It's Sunday afternoon, the end of the first weekend in ages where I haven't had any photo shoots, quite frankly not working at weekends always kind of perturbs me although not as much as sitting through La La Land.

I love musicals, no one else I know loves musicals as much as me, I mean, since Friday I've watched Rent, Moulin Rouge, Jesus Christ Superstar and Hercules and these are just regular days of my life, I adore musicals, I actually believe that if life was a musical we'd all be a lot happier.  I can't dance for toffee but I'd be more than happy to spend the rest of my life singing my way through it, actually that's pretty much how I live, it's a bad day at Black Rock if I'm not singing...

When I first heard about La La Land I was excited, I heard the soundtrack and loved it mostly although I did have a couple of issues and they were justified when we sat through the movie today.

I don't want to be too unfair or scathing as there are moments of pure joy in the movie but - 

Emma Stone, isn't a singer worthy of a big musical, she sounds like a small baby bird and not in a good way,  when in one song where she was allowed to get loud and really open her lungs I thought she faired a lot better so I'm not sure why they wrote a soundtrack which mainly has her singing in a quiet voice.

Ryan Gosling is pretty and can dance, he looks so good but again, there are actors who would have sung much better.

The Cinematography is a delight, it's beautifully shot, the lighting, the vistas, it reminded me of some of the 1940's greats of MGM etcetera and there are some stylish, slick dance scenes which I just adored just like some of the bigger joyful songs, I mean toe-tapping, songs you can't help feel happy in your heart when you hear them but...

I hated the ending and without wanting to give away too many spoilers the movie itself has gone for a style of Casablanca ending and it did not sit well with me.  The story is bland and strung together, it's almost a not even a story, I didn't feel passion or any depth to the characters, I didn't cry, I didn't feel anything for most of it and some of the dramatic parts felt like they were almost part of another movie.

I felt the movie was choppy, not in a good Luhrmann type way but in a no fluidity to the story type of a way.  I felt almost like they'd taken great actors and put them in the wrong movie, surely Anna Kendrick would have been a better choice to play Mia and Ewan Mcgregor (I know I'm biased) could have played the male lead brilliantly, he did after all excel at old school when he was in Down With Love.

So ok, to say that I hated the movie might be a little strong but I have such huge problems with some of the things that I came away unhappy and disappointed by the experience.  Obviously this movie has been heralded a huge success by the critics, the awards and most of the people going to see it but maybe it's because they're not watching musicals every day of their life and understanding the nuances of how a truly great musical works, maybe it's because it was an original and not something adapted from the stage, maybe it's because it wasn't Les Mis, or Phantom or Moulin Rouge, I just don't know, I can't put my finger on it, I can only give you one woman's thoughts, a woman who lives, breathes and dreams of musicals.

Have Yourself A Musical Little Christmas

Christmas is a time when we sit down with the family, we eat, we drink, we make merry and more often than not we sit down to watch a movie.  Anyone who knows me just a little and everyone who knows me well knows that I adore musicals, so much so that I feel utterly lucky to have found Mr France who loves a musical just as much as me!  

if you know someone who loves musicals then this might just be the best present ever this Christmas because in this one big 10 movie boxed set you get all of these amazing classic musicals - 

42 Street

Meet Me In St Louis

Easter Parade

Annie Get Your Gun

The Band Wagon

Calamity Jane

Singin' in the Rain

A Star Is Born

High Society

Gypsy

I can tell you that as you would expect I have seen all of those movies apart from The Band Wagon so I'm looking forward to that, I adore Meet Me in St Louis and A Star is Born is an essential musical everyone should see, Judy Garland is amazing, that voice...

So this is my Twixtmas sorted, I'll be snuggling down under my favourite Christmas blanket with a mince pie in one hand and a glass of mulled wine in the other and I shall be singing at the top of my voice, weeping softly at the sad parts and wishing that Mr France was snuggled beside me so we could enjoy a mutual musical movie marathon and yes, try saying that when you've had a glass or two of mulled wine!

This Christmas purchase the musicals fan in your life the Must See Musicals Selection

Grab the mistletoe and get ready to find the perfect gift for that special someone this Christmas.

Warner Bros. has the ultimate selection, whether you’re looking for him, for her, or for festive favourites to get the whole family in the Christmas spirit.

10 songs I'm listening to right now!

I touched on this when I wrote about when the possible is impossible the other day, about how music is so very important to me, it's presence is ubiquitous in my life from the moment I wake up in the morning, until the moment I switch off the noise to sleep at night.

I guess because I spend long periods of time on my own having music is like having a good friend keeping me company and though I essentially have enough music in my iTunes to last for at least a decade there are probably 25 tracks I listen to constantly.

I love piano based music so Ben Folds and Regina Spektor feature heavily alongside many musicals, a lot of Take That and a whole heap of music no one would probably admit to owning, hell I might be too embarrassed to admit to some of it!

So here without further ado are 10 tracks I adore and listen to almost every day. They're in no particular order as like my children I love them all equally!

1.  I Can Do Better Than That - Anna Kendrick, from The Last 5 Years, so this is a movie and musical about a 5 year relationship starring Anna Kendrick and Jeremy Jordan, she tells the story in reverse order whilst he tells the story in the right order, they crossover in 1 song, "The Next 10 Minutes'.  I love this musical so much and this is probably my favourite song, if you want to know why you'll just have to go listen to it!

2. Rock City - Jeremy Jordan, ok so this is an extra track on an album of an off broadway musical called "See Rock City, and other destinations" this is an acapella version and I just love it, so much so that my children now also know it really well and we all have been known to sing along, it's just a happy, happy song and I love listening to as I walk to work in Jesmond Dene etc.

3. Broadway, Here I come - Jeremy Jordan, I loved Smash and was one of the few that was pretty gutted when it ended, it did introduce me to Jeremy Jordan though and I just love his voice and this song, well it describes jumping off a building as an allegory for making it onto Broadway, it was the headline song for Hitlist, one of the musicals within the musical tv show Smash!

4.  Come What May, Ewan Mcgregor and Nicole Kidman I fell in love with Ewan Mcgregor the first time I heard him sing in Moulin Rouge, I think a lot of ladies did, he does have the most amazing voice and Come What May, well it's the only original song in Moulin Rouge and it was originally written for Romeo and Juliet but never used, I didn't listen to this song for a long time after Paul left and sometimes it still catches me unawares and I have a tear or two but there's something special about music which is so emotive it can make you feel so completely overwhelmed.

5.  Zac and Sara - Ben Folds, this was one of the very first tracks I ever heard by Ben Folds and I was lucky to see him perform live a couple of years ago, the man is a genius, the voice, his piano skills, it's some kind of crazy magic when you can create music like him.

6. Us - Regina Spektor, I wasn't sure if I was going to include this because when Paul and I renewed our vows for our 10th wedding anniversary this was one of the songs but I loved this the first time I ever heard it at the start of 500 Days of Summer and I've managed to make it one of my songs rather than an "our song" and that's what you have to do, if a song reminds you of someone you have to be able to redefine it for yourself so that you can continue to listen to it without causing yourself undue pain.

7.  Defying Gravity - Idina Menzel, many years ago, I think it was around 2004 I first heard this song on Elaine Paige on Radio 2 and the moment I heard it I knew I was going to turn my life around, I was just starting to recover from postnatal depression and finally on a mission to sort my life out and this song lead me to where I am today, there's so much passion when Elphaba (and I, I sing this out loud a lot) sings "I'm through accepting limits, cause someone says they're so, some things I cannot change but till I try I'll never know..."  This song still has so much importance in my life, I'd hate to think how many times I've listened to it in the last 10 years.

8.  A Thousand Years, Christina Perri - I have heard this song at tons of weddings and it continues to get me in my heart every single time, I'm the biggest most hopeless romantic, I wear my heart on my sleeve and I guess on my face too, I'm not ashamed to admit that whilst I believe that love is a truly painful state it's also the most ecstasy you will ever feel, I'm going to have that again one day!

9.  Shut Up And Dance - Walk The Moon, I love this song for no other reason than it makes me dance along the street, it's the happiest, bounciest song and it always puts me in the best mood, we should all have songs in our music collection like this!

10. Happy Now - Take That, I had to include something by Take That and although this might not be the most obvious choice, I love the chorus, it's a bit a weird old song but that happy bouncy chorus in the middle always helps me achieve a smiley happy state and that's what life is about, don't you think?

So there you go, 10 tracks of my years, tracks I listen to every day and hopefully there's something in there that you've not heard of that I've helped you discover, something that might make you feel happy or whimsical or determined, I'd love to hear your suggestions for other songs I might add to my list of happy music.

When The Possible Is Impossible

Sometimes, no matter how much you want something in your life there just seems to be no feasible way to make it actually happen and no matter how much you want that something or someone there are always going to be situations beyond your control.  You know in Love Actually, the relationship between Laura Linney and the hot office assistant, the one that is impossible?  It's kind of like that, sometimes the extraneous social circumstances get in the way.

Being 42 and mostly single sucks, I mean it really sucks, it kind of hurts in my heart every day and it's always there like a dull pain that never goes away.  When I was married, I gave out my whole heart, when Paul finally left he gave me my heart back, albeit slightly battered, bruised and a little incomplete.  One of the worst parts of separating in any kind of relationship is that you essentially also lose your best friend and companion, someone you've spoken with each and every single day for more than a quarter of your life is suddenly gone, the conversation is abruptly ended and only the noise of cold hard silence remains.

In the 2 years after he left there were many days of absolute silence in my life, there was a period I couldn't even listen to music because it felt too loud,  but slowly friendships replaced the void and the world became more gentle again, about 6 months ago I started to listen to music again, it doesn't matter whether I'm walking to a photo shoot, travelling on the bus or train or sitting working at my desk I am constantly accompanied by music, a little like a constant companion I guess, I adore music though others may judge me as having dreadful taste, my current theme tune (if I was to be accompanied by one) would be "I can do better than that" sung by Anna Kendrick in The Last 5 Years.

So recently as you all probably know, a little noise returned into my life with an ongoing conversation with a somewhat adorable man, I think we saw each other maybe twice in that first couple of weeks but we've had an ongoing conversation pretty much every single day since.  It's lovely and I feel like we're becoming great friends, I also feel like we could have rocked each other's world's as we're so completely opposite to each other, we do seem to agree on our love of Superheroes though but that is possibly the only thing.  

I've always been someone who made things happen, someone who would go out and get the things she wanted, it comes from being a strong independent forthright kind of woman, I know that life doesn't wait, you have to go out and grab the things you want by the neck (Mr Adorable, if you are reading this, don't worry sweetie, I'm not about to come and grab you by the neck) but in this situation it's just not a possibility and I'm left constantly thinking that there's something potentially fabulous which is perpetually just out of reach.

So what do I do?   The constant dilemma has been at the very forefront of my mind for the last week and the only solution is just to carry on with life, count myself lucky that I've found a new friend and if fate wants us to bump into each other or even go on another real life date then I'll have to trust that fate will indeed intervene.  If it doesn't, well then it wasn't meant to be in the first place and that's ok because Mr Adorable, you know what?  You will always be the first man in a very long time who I wasn't scared to talk to, someone I've become myself with, it's a shame that I didn't get to make you laugh more in real life and it's a shame there are so many obsticles but life is just like that sometimes, Now I should say that I'm not going anywhere but I can't guarantee I'll always be free or available, the ball is very much in the court of the Universe!!

The Monday Morning giggle

Yes it's monday again and if you're feeling like me this morning then no doubt you're in need of a giggle and so I want to share this video from You Tube, it's Shera princess of Power Vs Evil-Lynn and the transformers singing "What is this Feeling?" from Wicked the Musical, priceless, what do you think?!

Raindrops on Roses....

Well actually rain drops on every blinkin thing if you must know as it's pouring with rain once again, honestly it's the dullest dampest December we've had for years and not even a slight promise of snow on the horizon! I tell you what does a girl have to do to get herself a white Christmas!

In other news dear reader, any of my lovely british readers catch the Royal Variety Performance last night?

My highlights were most definetly Take That ( ooh they're so hot and manly these days) and also my most favourite Idina Menzel and the Cast of Wicked performing "One short Day" and "Defying Gravity" I had goosebumps the whole way through although I'm slightly dissapointed that they have turned Glinda into some posh british mockney, yes thats sort of cockney, honestly some of her lines were a little "Dick Van Dyke" (remember Mary Poppins) for me. I thought it might have just been me but Hubby definetly agreed! I'm not due to see Wicked till february (we're going for my birthday) when Idina will be nothing more than a memory (well ledgend if you ask me) and i do hope that whoever plays Elphie in January doesn't make her British, it just wouldn't work, somethings are just best left with an american accent! Take note producers and directors if you're reading, you have been warned mwahahahahaha!