Minggu, 17 Januari 2016

Goodbye, Professor Snape

This year, we already got devastating losses of two important and wonderful person.  One was David Bowie, and the other was the cold, sarcastic, tragic Professor Severus Snape, who was performed by none other the talented Sir Alan Rickman.

Both people were extraordinary in their own ways, and established themselves excellently, however since I don't really know much about David Bowie and not a fan of him, I'll give my thoughts here about Mr. Rickman.

True, I didn't watch all of his performances and films, except for Professor Snape, and as the voice of Absolem, the blue caterpillar in Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland.  I have watched Rasputin: Dark Servant of Destiny in you tube where he starred as the staret Grigori Rasputin, but I didn't watch the whole movie, I didn't see his scenes as Rasputin and I only see the scenes of the royal family.

Nevertheless, I also thought that he was one of the greatest actor in the world, he always performed his role in an amazing way that gives a great result.  His performance as Severus Snape is apparently his best performance ever, as he perfectly played the role in his ambiguous character, and not as a villain we suspected of Snape at first.  When we read the first book and watch the first movie, we all maybe resented Snape like Harry at first, because how he treated Harry, cruel and unsympathetic, however he also saved him, which make us doubt whether he is a good guy or a bad guy.  Luckily, the books were all published earlier than the movie's releases, and so some of us will found out that Snape was not a bad guy we thought at first, but a more ambiguous person, and by the time the last book was published, we finally know that he is a good guy, but also a tragic person.  And it made Mr. Rickman more easy to potray the ambiguity of Snape's characters in the movies, which probably made the fans felt more sympathetic for him, even make him quite popular with some fans.

So, I'm going to say some farewell for him, and here it is:

For Mr. Alan Rickman

I never know about you that much, but you are the one and only Severus Snape!  I think nobody could play the character as wonderful as you do.  You gave all the energy and hard work to play him, and I thought you do it extremely well.  You make him more likable for us, and like some Potter fans, I always thought that he is one of the most important characters in the series, and you're one of the most brilliant actor in the movies.

The news about your death really crushed hard your Potter cast mates, the author and your close friend J. K. Rowling, and all of the Potter fans, because you're really a nice person, in contrast to the roles you often play, I was also quite shocked by the news of your death, it seems to be very sudden that you have to leave this world, but you'll always be remember in our hearts and memories for your dedication and hard work in playing Professor Snape and your other roles.

RIP Mr. Rickman and Professor Snape, may your soul be in peace forever.

Jumat, 11 September 2015

The Corrs - My All Time Favorite Band

Hi, it's me again!  Now, I want to talk about my favorite music band of all time.  Do you know which?  Well, let me give you some hints.  They are consist of four siblings, one brother and his three sisters, they are from Ireland, their musical styles are folk rock, celtic, and pop, and they are just temporarily hiatus, and they have just held a live comeback performance on this Sunday, 13 September 2015 at Hyde Park.  Yep, they're The Corrs!

I really, really looking forward for their comeback.  This is their first time of performing together again since their hiatus in 2005.  They'll also release their sixth album!  I hope that their singing voice are still sound the same, even if they're already aged, now.

Here, I'll tell you how I become their fans, then started to forget about them a little bit, and become their fans again recently.

1. First Time

The first time I knew about The Corrs, was when I was still in elementary school.  It was one fine Saturday, my family and I went to a restaurant for lunch.  This restaurant have a large screen for playing movies and music videos.  In the middle of the lunch, one of the waiters played on "The Corrs: Live at Lansdowne Road", but back then, I haven't know about them.  Unfortunately, it only showed the clip of the introduction, and repeated it all over again.  I was so curious of the video, that I asked my father about them.

That was when my father told me that they were 'The Corrs', a family band from Ireland.  I become more and more interested in them when my father said that he have the VCD of "Live at Lansdowne Road".  After we went back home, my father played on the VCD and their first song that I heard was 'Only When I Sleep'.  However, I only heard a part of it.

After that, I became more and more interested on them, that my father gave me an Mp3 player, consisted fully of their songs (though not all of them).  Before I get my own cellphone, I brought and listen to the Mp3 everywhere.  But after I get my own cellphone, I rarely listened to the Mp3, but I still love them, and I kept the Mp3 well.  And fortunately, my father has inserted some of their songs in my cellphone so I could still listen to them.

However, when I entered middle school, I started to like K-Pop songs, and kind of forgotten The Corrs.  Well, I still listened to their songs, but my interest on them was not the same as before, and I become a fan of K-Pop, even to the point of being fanatic.





  

Jumat, 19 Juni 2015

CATS - Female Characters

Hello, guys!  Right now, I'm going to write about the female characters (queens) in one of Andrew Lloyd Weber's famous musical, CATS.  The characters I write are not only from the musicals, but also the 1998 video.  I'll write about my opinion for the characters, and their relationship (which I based from the family tree by toxic-dolls.deviantart).  So, have fun enjoying this!

Note:  I write it based on alphabetical order, not in my preference.  I'll add the pictures later after I finish write all of the characters.

Bombalurina





One of the main queens and young adult cats in the musical.  She is distinctive of being the only red cat in the musical.  She is quite flirty, seductive, and sexy, but is also kind, warm, and caring.  She loves to flirt other toms, especially Rum Tum Tugger (whom I thought was her mate).  She is also thought as Demeter's older sister, as the two were very close and caring to each other.

In the original London production, she was played by the late Geraldine Gardner.  In the original Broadway, Donna King played the part, while in the 1998 video, she was played by British actress, dancer, and TV presenter Rosemarie Ford. 

Cassandra




One of the most graceful and elegant queen in the Jellicle tribe (the others are Victoria and (probably) Exotica), even though she is still a teenager (I thought).  Her moves appears to be gracious and flawless.  I think she is Egyptian as she is often does an Egyptian gesture.  She is mated with Alonzo, and Exotica is her older sister.  Though she appears cold and aloof, she is actually kind, and very shy.


She was played by Seeta Indrani in the original London production, while Rene Ceballos played her in the original Broadway.  Rebecca Parker potrayed her in the 1998 video.

Demeter



Along with Bombalurina, her older sister, she is one of the main queens and young adult cats in the musical.  She is one of the characters to have a very deep background story.  She is previously Macavity's girlfriend, until he became corrupted with evil and then raped her, which gave her a paranoid and nervous behavior.  After long time, she finally moved on from her past, and married Macavity's younger brother Munkustrap, and had one daughter, Jemima.  Unlike her sister, husband, and some of the older cats, Demeter try to accept Grizabella, but she seems unable to bring herself to do it, and doesn't fully accept her until the end.

Sharon Lee-Hill played her in the original London production, in the original Broadway, Wendy Edmead played the part.  She was potrayed by Australian actress Aeva May (real name Linda Mae Brewer) in the 1998 video.

Electra

One of the kittens in the tribe,  Electra is usually seen with her four best friends, Victoria, Etcetera, and Jemima.  She is a reserved, quiet, and tomboyish kitten, the only feminine part of her personality is her fandom to Rum Tum Tugger like most of her friends, and her fondness of bells.  I also think she is a bookworm, as seen with her only line in the 1998 video, "With book and with bell.", it could probably mean that she loves reading some of the used books in the junkyard, giving her an intelligent mind.  She is the only daughter of Skimbleshanks and Jennyanydots.  She is also one of the cats who try to accept Grizabella.

Anita Pashley played her in the original London, while Susan Powers played her in the original Broadway (as a 'swing' character).  In the 1998 video, Leah Sue Morland potrayed her.

Etcetera

One of the kittens in the tribe, and Electra's best friend.  She is the youngest child and only daughter of Asparagus and Jellylorum, and she has four brothers, Admetus, Plato, Tumblebrutus, and Pouncival (she is close with all four of them), and the only granddaughter of Gus.  Like her best friend Electra, she is also quite tomboyish, but she is also feminine, seeing by her appearance and her trapeze skills.  She is the biggest fan of Rum Tum Tugger, where she screamed hysterically and enthusiastically at the end of his song, until Tugger stop her by putting his hand(in the 1998 video) or his tail (most productions) on her mouth.  Aside from Electra, she is also close with Victoria and Jemima.  Like her three best friends, she also try to accept Grizabella.

She is played by Julie Edmett in the original London.  In the original Broadway, where she was potrayed by Christine Langner  she was initially meant to double as Rumpleteazer (who was initially a puppet, not a real cat).  However, in later productions, Etcetera was cut and Rumpleteazer became a full character. In the 1998 video, she was played by Jo Bingham.  

Exotica








She only appeared in the 1998 video, she was solely created for Femi Taylor, the actress who played the part of Tantomile in the original London production.  Since Tantomile's part was already casted and the producers wanted Femi to appear in the video, they created a new character, which was Exotica.  Exotica is the older sister of Cassandra, and like Cassandra, she is also a quiet and shy queen (along with Victoria and Tantomile), though she seems more passive and anti-social than her younger sister, but still a kind queen.  She was rarely seen in the video, probably because she blended well with the background, but there were some scenes where you could spotted her.  I think she is the most underused and underrated characters in the musical, because her screen time is so limited.  That's too bad because I think she is quite an interesting character to be develop.  She has also starred as a 'swing' character in the South Africa productions and the world tour.

As said above, she was potrayed by the original London Tantomile, Femi Taylor, who was also famous for potraying Oola in Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi.

Griddlebone




A fluffy white Persian queen and Growltiger's love interest (their relationship was probably one of the canon relationship in the musical, the others was Asparagus/Gus and Jellylorum {interestingly, Griddlebone is played by the same actress who played Jellylorum [some productions have Griddlebone played by the same actress as Grizabella or Jennyanydots], while Growltiger is played by the same actor who played Gus}).  She was also rumored to be an agent for Macavity (the others are Mungojerrie and (possibly) Rumpleteazer).  Along with Growltiger, she appeared in 'Growltiger's Last Stand, where both of them sang 'The Ballad of Billy M'Caw (in the original Broadway, the song was changed into an Italian aria, entitled 'In Una Tepida Notte'), and later inadvertently led Growltiger to his demise because of her charms.  Due to her being rumored as Macavity's agents, she probably didn't truly love Growltiger, only used his affections for her so he would be distracted from the gang of Siamese cats (led by Gilbert [OL]/Genghis [OB]), presumably as a task ordered by Macavity.

In the original London, she was played by Susan Jane Tanner, while Bonnie Simmons played her in the original Broadway (both actresses also played the part of Jellylorum).  However, she was omitted in the 1998 video (alongside Growltiger, his pirate crews, and the Siamese cats gang).

Grizabella
















The main female protagonist and anti-heroine of the musical, she is definitely one of the stars in the musical.  Grizabella is also one of the characters to have a very deep background story.  She was once the 'glamour cat' (a title she still held in her old days) and the most  beautiful queen in the tribe.  However one day, she left the tribe to see the outside world, but felt unhappy with it, and when she came back, she became a pariah, and most of the cats were angry with her and rejected her, except for the queen kittens along with Demeter who tried to accept her, but couldn't bring themselves to (Electra, Etcetera, Demeter) or are stopped by some elderly cats (Victoria and Jemima [who are her granddaughters]), and Old Deuteronomy (who seems to be her husband, and who love her very dearly).  In the end, after she sings 'Memory', she was finally accepted back to the tribe and was chosen by her husband to go to the Heaviside Layer to be reborn and have a new Jellicle life.


In the original London, she was played by Elaine Paige, who later reprised the role in the 1998 video (one of the actors/actresses to do so), while in the original Broadway, she was played by Betty Buckley.


Jellylorum








One of the elderly members of the tribe and the main queens, she is the husband of Asparagus, the daughter in law of Gus, and the mother of Admetus, Plato, Tumblebrutus, Pouncival, and Etcetera. She is the best friend of Jennyanydots, as they are both one of the elderly cats and both have motherly and strict natures towards the kittens, also both of them love to crocheting and embroidering (they were both seen doing that in 'The Rum Tum Tugger' before Tugger destroyed it).  She was very closed to her father in law, and took care of him, along with her husband.  Like most of the cats, she was very angry with Grizabella at first and refused to touch her and let the kittens touch her, as she considered her a threat to the kittens at first.  But after Grizabella sings 'Memory', she finally accept her back, no longer considered her a threat, and apologized for neglecting her.


In the original London, she was played by Susan Jane Tanners who also played Griddlebone (along with fellow cast Elaine Paige and Femi Taylor she appeared in the 1998 video, though only she and Paige reprised their parts they originated in OL), while Bonnie Simmons played her in original Broadway (like Susan she also played Griddlebone)

Jemima

















Ah Jemima, my favorite character from CATS!  Well, some of you may ask why she is my favorite character.  Some of you may say she is my favorite character because she is a popular character.  Well it's not that, there are more reason why she is my favorite.  First, she has a very kind and friendly personality, which makes her have a lot of friends, no matter what age and personality.  Second, despite her young age, she is a very wise cat, which makes her understand the suffering that her grandmother Grizabella had experienced, and so she was the first person trying to accept her back.  Her wise mind makes her understand the deep, philosophical meaning that her grandfather Old Deuteronomy channeled through 'The Moment of Happiness'.  Third, she is a very talented and wonderful singer, she has a very clear soprano voice, and I really like her voice.  Despite all of those qualities she has, she is still a young kitten, she is very innocent and she holds a lot of crush towards lots of toms.  Like her friends, she is also a fan to her uncle, Rum Tum Tugger, who has a soft spot to her and the other kittens.  She is the only daughter of Munkustrap and Demeter, the second granddaughter of Old Deuteronomy and Grizabella, the only cousin of Mistoffelees and Victoria, and the second niece of Bombalurina, Macavity, Rum Tum Tugger (as said above), Bustopher Jones, and his sister (who became Macavity's wife, but sadly was murdered by him).

In the original London, she was played by Sarah Brightman (who would later became Andrew Lloyd  Weber's second wife, and starred in as Christine Daae in another Lloyd Weber's musical, The Phantom of The Opera), in the original Broadway, she is renamed 'Syllabub' to avoid negative association with the name 'Jemima', in which she was played by Whitney Kershaw.  In the 1998 video, she was played by Belgium actress Veerle Casteleyn, who I think was very suitable for the role, though sadly her voice has to be dubbed (by Helen Massie), because she has trouble with speaking English.

Jennyanydots

She is one of the elderly cats and best friend with Jellylorum.  Like Jelly, she has a motherly and caring personality towards the kittens, and often scolding them for their bad behaviors, though in a well meaning way.  She has a very strict personality, and she likes to keep things clean, tidy, and in order.  She is called 'The Gumbie Cat' because of her strict personality towards not only the kittens, but also the mice and the cockroaches.  Normally, most cats would chase and eat the mice, but not with Jenny.  Instead, she teaches them about manners because she thinks their manners are not nice, and she also teach them music, crocheting (the activity she likes the most, along with Jellylorum), and tatting.  For the cockroaches, Jenny thinks that they should be given a job to contain their idle personality, by creating a boy scout for them and a beetle tattoo.  Like Jelly and most of the cats, she rejected Grizabella initially, even preventing her only daughter, Electra to touch and accept her back to the tribe.  She turned her back, hissed, and glared at Grizabella every time she came.  It was not until 'Memory' that she accepted her back to the tribe, and felt sorry for turning her back on her.  She is the wife of Skimbleshanks (they're loving to each other), and the mother of Electra.

Myra Sands played her in the original London, while Anna McNeeley played the part in the original Broadway.  In the 1998 video, she was played by Susie McKenna.

Rumpleteazer

She is Mungojerrie's twin sister, both of them are in teenager age, and they are the most mischievous cats of all time, dub 'The Mischievous Twin' .  Both of them like to steal the belongings of the elderly cats and annoy them at the same time.  Before they lived at the Jellicle tribe, they lived together with their parents as a street cat.  They lived happily until their parents were killed by a car.  Left orphaned, Rumpleteazer and her brother began to form their stealing habit in order for them to survive.  They lived mostly on the road, until they were picked up by a rich family, probably to be keep as a pet for their children.  Their lives became very easy now, because they already got a family who loved and pampered them, though they know that the family who picked them up will never replace their own parents.  Rumpleteazer also got a beautiful diamond bracelet as her collar.  However, along with her brother, she found this new, rich life very boring,  because they didn't have to do anything at all.  Together with her brother, she began to stealing again, this time from their keepers.  Both of them stole most of their keeper's belongings, such as a winter vest, a string of Woolworth pearl necklace, and they also stole their dinners, as well as making a mess at the house.  Annoyed and tired, their keeper was about to throw them away, but luckily they ran away from the house before their keeper could throw them away, bringing along the things they had stole.  They roamed around the street, until they stumble upon the junkyard, where the Jellicle tribe reside.  She and her brother began to love the place and decided to stay there.

In the original London, she was played by Bonnie Langford, while in the original Broadway, she was played by Christine Langner, in which she was initially a puppet and going to double as Etcetera, however in later productions, Etcetera was omitted, and she became a full character.  In the 1998 video, she was played by Jo Gibb, who later became the last actress to play the part of Pearl the observation car from another Lloyd Weber's musical, Starlight Express.

Tantomile

Alongside her twin brother Coricopat, and Mistoffelees , she is one of the cats to have a gifted ability, the ability to sense changes, which she shared with her twin brother.  She probably inherited this ability since she and her brother was born.  Similar to 'The Mischievous Twin', she and her brother were also given a nickname, 'The Mystical Twin' (due to their ability).  She is one of the quiet and shy queen (the others are Victoria and Exotica),