'Rockeulven'

So, we went to see it last night, and I gotta tell you, it is FANTASTIC. We all agreed that it exceeded our very high expectations. Everything was fabulous. There was really nothing I could put my finger on and say that this was a weak point. Totally and absolutely fantastic. You must see it. :-)

The plot has been changed a bit from the movie (and when I say the movie, I'm talking about the English language version which is the only one I have seen - I know that the Russian and Romanian ones have different storylines, but I've never had the chance to see them), there are fewer characters and they've sort of thrown the music about a bit. The same songs pop up several times in different scenes. That actually works really well. Since it's partly for children (there were a LOT of adults in the audience ;-) I'm sure it's a good choice to keep familiar things coming back like that. The music is so fantastic that hearing it over again is never annoying, only wonderful. :-)

The costumes are just to die for ... they are all so well done, emphasising the exact right traits to make each of the characters convincing as whatever animal they are supposed to be, as well as keeping the 70s look just right for the movie fans. The costume department must have had soo much fun making them. :-) Hair and makeup are all great too. I really loved the white hair on the Hens. :-)

The scenography is brilliant, fantastically well done ... very simple, the stage is kept almost bare, but soo suggestive, you never wonder what it is you're seeing, even when there's hardly anything there. I'm pretty sure that would have been the same even if we hadn't seen the movie. The few set pieces there are are extremely evocative and really brings the scenes to life, even as simple as they are. Absolutely wonderful. Of course I expect that, it's the National Theater, but even so I was impressed.

What really made this so perfect though was the cast. O.M.G. I hardly know what to say. Absolutely everyone was absolutely fantastic. :-) Not a single person could have been better. That is extra impressive because there are children playing some roles ... the Lamb, the Piglet and the Chicken are played by adults, but for obvious reasons the three kid goats have to be played by real children. (If I tell you why that's obvious, I'd be revealing too much of the plot, so sorry, you'll just have to go see for yourselves. ;-) And they were pretty young children - one of them, the littlest goat, can't have been more than five, six at most. She was still really really good. She didn't just say the lines that she'd been taught, as most children that age will do (even in legitimate theater), she really acted her part. A very talented girl. Although if the one we saw was Elsa Døvigen-Ousdal (there are three children for each of these three parts) she clearly has acting talent in her genes. ;-)

Since it's the National Theater, you expect some big names ... but in a play like this, maybe not so much. Well, they're here, though. Quite a few big names, some very big. Lasse Lindtner, Anne Marie Ottersen, Anne Krigsvoll, Mari Maurstad, Kjersti Elvik, Finn Schau, Anne Marit Jacobsen ... the latter in one of the best roles of her career. She plays the Chicken. She is beyond fantastic. I'd go so far as to say that she's perfect.

All the actors do a marvellous job, really showing the species characteristics of each animal that we need to recognize them. The four Hens are really wonderful. Lena Kristin Ellingsen and Øystein Røger are fantastic as the Goat and the Wolf. But the one I have to really point out is someone I can't say I am familiar with at all - Tor Ivar Hagen, who I never heard of but suspect may be on loan from Trøndelag Theater, where this play was first produced, and where he also played the same role. He is totally and completely amazing as the Donkey. He IS the Donkey. His costume and hair is one of the absolute best in the entire production, so of course that helps a lot, but it's also his face, his delivery and first and foremost his body language that just makes him be this character. He totally blew me away. This production is almost worth seeing for him alone. o_O

I have to apologize that this post is so laden with superlatives, but I can't help it ... this thing really deserves every last one of them. And more. I'm tempted to use the a-word. If you love musical theater and you have any chance whatsoever of getting to Oslo, you MUST see this. Seriously. You must see it. You can buy tickets at the theater's website, here. GO AND BUY YOUR TICKET!!

Don't forget that half an hour before showtime they sell whatever tickets are left at half price. ;-)

A tiny glimpse from the show here - the Goat teaching the kids the secret song:



Just outside, in the background, you can see the Donkey as he listens and relays the lyrics to the Lynx and the Wolverine, as part of their nefarious scheme to help the Wolf gain access to the Goat's house and eat the innocent little kids. :-D

Fullscreen here.

Let's take in a show!

In fact, let's do it on my birthday! Sure, it's five months away, but a little forward planning never hurt anyone. Who's with me? On my 35th birthday, let's go to the theater and see a play - this play!

Sure, it's meant for kids, but 'five years and up' - that's totally me. I am so five years and up. :-) And I HAVE TO SEE THIS PLAY. OMG. I didn't even know they were doing it. Findabair and I were just wandering towards Saga on our way to see a movie tonight, and there it was. Opens October 13th, so it's perfect. And it's on the main stage! Who'd a thunk it. They must really be going all out on this one. I must see it. Who's with me??

You'll have to pay for your own tickets. :-D But I can probably get a discount on at least six. ;-)

The very model!

Check out this video. I love it. People are so creative! :-) And this is so true, too. I really wonder at those who are saying - and who apparently genuinely believe - that president Obama has accomplished nothing. What do they think he is, a wizard? Apparently so. He isn't, though. Alas. But he is the very model of a modern US president!! :-D



Fullscreen here.

Yes, but no

I've been listening to Which Witch a lot the past few days. Damn, that's good stuff. I mean, seriously. How could that thing bomb. It's a mystery. One of my dreams - and I do mean dream, because this is just never gonna happen - is to one day see a movie extravaganza kind of thing of this play. Musical, opera musical, whatever. Phantom of the Opera style ... except that hopefully it would suck less. Just WW as it is, straight off, no changes necessary. I really would be so beyond ecstatic if that ever happened. Never will, like I said. But it would be so unbelievably fantastic if it did. If someone really serious and gifted made it and it came out as well as it has the potential to ... then, wow. Just wow. :-)

Or maybe not? Bearing in mind this dream of mine, and on the other hand Keanu's dream (or so he claims, at least, but he does sometimes just blow people off with bs, so let's hope) of one day starring in a musical. Combine these two, and terrible things happen in my mind. Don't believe me, then see - or hear, I guess - for yourselves.



On the other hand, the irony is that Graham Bickley isn't really that much of a singer either. Except that, you know, he is a singer. o_O

In other news, look what I'm going to get in the mail one of these days. This painting. Squee!!

Someone on Swap-bot painted it for me. I just discovered it totally by accident, it was on the front page of the 'Bot this afternoon and I clicked it to see better, because I thought it was wonderful, and I discovered that it's for me. That swapper who loves the color green and turtles, that's me. :-D I'm so lucky! I do love it, before I've even seen it! The internet is a wonderful thing. :-D

UNITED KINGDOM 2009: Jade Ewen - My Time

Jade Ewen will perform for the UK in Moscow. The entry was chosen on January 31st in the final of the talent show Eurovision - Your Country Needs You! on BBC One.

Ah, the eternal second. Although, if truth be told, they haven't come anywhere near to deserving that title for years and years now. Unfortunately. The British have gotten themselves stuck in a vicious circle when it comes to the ESC - it's gotten a bad rep in the UK as being ridiculous and not worth the bother for serious performers (thanks for that, Terry Wogan) and so the real talent steer clear of it. So they send shitty songs and do very badly and that enhances the contest's negative reputation. And around and around we go. This year they're trying to change that, though - the preternaturally talented gnome king of the musical world has tried his hand at writing an ESC entry and the British people (or TV audience, whichever; I suspect the two may be largely interchangeable these days ;-) have picked a singer for him. So where will they end up this year??

The UK, being one of the Big Four, is assured a place in the final, so we will of course see this song there. Will it do well? I think, depending of course on the competition, which still is not quite clear, that it might. Apart from her unfortunate appearance in the lip area, Jade is a pretty girl ... and maybe the balloon lips will work in her favor as they may help her stick in viewers' memories. ;-) She has a very good voice. The BBC are clearly not afraid to dress her up in spectacular gowns. The song has sincerity, which will be in its favor if she can communicate it in her performance. The lyrics are sadly predictable, but as most of the audience won't understand English anyway, it will hardly matter. ;-) I like this song, but I am a huge Lloyd Webber fan, so that's not surprising. This isn't his best effort though, the song isn't a standout like some of his other work. But it's certainly quality craftsmanship, although not overly original. Trying to put my personal opinion aside ;-) I think that this is the best entry the UK has sent for years, and it has the potential to do quite well. It's not the winner though, that would surprise me very much. But it can do well, but that depends on the competition as well. This year though I do honestly wish the UK the best of luck. :-)

So, this is Jade Ewen performing My Time, written & composed by Diane Warren and Andrew Lloyd Webber who will be competing for the United Kingdom.



You can find the lyrics here.

Elisabeta Bostan: Ma-ma

Also known as Rock'n Roll Wolf, or, more famously in Norway, Med Grimm og gru. :-D More info on IMDb, here. This is a really weird musical that you mostly only have to mention to Norwegians of my generation to make us fall over ourselves in fits of nostalgia. Our national broadcasting company, NRK, used to show this movie every so often in the early 80s, and we all watched it and were warped by it. Like I said, it is really weird. It's based on the Grimm Brothers' fairy tale about the Big Bad Wolf and the poor little goats that he wanted so dearly to eat ... but it's a musical version with sort of rock music. It was a collaboration between Romania and the USSR and France - I know, right?? Can you just imagine?? When we were little we watched this bizarre creation and we were just transported to a magical fantasyland. :-) Watching it again now is ... umm ... perhaps not quite as magical. But it does bring back wonderful memories of Christmas past and many inspired childhood moments. :-)

This movie is pretty old now - it's actually just as old as I am, it was made in 1976. :-) And for the longest time it was never on TV here. Those of us who remembered it grieved and those who did not remember were consumed with curiosity ... as well as being the object of much wonderment among the fan group, because how on earth could they not remember?? My friend trilltrall is one of these - he'd never seen the movie until KAS and I took him to a screening of it at the Cinematheque here in Oslo ... I think it was last year. Seeing it on a big screen was amazing. A-maz-ing. Of course they sold out both screenings. And everyone there was our age. :-D It speaks to us ... !!

NRK have also realized this, and they have now been showing it regularly for the past few years, once or even twice a year. Often around this time of year, which is a season when Norwegians like to watch the same old Eastern European weirdness on TV that we've always watched. (Tri orísky pro Popelku, I'm talking to you ... we luvz you!!) And that's the reason I've chosen this movie as the topic for my blog post today - it's on TV tonight. Wahey! But ... no! Tonight is when I'm going to see the movie! The movie! Record, record, record ... which I've already done twice, or is it three times ... but you can never be too sure.

7:30pm on NRK3. Don't miss it unless you absolutely have to. ;-) For those of you who for obvious reasons will have to miss it, and who have quite possibly never heard of it, here are a couple of samples for your viewing pleasure. Yay, youtube. :-) The first is perhaps the most well known song from the musical, the title song, in a way. It's the song that Mrs Rada, the mother goat, sings to her kids (literally! :-D) to let them know that she's come home from the fair and it's safe to let her in. The second clip is IMO the coolest scene in the movie - I've always loved this scene - it's a confrontational duet between Mrs Rada and Titi Suru, the wolf, where she doesn't mince words telling him that if he tries to help himself to a dinner of tender young goat, he'll be sorry. >:-)

This is the English-language version, with ancient Norwegian subtitles.

My fellow countrymen: Don't miss it! :-)