Letter to The Stage

JOHN BARROWMAN'S AUTOBIOGRAPHY (ANYTHING GOES).

Leading man. Cult hero. Debonair judge. Show-stopping singer. (Barrowmans words not mine!) Amongst all of these talents being an author is not mentioned. That could be because calling Barrowman a natural author would be an exaggeration that not even the leading man himself could get away with. The book has no structure and flits back and forth depending on how one story leads to another, and there are alot of events and stories that Barrowman can, and does, share; from his Dad dressing him up in a bikini to several near death (again Barroman's words) experiences. Barrowman covers everything; family (a colourful bunch), friends and ofcourse his varied career. He does this all with a light hearted tone and you can feel his personality shining out of the pages.
As I had expected when starting the book there is a strong sense of arrogance, repeatingly stating after every slightly impressive action that "that's talent" and commenting on how good looking he is. However his self love is not offensive and actually somewhat amused me. The book is certainly not for the prudish as Barrowman swears so much he makes Ozzy Osbourne look like a saint and from a very young age has a habit of lifting his kilt and dropping his trousers.
At the beginning of the book Barrowman says that he wants to make it seem as if you are sitting on the sofa with him, in your pyjamas with a glass in your hand and listening to him speak about his life. He achieves this brilliantly and in this sense he shows as much flare for writing as eveything else this excitable Glaswegian turns his hand too.

WHAT WOULD BARBRA DO? EMMA BROCKES.

When starting this book I was dubious as to exactly why it had been written. I firstly thought it was a sort of musical directory, after a few pages I decided it was an autobiography.....after several chapters I closed the book and thought;it was neither and both. Although Brocke mentions moments and events in her life it is not in depth and though she speaks about many musicals she does'nt cover everyone in detail. I finally decided not to worry about why it was written and just enjoy it.
Brockes view on musical theatre is unique and very entertaining; her brutal honesty about any musical made post 70's is amusing. Even if you don't agree with most of it, which I don't, she creates such a passionate argument that you can't help but respect her individual views.
The thing that I found most striking was Brockes ability to turn a summary of Mary Poppins into an in depth chapter worthy of English Degree status! Whilst discussing the more well known musicals such as South Pacific Brocke also brings many lost musicals to light which makes the book not only incerdibly entertaining but fairly educational.
On conclusion of the book I realised that it was about how different musicals had shaped Brockes life; from her mother singing the Sound Of Music to warn of strangers too her intimidating interview with Lemmy (yes the lead singer of Motorhead!). Brocke writes with such passion that she makes everything seem appealing. In one chapter she speaks about the Aquamusical and a performer named Esther Williams, I had never heard of either of these things and probably would have no interest but, thanks to Brockes, Williams autobiography is on its way to me in the back of a library van as I write!
For anyone who truly loves musical theatre and wants to broaden their knowledge and perspective of the art form this book is essential. It really shows you that life is certainly better when lived to a soundtrack of showtunes.

Support new shows
Published Monday 30 July 2007 at 10:20

I am so upset to hear about The Drowsy Chaperone closing on August 4. I have been to see it twice and wish I could have gone a lot more. I admit that the only reason I was drawn to the show was because I am a very big fan of one of the cast members, John Partridge. But after viewing the show for the first time, I immediately thought it was fantastic, witty, clever, entertaining and most of all, original. It was refreshing to see a brand new show and the early closure of it shows how commercial the West End has become. Programmes such as Any Dream Will Do and Grease is the Word, that supposedly are done to help promote musical theatre, have done nothing but ruin the chances of new arrivals to the West End. Both shows have been revived so many times and, truthfully, there is no real reason to do them again. People who want to open musical theatre to the public should not be creating these tacky and commercial shows, but be helping new and original creations, such as The Drowsy Chaperone, to appeal to the general public.
It is a brilliantly written musical comedy and it is a great shame that the West End shall lose such a fantastic show.

This was published in The Stage.

Boys In Ballet.

Almost everybody knows the story of Billy Elliot; a young boy longs to be a ballet dancer but has to hide his love for the art form for fear of ridicule. However, he overcomes his terror of telling people and grows up to live his dream. The first half of this story is probably more common then people think.
Since the release of the movie Billy Elliot, in 2000, many more boys have shown and interest in ballet, and in 2004, 50% of the pupils training at the Royal Ballet School in London were male. Despite these figures the number of male dancers are still dwarfed by women. The fact that so many boys are repelled from taking up ballet as a hobby or considering it as a career is heavily due to the labels that are attached to dance by many people; feminity and homosexuality. These stereotypical views that ballet is only a girl's dance and that all male dancers are gay, play a major role in scaring boys from joining a class or, because of bullying, forces them to quit.
These views, however, are not just held by the British. In France and parts of Holland a dancer is seen as a rather controversial profession for a man. Spain, on the other hand, views dance as a very masculine art form, particularly dances such as the flamenco.
The lack of male dancers is not only a problem for professional employers and companies but it affects small dance schools too, such as my own. In both of my classes, modern and ballet, we should be learning to dance a pas de deux, a dance of two people, and how to be lifted safely by a man. Unfortunately there is only one boy our age in the school and he takes private lessons. Consequently this deprives us of an important part of our training.
Ironically, when the first ballet school, the Academie de Danse, was opened in 1661, ballet was danced only by men. It took twenty years before women were permitted to train and perform the dance.
Also many of the world's greatest dancers are men, wheter it is ballet dancers such as the incredible Nureyev, Najinsky, Barishnykov or even the more modern Ballet Boyz, tap dancers like the legendary Gene Kelly and Fred Astaire or choreographers like the famous Fosse and Wayne Sleep.
Boys who do want to take up dancing have more oppurtinity now then ever before, as there has been a sudden rise of interest in dancing due to succesful television shows like Strictly Dance Fever, Ballet Hoo and Strictly Come Dancing. Because of the increased popularity there are more schools and lessons available. There is also a dance school in London called Boyz Don't Dance, this is a school specifically for young boys who want to become professional ballet dancers.
Male dancers, whatever the style; ballet,hip hop or ballroom, are wanted a lot more then women, since there are fewer, and stand more chance of being accepted into dance colleges and being hired.
The struggle for many dance companies, dance teachers and people who just want to encourage boys to do ballet, is trying to show people that ballet it not a girly, flouncy dance, but a strong, energetic, disciplined art form that demands a lot of hard work and effort, and that ballet dancers, especially men, are also strong and powerful people. How many other men do you know who can lift a grown woman above his head with one hand?
If people could see ballet and ballet dancers this way and discard to stereotypical views then maybe boys would be encouraged and be brave enough to become dancers, and then the country would have a lot more Billy Elliots.