2013-06-19T07:13:34-04:00 Luke Jones http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/author/index.php?author=luke-jones Copyright 2008, HuffingtonPost.com, Inc. HuffingtonPost Blogger Feed for Luke Jones Good old fashioned elbow grease. tag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2012:/theblog//3.1445591 2012-04-23T10:25:54-04:00 2012-06-23T05:12:02-04:00

Luke Jones http://www.huffingtonpost.com/luke-jones/
Photo: The Voice, BBC One

We wake this morning to the news that the BBC's new Saturday night programme, The Voice, has beaten ITV yet again in the overnight ratings. Although some might argue that if you include ITV+1 then The Voice looses, yet lets not forget that the great stonking triumph that is the BBC iPlayer is still not yet included in television audience figures and BBC One does not have a +1 service. But to take audience figures as the be all and end all is not conducive as the real meat of the matter is in the content of the programme, not the statistics.

When The Voice was launched this year Simon Cowell said 'I would query whether you even need another singing talent show but we have armed ourselves and we are in a good place to beat them'. But what he was not expecting was the simple fact that sums up the difference between the BBC's recent foray into the talent show and the Cowell/ITV output: every singer in the 'Battle Round' this weekend were better that Matt Cardle. There, I said it - we were all thinking it. Many dismissed The Voice because they believed without a regular injection of talentless idiots it would keel over like deprived heroin addict who has ran out of cash. But thankfully this was not the case and The Voice has superseded the need for hapless circus rejects with actual, outstanding talent. Although one of the more trite moments of the show, Jessie J was beyond correct when she said 'television isn't ready for the talent on this show'.

For a long time I have watched the X Factor and Britain's Got Talent but when they trot the old 'we're looking for Britain's next star' for the sixth year running when all you have to show for the last hour on the sofa is five DFS adverts, three appalling school-children dance troupes and one guy with a guitar (who might be good but to be honest thats probably just because he came after a dog which refused to do anything stare blankly into space) you feel a little cheated. However, when presented with 40 excellent singers who are all clambering to exceed one another you obviously are more inclined to stick with that because no number of 'oooh isnt Simon in an appalling mood today' montages are going to sway anyone.]]> tag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2012:/theblog//3.1402773 2012-04-07T09:45:29-04:00 2012-06-07T05:12:01-04:00

Luke Jones http://www.huffingtonpost.com/luke-jones/

Picture the scene, it's a Tuesday evening at the Novello Theatre just off the Strand and I am sat between Ronnie Corbett and Andrew Scott (Moriarty from Sherlock). Dotted around us are the American from Downton, a man from War Horse, Patricia Routledge and Olivia Coleman. It could not have turned out better. My stellar seating chums aside, Noises Off was the reason I was there, a new revival of the Micheal Fryan farce which sees a slowly crumbling tour of the play 'Nothing On'. We see the dress rehearsal of Act 1, a performance of Act 1 (but from the view of backstage) and the final night's performance of Act 1 from the audience's perspective again. Each time falling apart more than the last as affairs, secret relationships, drinking problems and egos get in the way.

I can honestly say I have never laughed so much in the theatre, probably more so than in One Man Two Guvnors which was hilarious. Far from being repetitive, jokes which had you in fits of laughter the first time have you laughing at them again the second and third time all for different reasons as new situations come to light and more complications surface. It is certainly of the same comedic vale as Acorn Antiques with people going to answer the phone before they ring, coming on at the wrong time and props being lost. Celia Imrie as the actress Dotty and her character Mrs.Cracket has already been nominated for Best Actress at the Olivier Awards, and rightly so. Her performances as both are pitch perfect and have the audience roaring with laughter at everything she said.



Like the best comedy, Noises Off does not have a single weak member of the cast which allows the overall performance to have that precision which allows farce to look loose and all over the place whilst in actual fact being very precise and immaculate. The middle section of the play sees everyone arguing in hushed tones backstage as the play is being performed on the other side of the scenery and is a masterclass in physical humour. Predominantly the only dialogue heard are the lines of Act 1 of 'Nothing On' being performed behind the scenery and yet it sounded like people were on the verge of doing themselves physical harm, such was the volume of their laughter.

Whilst the actors were meant to be doing a performance on the 'stage', 'backstage' they are arguing trying to kill each other and frantically running around and getting confused, whilst at all times making it to their correct entry point to perform on the other side of the scenery. Evidently the result of weeks of tireless rehearsal, the timing of what seemed like chaos was spot on. Its easy to slip into the mind-frame that in the context of a play which is falling apart, it would be easy to forget one's line or miss an entry or forget a prop when in actual fact it is quite the opposite. One of the most astonishing parts of this play, and this current production, is the way in which you wholly buy into what is going on - there is a reassuring feeling of being in good, safe and hilarious hands. But by no means take just my word for it. Ronnie Corbett (my new best friend), who saw the original production thought it was brilliant, as did Patricia Routledge, who was in the original production in 1982. One of the most enjoyable shows I have seen in London and one of the only ones where I have made my mouth physically hurt from laughing - one more joke and I would have drawn blood!

Noises Off is playing at the Novello Theatre until the 30th June. For tickets go to www.oldvictheatre.com

]]> tag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2012:/theblog//3.1394860 2012-04-01T12:18:31-04:00 2012-06-01T05:12:01-04:00

Luke Jones http://www.huffingtonpost.com/luke-jones/
Photograph: Tristram Kenton

Although I am reliably told it is a 'classic', before I saw the new West End revival, the only things I knew about Sweeney Todd were the two words 'Sweeney' and 'Todd'. I was the proverbial blank canvas going into the performance - I didn't know what to expect, what the story was, what the music was like: nothing. All that kept going round and round in my head was 'Oh I like Imelda Staunton, I bet she'll be good'.

For those who are equally in the dark, Sweeney Todd (The Demon Barber of Fleet Street) essentially boils down to this; barber, is wrongly imprisoned, comes back, told his wife is dead and his daughter has been adopted by a rather incestuously horny judge, wants revenge, kills someone, likes it, decides to kill the judge, can't yet, keeps killing people to keep himself going, likes it, his pie shop running landlady who is in love with him starts to use the corpse meat in her pies, people like it, he manages to kill the judge. Now that is rate condensed and I've missed out a lot of the detail, but essentially the musical is brilliantly grim with highest throat-slashing to song ratio on the West End.


Photograph: Tristram Kenton

Imelda Staunton by far steals the show with the quaintly canabalistic pie-making Mrs.Lovett. Although Michael Ball is indeed very good, the fact that it is Michael Ball off of the telly somewhat undermines what should be a chilling performance. However, his performance is excellent during his big number's it just drops off slightly in-between. Staunton, however, maintains throughout her pitch perfect performance having the entire audience in stitches of laugher and fits of tears. The music is, at points, verging on the abstract, but once you are onboard with it, it seems to unlock itself. In fact the music and it's performance are part of the show's most intriguing facets. Being a musical about murder, the score is dark, brooding and infectious, whilst at times also being beautiful and luxurious. The music and the lyrics are, however, very dense and require the utmost attention from you, the audience, if you are to fully 'get' what is going on. Although at times a hindrance, due diligence does pay off.

Sweeney Todd is at the Adelphi Theatre on the Strand, London, until the 22nd September. For more information go to www.sweeneytoddwestend.com]]> tag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2012:/theblog//3.1355499 2012-03-17T13:39:26-04:00 2012-05-17T05:12:02-04:00

Luke Jones http://www.huffingtonpost.com/luke-jones/
Owain Arthur & Jodie Prenger in One Man, Two Guvnors. Photo credit: Johan Persson.

This week One Man, Two Guvnors opened at the Theatre Royal Haymarket with a new cast led by James Corden's understudy, Owain Arthur. The show was essentially very, very good and by West-End standards is a sure hit. However, niggling in the back of my mind was a persistant voice going. "Wait, haven't we seen this? But slightly better?" The only word I could say for days after seeing the original cast at the National Theatre was flawless, it was simply flawless. Never have I seen a play so meticulously perfect in every aspect. There was no weak member of the cast and the comedy set pieces were hilarious and precise. One of the difficult things to do with comedy, especially physical, is the technical detail. Brilliant comedy which looks free and effortless is infact simply the product of tireless work and rehearsal. I feel almost villainous saying this, but to put it simply the new cast is just not as good.

I would pick out Owain Arthur as the only exception to this. Although ever so slightly different to Corden's performance, I would confidently say that it was equally as good. The disappointment was with his supporting cast members. Oliver Chris' Stanley Stubbers, from the original cast, was a perfect characterisation of the public-school toff and received raucous laughter after every line and Suzie Toase's Dolly was impeccable with her slight gestures and her 'look to camera' witticisms. Unfortunately the new equivalent's were somewhat slacker and Jodie Prenger (from BBC I'd Do Anything fame) broke into laughter at several points throughout. There was an unfortunate sense that those involved had become too aware of the praise heaped on the play itself and therefore expected the text to carry them through. When the show first moved to the West End, Oliver Chris described the play as a roller-coaster that was unrelenting in it's humour - once you were on it, there was no getting off. This was certainly not the case with this new production which, although very good, experiences drops in pace throughout and just a simple failure of any laughter on some lines that had the audience rolling in the aisles in the previous production.

However, One Man Two Guvnors is still a must see show in London and is certainly very, very funny. Any criticism of the performances are done with the original in mind and although somewhat dissapointing, they still are great performances in an excellent play.

One Man, Two Guvnors is currently playing at The Theatre Royal, Haymarket with a new cast. The original cast will reprise their roles at the Music Box Theatre, Broadway on 6th April.
For more information go to www.onemantwoguvnors.com]]> tag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2012:/theblog//3.1347632 2012-03-15T19:00:00-04:00 2012-05-15T05:12:01-04:00

Luke Jones http://www.huffingtonpost.com/luke-jones/
On a somewhat equally chilly Thursday afternoon in south London I went to ITV to see episodes one and two of a new, Julian Fellowes written, four-part drama about that fateful maiden voyage. Somewhat lazy HMS Downton jokes have already been tossed around in recent weeks, and although Titanic does have a definite Julian Fellowes hue about it, it is a very different beast - more vital than the sometimes self-indulgent Downton.

From the first snide utterance of "some of them look suspiciously like Catholics" I was onboard, literally. The desperate attempt to uphold early 20th Century English decorum in the midst of such a maritime disaster of biblical proportions mesh brilliantly and appear to sink to the core of the Titanic story. Although the token lines of 'the unsinkable ship' and many references to the fact they didn't many lifeboats stuck out like a sore thumb, they were ultimately necessary and highlighted even more the sheer disaster that the Titanic was.

"They talk about the perfect storm" says Fellowes, just before we watch the first episode, "well this is the perfect disaster because it has everything in a very compact form. This one ship holds every element of this proud and self-confident society that was headed for a smash up. Somehow that's it, you take the world and shrink it into a bottle and that makes it a very potent story to tell." But, with more emphasis on character, one would worry that the directorial gaze might drift from the spectacle of the story. This is certainly not the case with Titanic - fortunately this production cost £11million so gently tilting cameras to get the at-sea feel were safely locked away and we were treated to a much better standard of production to convey this worthy story.

Trying to stay as far away as possible from the famous James Cameron film, ITV have set the narrative within a multi-layered structure where we follow many different groups of people across the disastrous voyage. Each episode ends with the ship sinking, allowing us to be both treated to horror and despair each week and to go back in time at the start of the next episode to follow a different set of characters.

When told of this before the screening there was an audible sigh across the room as hopes for this new series were instantly dashed. However, fear not, the plot device works a treat and at no point is tiresome or confusing - as I had first feared.

Although episode one is slow to get going, stick with it as episode two cranks up the emotion and the tragedy. This is partly due to the stunning performances from both Toby Jones and Maria Doyle Kennedy (who you will recognise from Tinker Tailor and Downton respectively). "Yes, she is very strong and forthright" Maria says of her character Muriel Batley, "she thinks women should have a say and have some form of equality and opportunity." Angered by her husband's subservience to one of his clients (Linus Roache) who is also aboard, and the deeply dividing class structure of the ship, Maria's Mrs Batley is an excellent voice of reason throughout the drama who's troubled yes defiant marriage to Mr Batley (Toby Jones) is one of the most heartbreaking and deeply involving storylines.

Episode one, for me, felt all too quaint for the Titanic and seemed too involved with class politics, which although a key part of the piece (what with people in first class getting first pick of the too few lifeboats), it was by no means the most important. But with the iceberg hit and hysterics ensuing, the whole show got an infection of life into it which seemed to carry through into Episode two, sustaining it until our next dose of peril on the sea. This was perfectly signified for me by the lack of applause after we saw episode one and the cacophony of sniffles and applause that followed the second.

Having spawned from Julian Fellowes, Titanic is filled with the sort of lines which entertained millions in Downton. Witticisms such as, "what a stroke of luck" and "I'd rather freeze to death outside than stand here with these ghastly women" stand out quite prominently in the quiet before the storm. Many of these quips are based in the now contractually obliged Fellowes upstairs-downstairs upper-, middle-, lower-class situation. Although in parts more of the same, Fellowes argued how vital and prevalent this split, defined in the steal of the ship, was.

"The classes were literally split like layers on a steal cake" he said afterwards. He noted that "in first class...they had some of the luckiest people on earth. They had rich aristocrats and movie stars and bankers but in the steerage [third class], they had all these people who desperately wanted to make a new world for themselves. It's all tragic... because a lot of them were emigrating, they took their whole family. In second and first you had people travelling or whatever it was and they weren't necessarily the whole family. Down in the steerage the whole family as wiped out in many, many cases. You almost can't bear to think of it really."

Many of the cast commented how had it not actually happened, the story would be criticised for being unrealistic.

This is certainly of a different pedigree to the James Cameron film and to compare them would unhelpful and irrelevant. This is an excellent piece of television which is definitely worth the watch. Although episode one lacks a little, stick with it as episode two certainly makes up for the lost ground. Titanic is moving, exciting and full of excellent Julian Fellowesisms. HMS Downton, maybe, but Downton was brilliant?

Titanic was written by Julian Fellowes and is a co-production between ITV Studios, Lookout Point, Deep Indigo/Sienna Films and Mid-Atlantic Films and will be shown on ITV1 and ITV1 HD this April. For more information visit www.itv.com/titanic]]>