Miss Nightingale, the Burlesque Musical

After we blogged meeting the company of Miss Nightingale, a Burlesque Musical, we went down to see the performance at the New Wolsey Theatre- not just once.  Oh no. Not us. Twice.  The first time we went was the first preview night, the second viewing was their press night.  I enjoyed both nights, but you could see the difference on the second time, the performers had settled in to the show, there were changes to a few of the songs and the outifts as well- so I was really pleased to see it twice and get see how it changed.

The burlesque in the play is more traditional than the sort that is more commonly to be seen in clubs and events nowadays, it was more cabaret and musical than I had expected it to be. I loved the fact there was live music backing the burlesque, it really added to the atmosphere. 

It was great bawdy fun and absolutely hilarious in points. When we went down to meet the comapny at rehearsals, Amber Topaz spoke about her take on burlesque being a send up of your own sexuality you could see how well she achieved this- from the northern fairy godmother to her impersonation of Noel Coward, with all the double entendre songs in between (a week later I'm still trying to stop myself from singing the song about the Pied Piper of Hamlyn- and you'll have to go on watch it on tour if you want to know what I mean by that one!) You could tell that Amber is a professional burlesque dancer, as her performance was so confidnet, involved and both times I saw it had the odd tweak to what she did to know that she was responding as much to the audience as the script. 

Mr Bugg managed to combine a unique and sometimes comedic story with serious issues, the backdrop of the 1940s worked incredibly well to showcase these themes, and all the actors had a hand in creating something special and unique.  

Capturing a Moment

The second time I went to see the play JoJo, from Strawberry Rose Studios, joined us and she managed to sneak off afterwards and get some photos of some of the company.  Miss Nightingale truly has been a labour of love for Mr Bugg and co, and JoJo managed to capture a moving moment backstage after the performance.

We wish the Mr Bugg and the company the best of luck on the rest of their tour of Miss Nightingale... it looks set to be a great success.

If you can stop by and see it at one of the tour locations: Wed 22 May Royal Court Theatre, Liverpool; Thu 23 - Sat 25 May Theatre Royal, Nottingham; Tue 28 May - Sat 1 June Nuffield Theatre, Southampton; Mon 3 - Wed 5 June Theatre Royal, Wakefield; Thu 6 - Sat 8 June Connaught Theatre, Worthing; Wed 19 - Sat 22 June The Lowry, Salford Quays; Mon 24 - Sat 29 June Everyman Theatre, Cheltenham; Tue 2 - Sun 7 July Leicester Square Theatre, London; Tue 9 - Sat 13 July Yvonne Arnaud, Guildford; Mon 15 - Wed 17 July Victoria Theatre, Halifax; Thu 18 - Fri 19 July Lyceum Theatre, Sheffield; Mon 22 - Sat 27 July Theatre Royal Windsor

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