and had such a gruelling day has a right to. She said how much she was enjoying being in the show and what a great part the character of Anne is to play. The passion for both the production and her art was so evident in her manner and voice.

Jessie, I hope I didn’t delay you too much in your rush for the taxi and thanks so much for stopping to chat and putting up with my babbling on!

One line Jessie delivers is: “I wonder what it would be like to be a one and only.”

Well Jessie, I’m already convinced but if you don’t know already, then you are very soon going to find out."

Thanks for taking the time to write this, Derrers!

Night Music Tickets

As you may or may not be aware, 'A Little Night Music' has now sold out at the Menier Chocolate Factory until the 8th March 2009 due to an 'overwhelming demand'. Whilst this may be a disappointment for those people who have been unable to get tickets, it hardly comes as a surprise seeing as the show has been highly rated in the national and stage press.

In 'The Independent' on Thursday the show was in their top 5 recommended plays to go and see, despite the fact that this was a little late!

Tickets that have been returned are available for purchase on the day of the show and you never know, you may just be lucky enough to get a walk-in ticket. However you must ensure you go to the box office in person to purchase the tickets.

"Book Now To Avoid Disappointment!"

How many times have we all heard that phrase? Well in this case, we're certainly not trying to fob you off with some tickets for a lacklustre show or concert.

The purpose of this post really is just to provide a small reminder of those you who have not booked your tickets yet to see this high rated show, by joe public and critics alike.

At the last check (15/12), there are two dates left for evening shows in January, five evening dates left in February and only one performance left in March.

I would urge any of you who are hesitating in buying your tickets to do so quickly and avoid disappointment! Clearly, as the Jessie Fan Blog we would urge you to see the show purely for the stunning performances she puts in as young bride Anne Egerman but in all fairness the whole cast is superb. On top of this, many rumours are floating around about a transfer to the West End once it has finished its stint at the Chocolate Factory in March. If this were to be the case then the show would not be in as initimate a setting as the charming little chamber theatre south of the Thames. Undoubtedly, 'Night Music' will sell out whilst it's at the Chocolate Factory which is most definitely something they can all be very proud of!

Here is the direct link to the theatres website where you can purchase tickets online: The Menier Chocolate Factory

Finally, I hope all of you who have seen 'Night Music' since Press Night thoroughly enjoyed the production.

40,000 Hits!

Evening all!

Being the unprepared so-and-so that I am, I haven't planned anything to celebrate 40,000 hits or anything to say.

However, this has been a very busy but great week for the Blog and we've had a lot going on. If you haven't already done so, please do read all the brilliant reviews of 'A Little Night Music' and take a look at the photos! Jessie has really done herself and all of her supporters proud in her first professional role and by March it is surely only going to be better - if that is even possible!

I suppose I would like to take this opportunity to thank everybody who comes on this site and provides support and advice. Some are more involved than others but really everyone who visits this site makes it what it is.

As far as I know, I don't have a lot of news coming up in the next week or so but do keep a look out for something very special which I am trying to get sorted!

Lets try and aim for 50,000 by Christmas!

'Stepping Out Of Nancy's Into A Blossoming Stage' - An Article In The Irish Post

A brilliant read!

"Jessie Buckley was runner-up in a BBC search for a musical star. After months of waiting in the wings she’s back in the spotlight and loving it. Peter Robertson finds out why.

THE LAST time TV viewers saw Jessie Buckley, Graham Norton declared her the runner-up on I’d Do Anything — the BBC series searching for an actress to play Nancy in the upcoming production of Oliver! in London’s West End.

After three months of tense competition, Jessie, who’s 18 and from Killarney in Co. Kerry, had come a close second to 28-year-old Jodie Prenger from Blackpool. So what happened after the cameras stopped rolling that fateful night at the end of May?

“I ran to the toilets and crumpled. I cried for what felt like a lifetime,” Jessie confesses in her first major interview since.

“The producers came in to me there and said: ‘Look what you’ve achieved at 18. This is your starting-point, think where you could potentially go’. It was nice to hear that but I was gutted, I’m not going to lie.

“The first three weeks, I was going ‘Oh God, I just wish I won this.’

“Nobody rang. Nothing happened. I was breaking out in a cold sweat.

“I called home and said ‘Mum, no one’s rung. Is that it? Am I over? Have I reached the end at 18?’

“I had no idea what was going to happen.”

But to her immense relief — partly because she admits she’s ‘absolutely rubbish with money’ — Jessie was soon signed up for top representation by United Agents (whose other clients include Keira Knightley, Kate Winslet, James McAvoy and Ricky Gervais).

And she was offered the role of understudy to Jodie Prenger as Nancy, which surprisingly she turned down.

“That was a really big decision for me to make, because I love Oliver! and the role of Nancy. During I’d Do Anything, I felt like a living breathing Nancy,” she says.

“But I didn’t win it. Being an understudy would have been a great way for me to learn but I wanted to make my mark on something.

“And, I’ll be honest, I didn’t want to be in the background.

“Cameron Mackintosh (the producer) said ‘Are you sure? We’d really like you to be in it.’

“But I told Cameron If I was honest, I didn’t feel like I was at my best to represent him now but if I did I’d want to do it properly.’”

Which sounds rather like she may yet become Nancy after Jodie — but no one’s saying, including Jessie who’s vague about her future.

“I don’t know,” she says. “Wherever my Yellow Brick Road takes me, I’ll go along with it. We’ll see what happens.”

Meanwhile, Jessie successfully auditioned for A Little Night Music at a comparatively small and low-profile theatre in south-east London called The Chocolate Factory.

Her role of Anne Egerman is not a lead and, although the cast includes Maureen Lipman and is directed by Trevor Nunn, it isn’t going to receive anything like the attention blockbuster show Oliver!, starring Rowan Atkinson (as Fagin) alongside Jodie, will get at The Theatre Royal, Drury Lane. And it will run for less than four months.

Yet Jessie insists: “This is the perfect thing for me right now. After I’d Do Anything, I said to my agent I don’t want something big… I want to have a chance to develop and learn before hopefully hitting the big West End stage like Jodie is now.

“Obviously I’d Do Anything was such a big part of my life and, if I had won, I’d have been over the moon.

“But I didn’t, and I have to accept that.

“I’m not sour at all about it. I’m happy for Jodie, and I’m happy for me that I get to do A Little Night Music instead.

“There had to come a time when I put the disappointment behind me and moved on. If I was still getting over Nancy I’d be a bit sad, wouldn’t I?”

A Little Night Music opens this week on November 22 — just three weeks before Oliver!

“I’m going to see if I can get the night off for Jodie’s First Night,” says Jessie, but not in the hope she’ll witness her former rival falling flat on her face.

“No, I’m really looking forward to seeing it. This is Jodie’s time to shine. I think she’s perfect for the part and is going to do a fantastic job.

“I’m really proud of her. Every journalist thinks all the contestants on I’d Do Anything were having one big catfight, but we actually got on well.

“I have a really good relationship with Jodie — I speak to her almost every week.”

Jessie concedes that, of the 12 finalists on I’d Day Anything, Jodie received the most fan-mail and Samantha (who unforgettably wore tight black hotpants for her first performance) got the most attention from male viewers. But Jessie had her fair share too.
“I got a few ‘I’d like to take you out for dinner…’ and stuff (letters). I’d see the words ‘dinner date’ and laugh nervously.”

In press interviews for I’d Do Anything, Jessie said she’d never had a boyfriend. But to see her now, glowing and giggling and frequently flicking those famous curls off her pretty face (far prettier in reality than on telly), you sense something might have changed on the personal front for Miss Buckley. “I am in a relationship now,” she confides.

“I’m not going to say that much about him because it’s private, but he’s an Englishman named Neil, he’s in his mid20s and in event management.

“I met him, through a friend, a few weeks before the end of the series.

“He watched me and bloody better have voted for me!”

The fact that he is Jessie’s first fellah makes her endearingly coy. And was it love at first sight?

“No, she says. “You know what, I’m only 18 and I can’t fall in love just like that. It has to grow and blossom.” Do you see much of each other?

“Yeah, all the time. We’re boyfriend and girlfriend… of course we’re going to see each other, but I’m keeping tight-lipped on the love aspect.”

So he’s not necessarily ‘the one’ for you yet? “I didn’t say that!”

Are you living together? “No. Whooooaaaah! Neil lives in South London and I’m sharing a place in North London with a few actor friends.”

Have you taken Neil home to meet your family in Killarney?

“I have, Jessie says. “I was so nervous introducing him to my parents. It was a big deal, especially for my dad as I hadn’t brought home a boyfriend before. But they gave him the thumbs-up and really like him.”

Most importantly, one suspects, Jessie adds: “Meeting Neil did take my mind off things.”

Being close to her father Tim, mother Marina, brother Cillian, and little sisters Julia, Eva, and Lily, has clearly also been a source of strength for Jessie.

As has the wider community who turned her first homecoming after I’d Do Anything into a heroine’s welcome, led by the Mayor, at Kerry Airport.

But there’s been a price to pay for her success.

Jessie reveals: “When I go home now, I want that to be for a break. When I was home a few weeks ago, people heard I was back and the telephone was ringing.

“A few chat shows were in contact and I was like ‘I’ve just come home for a little sleep.’

“I don’t ever want to be famous. That’s not why I do this. I was doing a concert a few weeks ago and some kids there asked me: ‘How do you become famous?’

“I said to them ‘You should never want to become famous’. I don’t.

“I love being anonymous in London, going about my business without paparazzi or any of that stuff — that really would freak me out.

“If I do become famous and get in the papers, I want that to be because I’m good at what I do and not because I was seen in a nightclub, y’know.

“I’m still just Jessie. I’m not ‘Jessie who was on TV or anything like that.

“Some people have come up to me and gone ‘Do I know your face?’ If I talk with my Irish accent, that’s usually a giveaway! As the Republic of Ireland’s only contestant on I’d Do Anything, Jessie wore a green dress.

“I’ve still got it” she reveals.

“It’s in my closet at home in Ireland.”

And might she use it as her wedding dress one day?

“Absolutely not! I can safely put my hand on my heart and say no green dresses involved!” So what’s next for Jessie?

“I really want to concentrate on my acting at the moment,” she says.

“I’d like to try a lot of things though, like TV and film and straight theatre — I adore Shakespeare. I want to get as many experiences as I can, whether I ended up filming in Hollywood, London or Ireland.

“I am very ambitious and passionate about what I want to do. One hundred per cent of my life is devoted to my career now.

“You have to be like that in this business — it’s tough. You have months where you’re waiting for the phone to ring to say you’ve got a part and, when you get that, you need to be totally focused. My family and friends accept that, and so does Neil. I still have fun — I shop, I cook, I go to the cinema — although I’ve also had to start thinking about taxes and all that yucky stuff!

“I like to keep myself busy. When I’m not busy, that’s when I go: ‘Hurrrrr’,” Jessie adds, making the kind of noise unique to an ambitious creature who will never settle for second place."

* The box office for A Little Night Music at The Chocolate Factory in Southwark Street, London S€1 until March 8, is 020 7907 7060.

A Short Review In The Metro

The Metro is a free newspaper provided on public transport primarily in London and thus has a wide readership. We even get them on the University buses in Nottingham! Therefore, this review will alert many people who would not read the newspapers for reviews or have heard about the show which is undeniably a good thing for all!

"Friday December 5 2008. METROLIFE.

London Lowdown.

4 stars.

After the disaster-and folly-of Gone With The Wind,Trevor Nunn delivers a triumph with this intimate production of Sondheim's bittersweet musical about foolishness of youth and love.The glinting,opaque mirrors of David Farley's Swedish country house set reflect a belle epoque twilight in which Sondheim's contrary lovers dream,bicker,break apart and finally end up with the right partner.

Sondheim's incandescent score is punctured by deliciously cynical lyrics and Nunn's production delights in the ironic collision between the emotional formality of 20th-century Sweden and the character candidly sexual identity.Most of the joy-and pain-comes from smashing illusions.

Hannah Waddingham's Desiree sings You Must Meet My Wife with one eyebrow wryly raised after her old flame Fredrik comes seeking sexual solace.Later she delivers a broken Send In The Clowns in which this exquisitely bitter song seems to almost collapse around her.This production has rhythms of dance-fitting for a score that relies on the tempo of a waltz.

By Claire Allfree"


Thanks to Jackie for typing this up, as it hasn't appeared on the internet.

A Little Magic For Winter Nights

Daily Express ****

"This is the first project Trevor Nunn has directed since ……………………………… I can only predict that this will garner praise.

Nunn’s revival of Stephen Sondheim’s bittersweet musical of romantic entanglements works beautifully in the Menier’s intimate theatre, making the emotions on display – love, lust and sexual frustration – almost tangible without causing them to be overblown and allowing the audience to pick up every facial expression and nuance to sometimes comic, sometimes wistful, effect.

Adapted from Ingmar Bergman’s 1955 film Smiles Of A Summer Night, A Little Night Music is set in Sweden but contains more than a whiff of a Midsummer Night’s Dream.

Mismatched couples finally come together during a balmy evening and are drawn to their rightful pairings in a satisfyingly predictable conclusion, the use of dry ice lending the proceedings a dream-like quality and evoking the night-long twilight. And while Nunn has already attracted some notice by casting a younger actress than is usual for the female lead, Hannah Waddingham is a triumph as the captivating actress Desiree.

The glamorous Waddingham may be only 34 but she plays the role with an emotional maturity, as a woman who has perfected a polished (and heavily made-up) veneer of smiles. Her concealed catty asides in You Must Meet My Wife are wickedly funny and when she opens her heart to her former lover, Fredrik, in the elegiac Send In The Clowns, the slipping of her composed mask is genuinely touching.

In fact the entire ensemble appears both perfectly cast and in fine voice, delivering Sondheim’s wonderfully light, typical waltz-time numbers with feeling and charm.

Alexander Hanson provides a strong, likeable, manly Fredrik and if Jessie Buckley, the runner-up in the BBC show I’d Do Anything, appears to slightly strain in her opening number, she creates an endearing image of naïve innocence.

Gabriel Vick is frustratedly indignant as Fredrik’s student son Henrik, while Kaisa Hammarlund is full of playful vim and vigour as the lascivious-minded maid Petra.

Alistair Robins puffs with buffoonish pomposity as Count Carl-Magnus, while Kelly Price as his cheated-upon wife Charlotte is contained in her ever-trickling pain and Maureen Lipman tops it all off as a suitably imperious Madame Armfeldt.

In short, a little night music delivers a good deal of winter magic."

Thanks go to Mr and Mrs Tanner for kindly typing up this review since it didn't appear on the newspapers website.

Deserved Praise From The Financial Times

Despite being one of the least likely newspapers to publish a theatre review let alone even be attending the press night, international business paper the Financial Times has raved about A Little Night Music.

"Director Trevor Nunn ends 2008 as he began it: in Ingmar Bergman territory, now moving from the bleakness of Scenes From A Marriage to the relatively upbeat Smiles Of A Summer Night .

Only relatively, of course: this being Bergman - and moreover being Stephen Sondheim's musical version - the smiles are always going to be rueful, wistful or -ful of something else to modulate them into a minor key. Indeed, the one perfect marriage here, amid the tangle of wed and unwed couples, is that of Bergman and Sondheim. The composer's sensibility may often seem Upper West Side Manhattan to the bone, but it meshes beautifully with the Nordic fatalism of the story. As Maureen Lipman's Madame Armfeldt advises her granddaughter: "Never marry or even dally with a Scandinavian."

Lipman, enthroned in a wheelchair, glares at the proceedings like a baleful pelican as her actress daughter Desirée fends off one lover and tries to reclaim an old flame who has since married (but not yet consummated with) a teenaged bride with whom his Lutheran son is also in love . . . and so on. Matters come to a head chez Armfeldt on a night when (as the chorus singers keep reminding us) the sun never sets.

Alexander Hanson has a strong pedigree as both an actor and singer, and is well cast as lawyer Fredrik Egerman: mature enough to be trying to regain his youth with 18-year-old Anne, but also middle-young enough to be a match for Hannah Waddingham's Desirée, who, even more than Miss Jean Brodie, is absolutely in her prime. Her appearance in Spamalot made Waddingham a name; if this production transfers to the West End, as it ought to (despite being finely tooled to the chamber dimensions of the Menier), her winning combination of appeal and depth will deservedly make her a star.

Loath as I am to endorse the TV talent quest I'd Do Anything , Andrew Lloyd Webber and Cameron Mackintosh showed some discernment in their admiration of Jessie Buckley, who did not win the series but makes an impact here as Anne Egerman. Also worthy of note is Kelly Price, whose delightfully disingenuous performance as Countess Malcolm expunges all memories of her in the musical of Desperately Seeking Susan . This nocturnal sunshine is just the stuff to get us through the dark midwinter."

A Special Review By A Back-Stage Critic

"A Little Night Music plays like a Bach fugue its music waltzing like an intimate quartet with beautiful strings and a well played challenging harp part. Bravo to the musicians in the pit or should I rather say the crows nest where they perched above us behind a black curtain where a chink of light revealed the conductors waving baton as he timed the exits and entry’s of the players. Their ethereal sound seem to come from heaven, as it melted with the dawn, for a opening chorus with the cast building it like an exquisite chocolate layer cake. Immediately I was transported from the nearby (must visit) Borough market from the delicious pre-theatre meal into the hearts of the people on this intimate almost Elizabethan stage where the audiences and the players are almost at one and all the richer for it.

One must go to the Menier Chocolate Factory for the confections of drama. Have to be honest, there is no place to hide, no dramatic effect of flying cars, crashing chandeliers or helicopters to distract the public, here is old school drama, where a look, a gesture an inflection of the eye, a change of tone can change your mood from laughter to sadness here actors act and singers sing and they needed all there expertise to paint the dramatic visual soundscape that is a little night music.

In the hall of damp stained crusted mirrors behind the arras of cigarette and cigar smoke, love's lost, love pains and gains unfold in a score by Sondheim which really is almost thrown away as a wrapper as the listener becomes engrossed in the drama of their lives. I loved the music but its service was well place by the producer almost in the background of the story telling.

A little Night Music sounds Mozartian and indeed musically it hangs on this classical frame yet the drama that unfolds within it is a fugue of themes of love through the ages of womanhood as the character waltz in and out of each others lives and beds and reflections their differing perspectives depending on class, age, experience and brain power.

There are moments where he plays homage to Wilde’s wit his reflection on society its farce of class , but really this is vaudeville full of quick one liners and put downs its comedy almost adolescent but it's spun out so quick that sometimes the joke is gone before it hits you other times you time it well, but interesting to note that the cast find it strangely funny how the audience catch the laugh in different spots depending on the night.

It would be unfair to single any actor out as this is an ensemble piece and for me all the pieces merges beautifully to entertain, enrich and help us all to reflect a little on our own life and loves.

When other throw stones I say well done to all and especially Trevor Nunn who seems to have brought the best out of Sondheim the intimate setting of the Chocolate factory seasoned professionals and novices alike."

Back-Stage Critic

4* Stars From The Papers

The newspapers all seem to have given A Little Night Music a brilliant 4/5 and here is a complimentary, comprehensive and fairly short review from The Guardian:

A Little Night Music,Menier Chocolate Factory, London



And erm, we'll pretend we never read the mean 2* star review from The Telegraph...although they provide a very good picture on their website!



On a brighter note, yesterday was a busy day for the Blog as we clocked up over 1,000 hits all in one day!

Another Review From The Stage and 100th Post!

This time a slighly shorter review from The Stage and wonderfully complimentary of Jessie.
As this is a momentous 100th post on the Blog, I would just like to take a few words to say how astounded and pleased I am at the generosity of the words about Jessie given by the critics in what is infamously a severly critical business. As well as this, despite how soppy or inappropriate it may seem I would also like to say how proud I feel for Jessie as all her passion and hard-work is finally paying off. Enjoy this review!

A Little Night Music

Published Thursday 4 December 2008 at 15:15 by Paul Vale

"In 19th century Sweden, an actress decides to settle down with the lawyer she once had an affair with. Unfortunately their intimacy is complicated by his new young bride and her own arrogant lover.

Sondheim’s musical is based on Ingmar Bergman’s film Smiles of a Summer Night, although Hugh Wheeler’s excellent book sounds decidedly more East Side Manhattan than it does West Stockholm. It is to the source work that director Trevor Nunn has returned for inspiration here.

Sex is a vital theme to the success of this musical as it is constantly alluded to in dialogue and song. A director should ignore this at his peril and thankfully Nunn has embraced sex - desired, frustrated and achieved - as the real colour palette of the show, brilliantly set off against the muted plaintiff tones of David Farley’s set and costumes.

Nunn has put together a wonderful ensemble cast led by an immaculate performance from Hannah Waddingham as Desiree Armfeldt. Finally, here is a Desiree that can set men’s hearts racing and yet still break all our hearts with her soulful lament, Send in the Clowns. Alexander Hanson too is superb as Frederik, the stuffy, middle-aged lawyer with the child bride. Maureen Lipman adds her own special brand of hauteur to the role of Madame Armfeldt, the retired courtesan.

Jessie Buckley may have lost out as Nancy but here, as Anne, she is excellent in her first professional role opposite a heroically serious Gabriel Vick as a frustrated Henrik.

The inclusion of the number Silly People is a mistake that adds nothing to the show except length. Otherwise, A Little Night Music can be considered yet another jewel in the Menier’s decidedly glittering crown, offering those weary of these December blues a reason to smile on a winter’s night."

BBC Radio 4's Front Row Programme

For those of you interested, on BBC Radio 4's Arts and Drama programme will be broadcasting a short report from A Little Night Music on the show tonight between 7:15 - 7:45pm.

For anyone who can't listen to it or misses it, I will be endeavouring to get the audio clip up here as soon as possible!

Does It Meet Their Standard?

Click HERE to read what Nicholas de Jongh of London's Evening Standard has to say on A Little Night Music.


For all the photographs go over to THE GALLERY!

What's On Stage? A Little Night Music, of course!

Yet another review by Michael Coveney - is he the critic of theatre or something? - but this time rather perplexingly he has given it a 4* star rating for What's On Stage. This aside, he is yet again full of praise for A Little Night Music except for Jessie but he makes no mention of this in his review in The Independent; again, perplexing or perhaps simply just madness on his part.


Menier Chocolate Factory
Where: Outer London
Date Reviewed: 4 December 2008
WOS Rating:
Average Reader Rating:

"The opening is magical. The quintet of choric singers emerges from the mists of memory in a hall of mirrors, spinning to the waltz of a summer night. They whirl away, leaving us with father, son and a virgin bride declaring their respective dilemmas in “Now,” “Later” and “Soon”: immediate seduction, hopeless frustration and excitement on the brink.

Trevor Nunn’s chamber-scale revival of this gorgeous 1973 musical – music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, book by Hugh Wheeler, based on Ingmar Bergman’s Smiles of a Summer Night (itself derived from a Marivaux play) – allows us almost to eavesdrop on the characters.

The conversational quality of this score, both in this sequence and perhaps especially in the face-off between Desiree Armfeldt’s rival lovers, “It Would Have Been Wonderful,” has never been better realised. Nunn also veers more emphatically towards the Scandinavian angst over the Broadway bitchery. Costumes are black suits and cream silks, with oaten variations.

Desiree the touring actress is played with willowy flightiness by Hannah Waddingham, toying with the affections of both Alexander Hanson’s superb Fredrik (revealing the subtlety of the role as well as its vanity) and Alistair Robins’ unreasonable Count until she realises where her true heart lies – in the sad confusion of “Send in the Clowns.”

That late addition to the score is its masterpiece, despite years of hackneyed reproduction, whereas the new song “Silly People” (only ever heard on the concert platform before) slows down the second act and adds nothing new. The only fault of Nunn’s meticulous, often obsessively Chekhovian direction, is the odd loss of pace, often in scenes with Jessie Buckley’s underpowered, gauchely acted teenage bride Anne.

The bite is restored first by Maureen Lipman as the old chatelaine Madame Armfeldt, Desiree’s mother, who plays the comic Lady Bracknell side of the role at the expense of its European grandeur, and secondly by Kelly Price as the Count’s vengefully plotting wife. The National’s 1995 revival by Sean Mathias was too soft and languid a spectacle; this has all the bittersweet melancholy and mordancy of Bergman with a top skin of Woody Allen.

The Menier treatment is becoming as distinctive as a Donmar Warehouse brand. David Farley’s design is simple and brilliant, the mirrored panels opening onto a forest of silver birches, lit to perfection by Hartley T A Kemp. And Jason Carr does another remarkable job in reducing a rich score to its orchestral minimum (six musicians) without losing an ounce of impact or flavour. A little chamber night music is just the job."

'The Stage' Review

Rather ironically, 'The Stage' complain about the length of the production, whilst simultaneously providing the most long-winded review so far. Or is this actually a review at all? You decide.

ANOTHER LITTLE (BUT LONG) NIGHT'S MUSIC

Press Night Aftershow Photos

A 5* Star Review From The Independent!

It is with great pleasure that the first critical review of A Little Night Music I bring to you by Michael Coveney has rated the show with a magnificent 5* stars!! Definitely worth getting up at 8:30am for (most unusual for a student, I tell you!)


A Little Night Music, Menier Chocolate Factory

(Rated 5/ 5 )

Reviewed by Michael Coveney
Thursday, 4 December 2008

"Stephen Sondheim and Hugh Wheeler’s 1973 waltz musical is based on Ingmar Bergman’s Smiles of a Summer Night and as Trevor Nunn has already directed Bergman’s Scenes from a Marriage on the stage this year, he’s in the mood for a piece the composer described as whipped cream with knives. His intimate revival comes out of the mirrored mists of a country house estate where memories are rife and the moon smiles three times: for the young, the foolish and the old.

The sinuous, bittersweet score is Sondheim’s Rosenkavalier full of trios and duets, Mozartian grace notes in a storyline full of mishaps and mistresses, syncopated rhythms and of course “Send in the Clowns”, that 11 o’clock number (and it was not far short of that hour on opening night) sung by Desiree Armfeldt, the touring actress, to her old flame the married lawyer Fredrick Egerman. In the past, Jean Simmons and Judi Dench have delivered it in an identical red dress as a defiant sob story. Here, the languorous, tall Hannah Waddingham allows the song through her baffled and defeated defences.

It’s much more effective that way, especially when countered with Alexander Hanson’s superb, deflated Fredrik, who has been unable to cope with his impetuous second marriage to a virgin teenager, Anne. In this role, Jessie Buckley compensates for inexperience with blushing girlishness, finding her right emotional level with Fredrik’s troubled, cello-playing son Henrik (Gabriel Vick) whom she discovers at the wrong end of a rope in the garden after dinner.

The structure has two levels of supervision. First, the choric quintet who drift in and out and supply the reflective tone and social momentum in items like “Remember” and the spring-heeled catchiness of “A Weekend in the Country”. Then there is Desiree’s old mother, Madame Armfeldt, a strong-willed chatelaine who has slept with most European heads of state and acquired as much experience as vintage champage.

Usually, this wheelchair-bound old trout is played with mittel-European inflection, but Maureen Lipman scrubs it all down and finds Lady Bracknell lurking. Lines that were never funny shine like gems, fair reward for losing the mildewed grandeur of Hermione Gingold (the first Mme Armfeldt in London in 1975) or Lila Kedrova in the Chichester revival of 1989. She is less successful with the nostalgic “Liaisons” (what happened to them?)

The music is brilliantly arranged for a tiny band by Jason Carr, and David Farley’s design is a cream conservatory with opening doors and a vista of silver birches in the second act. The lighting of Hartley T A Kemp plays its part, too, in evoking the steam and sultriness of the woodland retreat where only the valet and the sexually active maid Petra are honest to their desires. The first is given a new song “Silly People” that doesn’t really earn its keep, but Petra’s “The Miller’s Son”, glowingly sung by Kaisa Hammerlund, sets up the finale of resolution and death with great flourish.

This is another small-scale triumph for the Menier. And you begin to wonder what Nunn might have achieved with something like Lloyd Webber’s Aspects of Love, had he gone down this route with musical theatre a little earlier."

More Photographs

This evening brings even more photos which I was sent and got hold of so I just had to Blog them. Enjoy!

Official A Little Night Music Photographs!

Just as Press Night is under way, we have received some official photos of A Little Night Music!

If you haven't been yet these should give you a great idea of what the show is like!

Hannah Waddingham as Desiree.

Alex Hanson and Hannah Waddingham - Fredrik and Desiree.

Jessie as Anne Armfeldt and Kaisa Hammarlund who plays Petra, the maid.


Maureen Lipman as Madame Armfeldt.



The cast during the eventful weekend in the country!

Backstage At Hyde Park

This evening brings us a little known video taken backstage at Andrew Lloyd Webber's 60th Birthday Bash in Hyde Park. Jessie and Niamh talk to Ramin from Phantom of the Opera!

[Okay, bear with me whilst I try to sort the video out. The html doesn't embed properly like the website said it would! In the mean time, here is the link: LINK]

Thanks to Lynne who found the link!

Hands up who's a fan of the curly haired Brian May?!

Reviews, Reviews, Reviews!

There are lots of reviews posted over on the review section so pop over there to read what others think about the show!

Tomorrow is the big night for Jessie - the press night. We're wishing her all the luck in the world and know she will pull a blinding performance out of the bag. I, for one, will be waiting with baited breath to see what the critics make of it.

REVIEW SECTION

Remember for those of you who still haven't book tickets, sort it out soon!

West End Whingers Review

Lots of reading for you all today! Here is the review written by two theatre enthusiasts taken from this website.

However I'm only going to include the section about Jessie but would definitely encourage you to read the whole article; it really is great.


"I’d do Anything’s runner-up Nancy, Jessie Buckley, didn’t lose out after all. She seems perfectly cast as Anne Egerman, sings wonderfully and has a charm and confidence which belies her lack of experience. This is her professional theatre debut but it would be hard to tell."

An Unbiased Review

Naturally, as Jessie fans our reviews are likely to have a bias towards her anyway but I have come across this unbiased review on a Blog written by someone who went to see a Sunday matinee of A Little Night Music. Enjoy reading it, I certainly did!

"With the Whingers to a Sunday matinee of 'A Little Night Music' in its Trevor Nunn reincarnation at the Menier Chocolate Factory theatre, auditorium nicely reoriented from the womblike velvet tunnel structure for Cage aux Folles to something resembling a miniaturised hexagon, pre-theatre lunch nicely presented, seats now numbered and reserved, toilets clean, doors to automatic, all boxes ticked for an enjoyable afternoon ...

In this extraordinarily classy production, with money spent in ways to which the Menier is unaccustomed - set, costumes, cast, lighting (needs a few more shillings in the meter, Trevor) and backstage, this production looks destined for a West End transfer before it opens. Except I hope it doesn't, because the intimacy of the production generates an involvement in the family lives of the lawyer Fredrick and the actress Desiree that I just don't remember from the Judi Dench version in the Olivier in 1995.

In fact, all I can recall of the Olivier production was the cast, including an increasingly breathless Dench, running the huge distances on and off stage between every scene. It could have been directed by Sebastian Coe.

With compactness comes brevity. For Trevor Nunn to bring in a show at under three hours is something of a rarity, but this one keeps a good pace despite the langourous nature of the Swedish summer night, and its underlying themes of despair.

What drove it for me was the energetic and realistic performances of Alexander Hanson (every time I see him deliver another cracker of a male lead I wonder how he failed so badly as Captain von Trapp?) and even more cracking Hannah Waddingham as Desiree, making her a living, breathing, funny, fallible, sexually urgent and credible beauty in ways I can't recall other actresses achieving in the same role.



It's Waddingham's wholly believable central performance that reminds us this is a comedy. Too many directors have treated ALNM as if it were some Ibsenesque holy writ, overshadowed by the Guardian-reader movie and its self-styled auteur Ingmar Bergman. For once, Nunn accentuates the base comedy, and it could do with even more to reposition this as an ENJOYABLE piece of Sondheim, rather than a museum piece out of his 'stultifying' box like Sunday in the Park.

What this production could NOT do with is the unbalancing presence of that old Golders Green department store Maureen and Lipman whose contents have yet again been spilled on the London stage. Teetering between a dessicated Thatcher, and Miss Havisham, Lipman plays Madame Armfeldt as a powdered corpse, picking up every vowel with sugar tongs and flicking them at the audience with her trademark sideways glance in stark contrast to the naturalism all around her.

Trevor Nunn sat on the aisle across from me and scribbled notes almost continuously through the show with a green-illuminated pen-light. After Lipman stretched her number 'Liaisons' into a caramel-jawed dirge, I swear I saw him write "phone Sheila Hancock".

Lipman aside, the singing in the show is excellent. Hanson's rich baritone pins Fredrick perfectly, and even the 'more actress than singer' members of the cast give excellent musical performances, notably Jessie Buckley (apparently a runner-up Nancy in the TV search for a star programme) as Fredrick's young wife Anne who assails Sondheim's dressy tessitura with bravado.

The Liebeslieder or chorus of smaller characters deserve special mention. I always enjoy comparing the shapes and sizes of the bit-part players to the leads, and try to match the more obvious understudies. Here it also works where an older lady, a tall woman, a pert girl and two heroic male-leads-in-waiting are assembled, but this time they are surprisingly fine singers and actors, and if the curse of the Menier were to call any of them into a lead role, it would not diminish the production at all.

Destined for a three month run, I can't see how the economics work. Even though it will sell out, 13 weeks of full houses will only generate about £600k, and I can't see how that will pay this large cast of experienced actors, and Mr Nunn, what they deserve. "

Thanks to John for letting me use his review. His Blog is here: www.blowstar.blogspot.com