Appreciating the arts.

I went to see Dr Zhivago on stage at Queensland Performing Arts Centre yesterday.
 Australia is hosting the premier of this new musical
so when it was announced that it would be coming to Brisbane, well, I just had to go.




photo and information about the Australian Dr Zhivago link 

 

It was wonderful...

When the interval lights came up I realised that I had been holding my breath - it was that mesmerising. When the final act was over I was sniffling away with quite a few of my fellow theatre goers! Considering that this is a brand new, just been written production, it flowed beautifully from scene to scene re-telling the history of Russia at the start of the last century. Throw in a love story and you have a winner.

 

As I was brought up in Wales I was spoilt for choice with the musical talents on offer there. Consequently I think I probably have pretty high standards of expectations when I pay my money to go to the theatre. I wasn't disappointed yesterday. The music was at times quite breathtaking with plenty of power from a relatively small cast. The leads were spot on and each performer held the audience when they sang.
(Dr Zhivago opened in Sydney in February and has also played in Melbourne. The Brisbane season will end on August 14th and I don't think that there are any further locations planned at this time.)

 

Whenever there is an opportunity to go to the theatre or to a musical performance, be that a large scale touring production or a local amateur group I'm usually pretty keen. Thinking back, my love of drama, theatre and music was nurtured from an early age. From what I know about my family, music, poetry and performance was in their blood.
I wrote a post a few months ago about treasured books from past generations and it was no surprise to me that many of these books were associated with music and poetry.  (link here)

Apart from the family connection, I also think that my education and in particular some wonderful teachers shaped and influenced my appreciation of the arts.

• I can still remember the thrill of being able to join the school choir with Miss Williams when I got to 'juniors' in primary.
• One night a week I went to the Welsh equivalent of youth club called 'Urdd' and we would all huddle around the piano with the gentle Mrs Watkins teaching us some of her amazing compositions of 'cerdd dant' (where you sing a counter melody over another melody)
• Talking of pianos, I had an ancient piano teacher called Mr Allen who had the most enormous cat that took up the whole seat of an armchair. Mr Allen used to scold me for letting my nails grow and making ticking noises on the piano keys...
• Then there was Novella the eccentric harp teacher with the colourful clothes with matching tights and shoes...she also didn't want you to grow your nails!
• During my high school years the arts became a part of everyday life - dancing with Miss Davies, singing and music with Mrs Rowlands, and drama with Mrs Edwards, - I loved it. I was lucky enough to be part of the first group to take 'A' Level (final/yr12/13) Drama through the medium of Welsh - that was 25 years ago ...25 years?? I can't believe it!! Mrs Edwards was an amazing drama teacher with a real passion for giving us a full understanding of performing arts. Theatre trips were a constant addition to curriculum studies - everything from contemporary dance to Henrik Ibsen. It all came alive during that time.

I could write and write until tomorrow and the day after about all the memories

that are just flooding back as I'm sitting here...

I'm sure that the seed to appreciate the arts was already there,

but those fantastic teachers allowed it to grow and nourished that growth than continues to this day.

Thank you...diolch.