It was a good year for musicals in Scotland, with quite a few of the big West End shows touring north of the Border for the first time.
A favourite of mine was Sister Act, which came to the King's Theatre in Glasgow and I returned for a second time, knowing the quality of the production having reviewed it at the Playhouse. The lead performance by Cynthia Erivo as Deloris Van Cartier was pivotal to its success and not many young musical theatre performers could fill her shoes: she's definitely one to watch. Cavin Cornwall's portrayal of suavely dangerous mobster Curtis Jackson was memorable too.
Another highlight, this time at the Playhouse, was the 25th anniversary production of The Phantom of the Opera. Having seen Phantom at an impressionable age, last time it toured in Edinburgh, I was delighted that the sheer majesty of its staging had not been lost but had, in fact, been effectively enhanced. The addition of the ballet corps and choreography from Matthew Bourne also made the lavish setting of the Paris Opera House come to life. Seeing Cameron Mackintosh in the newly refurbished bar was also heart-stopping for a musical theatre die-hard friend of mine. The same week, Lord Lloyd Webber attended the SECC staging of his arena tour of Jesus Christ Superstar and although an interesting interpretation (set in riot-torn London) it didn't wholly work. Some miscasting (celebrity status over vocal competence) may have had something to do with it and I certainly won't be buying the DVD for anyone.
A lesser-known musical gem was unearthed during the Fringe, thanks to Patch of Blue Theatre. The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee made me laugh heartily and teased my eyes into welling up more than I'd like to admit. It was he perfect blend of humour and poignancy.
Next year looks like another vintage musical one, with Rent, Ghost and Priscilla Queen of the Desert already on sale. Rumours abound that both The Lion King and Wicked will be touring in Scotland soon, but currently only dates in England are released.
Continuing the musical vein, as part of Celtic Connections in January Woody Sez at the Tron was another find. Telling the story of the dustbowl trobadour Woody Guthrie it was a neat journey exploring the man and his music while remaining ominously pertinent in an era many fear mirrors the Great Depression. Meanwhile, more tragic than depressing, and as part of the Bard in the Botanics season, Romeo and Juliet impressed me. Beset by torrential rain the young cast sprung into action in the Kibble Palace for the majority of their short "summer" run, having cancelled almost the first week of performances.
A more talked-about and controversially groundbreaking Shakespeare adaptation was the National Theatre of Scotland's Macbeth at Tramway. I'll be honest, since The High Life, I could pretty much watch Alan Cumming read Paris Hilton's twitter feed and enjoy it but I thought it was a physical and disturbing performance and an eerily apt treatment of the Scottish play.
My comedic highlight was Dylan Moran at the Fringe and although not perfect by any stretch of the imagination, it made me want to revisit some of his TV work including Black Books; if intent is half the battle, maybe I'll manage that next year.
Looking ahead there are some decent female comics going on tour: Miranda Hart's stand-up should be interesting but although already on sale (undoubtedly it will sell out soon) it's not actually happening until 2014 – the same as Sarah Millican. Bugbear alert...
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article