DA DA DAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!
*tape wipe sound*
It was a quiet night on the third of December in the year of our Lord 2014. Newcastle was preparing to host a Martian invasion in front of around 11,000 human bodies. It was almost a sell out show with some single seats left untouched around the arena. It was one of these seats that I managed to secure with one week to go.
When I booked my ticket I imagined that because I had waited until the very last minute, I wouldn't get a great seat. How wrong I was. Seriously guys, if you ever get the chance to sit in seat 262 in Row P of block 211, then you take it! The view was perfect, and whilst I was very far back, I could see and hear everything extremely clearly. When I walked into the auditorium I was greeted with a giant logo on a giant screen at the back of the stage above the action, and my heart started pounding in anticipation of what was about to happen, because it would be an experience unlike any I have ever had before.
After meeting a friend whom I had discussed the show with, I went back to my seat, and was this time greeted with a giant pair of alien eyes on the screen where the logo had been. These alien eyes seemed to be scanning the audience in the arena as a lot of people sitting in their seats were shown in them. I stared at the screen, eagerly trying to see if the eyes would spot my section, and sadly they didn't, or if they did I didn't get to see them staring at me. It was also kind of creepy, because there was no camera noticeable in the arena pointing at the audience, so unless you were looking at the screen, you would have no idea that you were being scrutinised.
Soon after 8pm Standard Earth Time, The first of the players took to the stage, in the form of Herbert George Wells (AKA H.G. Wells), the author of the book. In my opinion Callum O'Neil (Whom you might know as Wee Dingwall from Disney Pixar's Brave! Yep I was shocked too) managed to capture the essence and pompous nature of the author beautifully. We see him in three stages of his life in which he discusses his views on the world and his story, after the publication date of the book, after World War I and finally after World War II. Throughout the show, HG Wells ages, and the prosthetics used convey his middle aged and elderly nature beautifully. This was an addition to the show for the "final" tour, and it is definitely proved to be a success.
The Journalist soon appeared, after an out of this world interlude on the big screen which displayed the martians preparing to dispatch the first of the missiles to Earth. Liam Neeson was the perfect choice for the Journalist in my opinion, and the holographic interactions with other characters were so cleverly done and worked extremely well. Brian McFadden of Westlife fame became the Sung Thoughts of the Journalist, and my friend and I both agreed that he was probably one of the best vocalists for the role. I wasn't a fan of Marti Pellow's rendition of Forever Autumn on the DVD of the 2012 production, but Brian's vocals captured the emotion needed to pull off this difficult and powerful song. This was by far one of my favourite parts of the show and the addition of the leaves falling on the audience was very moving to say the least. I'm sure some would have been moved to tears by the number.
Special mention has to go to Shayne Ward, who gave an incredibly strong performance as the Artilleryman. I was sceptical to begin with, but he shone in the song Brave New World, which has now become one of my favourite songs in the piece. Jason Donovan's troubled Parson Nathaniel, and Carrie Hope Fletcher's Beth created a duo that not only became a memorable scene from the second act, but created a chemistry which wasn't there when Kerry Ellis did the role. Carrie's rendition managed to convey her love for the man she has lost due to his maniacal changes and her voice perfectly represents her innocence in the dramatic scene. In short I think I preferred Carrie's rendition to Kerry's. (but I might be a little biased having watched many of Carrie's videos on Youtube and seen her as Eponine in Les Mis.)
The staging is of epic proportions, for one thing the Orchestra is on two sides of it, there is a holographic screen, another screen to the left of the huge one, and to top it all off, we have one of the fearsome fighting machines that dominates the front cover of the CDs. The machine is one of the highlights of the show as it rises above everything and fires an extremely powerful heat ray which was so hot the audience further back probably felt it as well. There is some other staging for the Brave New World which is flown in from above. This little bit of set is really nice and has a very steam-punk feel to it which compliments everything else.
In short this show is absolutely spectacular. From the get go, you are immersed in an apocalypse of electronic/symphonic music, a catchy plot, and a performance which will blow you away in a series of heat ray blasts and an invasion of Red Weed. For me I wish I had discovered this show before now, but I also love the fact that I will never see it again, because I will always remember seeing this one. It's a spectacular night I will never forget. Special thanks goes to The Weather for making it atmospherically foggy when leaving the auditorium. It actually felt like Martians had invaded us.
Wait... I'm looking out my front window right now, and I see something in the distance, it's towering over everything and coming straight for my building... Oooh Er..... I think it's time to end this post, and I'll write again soon... If there is a ne- ................................................................
UUUUUUUUUULLLLAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!
"The earth belonged to the Martians...."
