Sunday 5 October 2008

Great New WWRY Review

I think it's fair to say we've given Rachel's opening night pretty good coverage, so I'm really delighted that we now have our first fan review of a more recent performance.

This was very kindly sent to us by the lady known on the Internet Forum as 'Gingerbreadkitten.' One of the great things about the IF is the user-names (and the icons!) But I digress.

Perhaps the best thing about GBK's review is what happened BEFORE the show. Her account really brought a smile to my face -- this is just SO Rachel!

Right I'll shut up now:















"Until yesterday, ‘We Will Rock You’ was on the shrinking list of currently running West End musicals which I hadn’t seen. I’d heard about the show, but had never ventured to enter the Dominion theatre, although I admit to investigating the location of the stage door a few months ago when I found out that Rachel Tucker was cast in it. Despite my preparation, I’m amazed to say that I never needed to know where the stage door was, for a reason which you’ll find out shortly.

By one o’clock I was in the Starbucks near the Dominion Theatre, complete with my TKTS ticket for the matinee performance (a bright yellow – very appropriate! ). Sadly my sister and I hadn’t managed to get a table by the window (we’d hoped to look out for a particular actress if she happened to pass by on her way to the stage door) and were seated upstairs. Obviously I was incredibly excited to see Rachel in the show, especially after reading so many star-struck reviews about her opening night. And guess who was the last person to gush to me about how great the show was before I saw it myself?

I went downstairs to order, and as I was making my way towards the end of the queue, I saw someone with brown hair and very blue eyes waiting for another person to collect their napkins from the counter. At this point I froze, and I hate to think what expression was on my face at that moment, but somehow I managed to pluck up the courage to catch her eye and say hi as she was heading towards the exit. To repeat what everyone else has said in their accounts of meeting her, she really is the sweetest person! I don’t know how much of what I said she could actually understand, but I told her that I was seeing the matinee that day, that she was amazing in I’d Do Anything, and that she should have been Nancy. I hope she was flattered and not scared , but she seemed excited that I was seeing the show.

As I was asking her to sign my ticket however, I remembered that my sister was upstairs and would most likely murder me if I returned to tell her that I had met and spoken to Rachel. I was a bit embarrassed as I briefly explained this to Rachel, and I asked her if she would be coming out of the stage door after the matinee. Now, she really didn’t have to even confirm that she would be outside the theatre after the show at all, but instead she actually offered to go up to the first floor of Starbucks and sign my sister’s ticket as well! She had a show starting in an hour and a half and I feel a bit guilty because at some point the person who had been with her before vanished , but I’m still so amazed and grateful that she did this, just for a fan! She asked us if we’d seen We Will Rock You before and when we told her we hadn’t, she exclaimed how amazing it was, and I think her words were ‘it will blow your mind’.

Needless to say, by the time we were sitting in our seats in the theatre I was already ecstatic! The show itself was certainly different from any other musical I’d seen, and from the moment it started you could tell that the whole audience was loving it, clapping along and cheering all the way through. The rest of the cast is great, although I admit to getting a little impatient for Rachel to enter the stage, but at least I knew for sure that she was somewhere backstage! Finally though she appeared from beneath the stage, looking perfectly at home in her let's just say unconventional costume . And I have to say that she was every bit as amazing as I was certain she would be, and better! As biased as I’m bound to be, I have no doubt that even if I hadn’t been a fan of hers before, I would have recognised Rachel as the star of the show. She just has so much stage presence, and even in the second act when she wasn’t the focus (although she should have been!), I found it difficult to watch anyone else. Even when the lights were off her and she was one of many, she was still so easy to spot onstage!

No One But You was definitely the highlight of the show for me, her rendition was absolutely stunning, and her voice is so powerful! It’s her acting though, which really makes her so incredible! If I hadn’t known she was new to the role, I could have believed she’d been playing it for years, the character was so well developed and yet everything she did was still spontaneous and totally believable. She just seemed so perfect for the role and her performance really was flawless, my only regret is that she didn't have more to do. Even so, everything she did was so full of energy and you could tell she was loving every second. Now, I'm even more baffled as to how she didn't win the role of Nancy, but I suppose it really was a blessing in disguise as now she is performing 8 shows a week on the West End months before she would have done otherwise. She truly was born to perform and We Will Rock You is very lucky to have her in the cast!"

6 comments:

Andy said...

Thanks for the great review GBK.

I think everyone will be going to Starbucks prior to the show now in the hope they get as lucky as you.

Helen Murphy said...

That's the most brilliant review!! And there's more proof that Rachel is a genuinely excellent person.
I'm just so excited for the 15th November now!!

Anonymous said...

brilliant review.

Rachel seems so lovely and glad you enjoyed the show

Rosie said...

Im booking to see the matinee show soon!
Will most definitely be popping to starbucks first!

I'm glad someone else can confirm just how lovely she is -- she really is the loveliest girl!

Anonymous said...

Oopz i gt me date wrong i am seeing it 29th oct I CANT WAIT!!!!!
How random meeting rachel in starbucks?! lol i think ill visit starbucks before the show!

The Bjorn Identity said...

Im not suprised in the slightest. Thats our Rachel all over. She is genuinely lovely enthusiastic and always goes out of her way for people x