Friday, 13 April 2007
The Cherry Orchard (Final Day)
Copied from my LJ Page
"Feeling the worse for wear today after far too much rose wine last night. Some of my girlfriends took me to see the Cherry Orchard again !! as little early birthday treat and then we went on for a lovely meal. The weather was so wonderful that I had far too much rose and suffering for it now. Still it was a great day and I’m glad I saw the play again as I picked up things I missed the first time round. The theatre was as usual packed and we had to sit in a group of 3 and 2 as they couldn’t get 5 seats together but we were near one another so it worked out ok. First things first, Tobias definitely gave a better performance than when I saw him early in the run. He was wonderful before but now he seemed even more attune with the part. It just seemed more natural somehow and was definitely more memorable as a result. I also had a better view of his adorable face when he spoke some of his key lines, which definitely helped me have more of a connection with him. I found it interesting that yesterday’s audience reacted differently to some of the lines in the play. For instance when Tobias (Peter) tells Anya that he is “above love” this time the audience laughed as they didn’t believe it for a moment. I sensed the audience were more appreciative to his performance yesterday and reacted more to his lines, which may very well back me up on him fine tuning his performance.
As Kyra had mentioned the curtain call this time I really looked out for his reaction and agree he seemed exhausted. Infact he gave an almighty sigh when he first bowed as if trying to wind down from the performance. Perhaps he cant snap out of it as quickly as other actors.
My friends really enjoyed the play and I was a little relieved if I’m honest. I’d have hated for them to go to that trouble and dislike the production. They thought Tobias was adorable (a bit thin for one or two of them) but could quite understand why I think he’s so wonderful. I didn’t get ribbed by them as much as I thought I would.
I did notice that more people around me knew who he was infact I could hear a group of people behind me discuss him at length (they were very complimentary) and occasionally I would look at the audience and notice the women were following him on stage instead of where the action was taking place. So it wasn’t just me! Anyway I hope one day you have a chance to see him on stage. He’s very special."
"Feeling the worse for wear today after far too much rose wine last night. Some of my girlfriends took me to see the Cherry Orchard again !! as little early birthday treat and then we went on for a lovely meal. The weather was so wonderful that I had far too much rose and suffering for it now. Still it was a great day and I’m glad I saw the play again as I picked up things I missed the first time round. The theatre was as usual packed and we had to sit in a group of 3 and 2 as they couldn’t get 5 seats together but we were near one another so it worked out ok. First things first, Tobias definitely gave a better performance than when I saw him early in the run. He was wonderful before but now he seemed even more attune with the part. It just seemed more natural somehow and was definitely more memorable as a result. I also had a better view of his adorable face when he spoke some of his key lines, which definitely helped me have more of a connection with him. I found it interesting that yesterday’s audience reacted differently to some of the lines in the play. For instance when Tobias (Peter) tells Anya that he is “above love” this time the audience laughed as they didn’t believe it for a moment. I sensed the audience were more appreciative to his performance yesterday and reacted more to his lines, which may very well back me up on him fine tuning his performance.
As Kyra had mentioned the curtain call this time I really looked out for his reaction and agree he seemed exhausted. Infact he gave an almighty sigh when he first bowed as if trying to wind down from the performance. Perhaps he cant snap out of it as quickly as other actors.
My friends really enjoyed the play and I was a little relieved if I’m honest. I’d have hated for them to go to that trouble and dislike the production. They thought Tobias was adorable (a bit thin for one or two of them) but could quite understand why I think he’s so wonderful. I didn’t get ribbed by them as much as I thought I would.
I did notice that more people around me knew who he was infact I could hear a group of people behind me discuss him at length (they were very complimentary) and occasionally I would look at the audience and notice the women were following him on stage instead of where the action was taking place. So it wasn’t just me! Anyway I hope one day you have a chance to see him on stage. He’s very special."
Thursday, 5 April 2007
The Spontaneity Shop's Tenth Anniversary
Tobias will be one the special guests at the Spontaneity Shop's Tenth Anniversay on 21 April. Its unclear if he'll only appear on stage at the Troubadour in London for a nano second but in any event it looks like a lot of fun. Follow the link for more details. Sadly it appears that the show is sold out.
Can you feel my pain through the Internet!
http://www.troubadour.co.uk/programme_view.php?view%5Btype%5D=programme&view%5Bid%5D=1207
Can you feel my pain through the Internet!
http://www.troubadour.co.uk/programme_view.php?view%5Btype%5D=programme&view%5Bid%5D=1207
The Relief of Belsen
The first screening of The Relief of Belsen took place on Monday night and feedback was excellent. As yet there is no confirmed release date but its likely to be air in the Autumn. Someone attending the screening said:-
"Tobias was excellent in Belsen. He is definetly one of the main characters, and features prominantly straight from the beginning".
"Tobias was excellent in Belsen. He is definetly one of the main characters, and features prominantly straight from the beginning".
Persuasion
Tobias proved to be a very charismatic William Elliot in this latest production of Persuasion and it almost made you want the heroine to run off with the "CAD". (Actually it DID make you want to run off with the CAD). Screen caps have been added to the fansite gallery and higher resolution shots will be added asap. Dont forget that the DVD is now on release but we will add some tasters to You Tube.
http://janeausten.itv.com/mpu.php?mpu_result=elliot#/Persuasion/Charcters/
http://janeausten.itv.com/mpu.php?mpu_result=elliot#/Persuasion/Charcters/
Rome Updates
HBO will be releasing a book on the Rome series on 17 September 2007.
BBC2 will be showing season 2 in June. About time!
BBC2 will be showing season 2 in June. About time!
The Cherry Orchard
Well I finally got to see Tobias on stage today when I attended the Cherry Orchard at the Sheffield’s Crucible and I’m still coming down from the excitement. This isn’t going to be a “worthy” review – there are enough excellent newspaper reviews for that - I’ll cut to the chase and answer the important question. YES he is that gorgeous in the flesh. Picture him in dark trousers, dark blue buttoned jacket, ruffled hair (especially adorable); small glasses and a Russian trenchcoat and you get the idea (not forgetting the cute little Russian wool hat at the end of the play). He has to look rather under nourished and battered but I find that look very attractive - well it works for me anyway. His features were much softer in the flesh and he looked very handsome. It looked like the short patchy beard he was meant to have was mainly makeup (unless my eyes were deceiving me) and I wondered if that was because he was filming something at the moment and wasnt allowed any facial hair.
He seemed tall compared to other cast members (he must be around 6 foot) and was as slim as you’d expect. The voice was also wonderful, deep and warm as expected. I could have listened to him all day. I can’t tell you how exciting it was to see him appear on stage. I found it hard to look away and concentrate on the rest of the cast. I was nearly going cross-eyed trying to look at him and follow the action.
At one point he had to dance with Joanna Lumley and the young actress Annabel Scholey (Jane Eyre) and showed he’s a wonderful dancer. I was extremely envious of Annabel as he spun her around the floor. He also had to lift and carry Annabel quite a bit and even carry her piggyback (whirling her round and round on his back) so to say I was turning green with envy was an understatement. I had visions of them falling over but he was too strong and nimble for that.
Also at one point he has to smoke a cigar and I found it very sexy (even though I'm not fussed on smoking). I had very high expectations as he’s a brilliant actor and I wasn’t disappointed. Admittedly his role in the play is not a favourite of mine (an impassioned left-wing political commentator) I’d have much preferred to see him in his wonderful Hamlet, but its good to know first hand that he’s as good a stage actor as he is a film/television actor. Confident with oodles of stage presence.
Reading the play recently I wasn’t very taken with it but the cast were wonderful and really brought it to life. They drew out the humour from the text brilliantly. I was moved to tears on a number of occasions (I’m an old cry baby at the best of times but was still surprised how it got under my skin). It really was a top-notch cast from start to finish. A true ensemble working perfectly together.
It’s hard to pick out an actor for special mention as they were all fantastic but I was particularly taken with Lisa Dillon (Varya) and Tom Mannion (Lopakhin) who gave very touching performances.
I was very near the front but one grumble I had was that from the side you did miss some of the background action, which was set back behind a screen. This annoyed me as the theatre (which has seating on three sides) stresses that productions are designed to make full use of the stage so everyone gets a good view. Well the production designer of this play couldn’t have read the small print! Still the seats did come right down virtually onto the stage so you do feel very involved in the production.
A number of old age pensioners attended the matinee and at one point I had to bite my tongue to stop laughing as there were so many hearing aides whistling all round me. Still it was an appreciative audience. I took my camera with me and if anyone else had taken a photo of the curtain call I would have too but not one person took a shot so I felt too embarrassed to do so. Very frustrating though as Tobias was so near. They all took the curtain call in a sort of chess set style sprinkled across the stage and all turned in unison to bow to the three sides of the stage. Joanna Lumley is as classy and beautiful as you’d expect. Her smile when she took the curtain call was enchanting. If only I had that charisma!
He seemed tall compared to other cast members (he must be around 6 foot) and was as slim as you’d expect. The voice was also wonderful, deep and warm as expected. I could have listened to him all day. I can’t tell you how exciting it was to see him appear on stage. I found it hard to look away and concentrate on the rest of the cast. I was nearly going cross-eyed trying to look at him and follow the action.
At one point he had to dance with Joanna Lumley and the young actress Annabel Scholey (Jane Eyre) and showed he’s a wonderful dancer. I was extremely envious of Annabel as he spun her around the floor. He also had to lift and carry Annabel quite a bit and even carry her piggyback (whirling her round and round on his back) so to say I was turning green with envy was an understatement. I had visions of them falling over but he was too strong and nimble for that.
Also at one point he has to smoke a cigar and I found it very sexy (even though I'm not fussed on smoking). I had very high expectations as he’s a brilliant actor and I wasn’t disappointed. Admittedly his role in the play is not a favourite of mine (an impassioned left-wing political commentator) I’d have much preferred to see him in his wonderful Hamlet, but its good to know first hand that he’s as good a stage actor as he is a film/television actor. Confident with oodles of stage presence.
Reading the play recently I wasn’t very taken with it but the cast were wonderful and really brought it to life. They drew out the humour from the text brilliantly. I was moved to tears on a number of occasions (I’m an old cry baby at the best of times but was still surprised how it got under my skin). It really was a top-notch cast from start to finish. A true ensemble working perfectly together.
It’s hard to pick out an actor for special mention as they were all fantastic but I was particularly taken with Lisa Dillon (Varya) and Tom Mannion (Lopakhin) who gave very touching performances.
I was very near the front but one grumble I had was that from the side you did miss some of the background action, which was set back behind a screen. This annoyed me as the theatre (which has seating on three sides) stresses that productions are designed to make full use of the stage so everyone gets a good view. Well the production designer of this play couldn’t have read the small print! Still the seats did come right down virtually onto the stage so you do feel very involved in the production.
A number of old age pensioners attended the matinee and at one point I had to bite my tongue to stop laughing as there were so many hearing aides whistling all round me. Still it was an appreciative audience. I took my camera with me and if anyone else had taken a photo of the curtain call I would have too but not one person took a shot so I felt too embarrassed to do so. Very frustrating though as Tobias was so near. They all took the curtain call in a sort of chess set style sprinkled across the stage and all turned in unison to bow to the three sides of the stage. Joanna Lumley is as classy and beautiful as you’d expect. Her smile when she took the curtain call was enchanting. If only I had that charisma!
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