2015

Wassuuuuuup. Happy 2015! I was going to wait to do a hello again post until after I’d caught up with all my reviewing, but to be honest that day may never come (see list below). So here I am. Still alive, still pigging about in south London and you know, various theatres. However, I have some news. From mid-April this year I will be trotting myself back up to my homeland of the north (Newcastle, to be precise) to live there instead of here. I won’t technically be a Brixpig any longer (even though now I’m really a Hernepig anyway), and I’m not sure what I’ll do about this blog. I’ll probably carry on. I’ll let ya know.

 

In the meantime, I am planning to massively enjoy my last few months in our fair capital. I spent New Year’s Eve at my friend’s lovely boarding school in Banbury, drinking half pints of prosecco in the common room and dancing round tables, eating excessive amounts of carrot sticks and dicking about with sparklers. And this year I have already seen some stupendous theatre, eaten a load of leftover Christmas cheese, discovered Magic FM’s new Sunday evening radio show starring John Barrowman (you know you want to), and eaten more bags of Mini Eggs than I care to think about.

 

Music-wise, I am still loving Bleachers who I get to see in February (yesssss), and HIGHLY recommend Marina and the Diamonds’s new stuff – she is releasing one new song a month until the Froot album release in April and I can confirm that they are all brilliant so far (particularly Immortal). And in my traditional style, I’m about six months behind the rest of the world and have just discovered how amazing Sia is. I am obsessed with her album. This video of her new single Elastic Heart is amazing (and features Maddie from Dance Moms – who knew my mother’s TV viewing was actually on trend?).

 

 

Telly-wise, I’m catching up with new episodes of Girls and Glee (both underwhelming but I’m sticking with them), and undertook the perhaps unwise feat of watching series 1 and 2 of Broadchurch simultaneously. I have now seen the whole of series 1 so can rumble along with the rest of the nation from this point on – so glad to see Eve Myles back on my screen, she is a cracker. Episodes is also back in the US (and therefore online…) and is on top form so far – Greig, Mangan and le Blanc are a dream trio. Final recommendation is Catastrophe, which started a couple of weeks ago on channel 4 and is fucking hilarious – just watch it and I guarantee you’ll be laughing out loud.

COMING UP IN 2015:
The Changeling at the Wanamaker
How to Hold Your Breath at the Royal Court (Maxine Peake!)
London Gin Festival
Bleachers at Bush Hall
Stevie at Hampstead Theatre (Zoe Wanamaker!)
Antigone at the Barbican (Juliette Binoche!)
The Broken Heart at the Wanamaker
Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown at the Playhouse (Tamsin Greig!)
Sweeney Todd at the Coliseum (Emma Thompson!!)
Fleetwood Mac again in Leeds (Christine McVie!)

 

And when I finally get my writing shit together, here is what you can expect to see, reviews-wise:
‘Tis Pity She’s a Whore
Kylie
Electra
Urinetown
The Crucible
Dirty Rotten Scoundrels
Chrissie Hynde
Edward Scissorhands
Elephants
Made in Dagenham
(Can you see why it takes me so long??)

 

Lovely to be back.

 

Brixpig x

Miranda: My, what I call, live show

When: Wednesday 19th March

 

Where: Newcastle Metro Radio Arena

 

Why: SUCH FUN

 

My darling brother bought my mum and I tickets to see Miranda for our Christmas present in 2012. The most forward-planned gift of all time, at 15 months in advance. I was so proud.

 

Miranda was a riot; a friendly stage-presence and gloriously wacky, as expected. Her stand-up was slightly more in line with the sitcom Miranda, and took a similar format of silly jokes and asides to camera, plenty of slapstick and singing. It was like the filming of an episode but with much more audience involvement. The front rows were treated to gins in tins and packets of crisps (“Take one and pass it along”) as this show was intended to be a party. We sang along to disco classics (I will survive), took part in some en masse posh party chit chat and did plenty of dancing. Highlights included:

 

- the incredibly awkward interval date, which left a 20 year old female audience member tolerating the brilliantly uncomfortable advances of a 17 year old boy in a ‘Parental Advisory’ t-shirt
- Miranda’s predatory lunge, resulting in her accidentally flirting with a 15 year old
- readings from her teenage diaries
- the football warm-up move (“These… are MY balls”)
- MOIST PLINTH
- “What have you done today to make you feel PROUD?”

 

The whole thing wrapped up with a delightful video encore and an epic Beyoncé inspired performance featuring hotpants and glitterball.

 

SUCH FUN.

 

Brixpig x