The Musical Theatre Appreciation Society!

Now these guys are the greatest fun!

The MTAs Logo!

The Musical Theatre Appreciation Society, or MTAs, as we call them, are quite simply a group of people who love Theatre!
What started as a small Facebook group discussing all the weird and wonderful things of the Musical world, they now have a following of  16,628 members on Facebook alone! Well when I last checked....

Now I've been a member of the MTAs for a while and it has truly been amazing to see them grow! The whole group is just full of lovely warm people, and it's not just for those who have seen a million show and are experts on all things theatre...its even for the newbies. Some may never have seen a West End show, some may never have been in a production but it doesn't matter. As long as you love theatre then that's all that matters. Any age, any experience....all are welcomed and loved and listened to.
There are 6 members of the Admin team, all are great fun! They do a wonderful job keeping the page afloat and pointing it in new directions. They have created a Twitter account, Snapchat, YouTube account and have a blog!! All of which I will link to below if you are interested.

They also have a Sister Page called Musical Theatre Competition Page which kind of does what it says on the tin! Its where the members of the MTAs partake in competitions, some just for fun, and some for a prize. They include West End Challenges. Where you get challenged by a West End actor to sing a song from the show, past triumphs have been Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Wicked and Beautiful. It's a song for guys and a song for girls, usually with a 2 week submission window, all in the name of fun!
Currently they also have another competition running themed around Murder Ballad (coming 30th September to the Arts Theatre)
Submit a 'Mugshot' with the date the show opens and you are in with a chance to win a £20 Theatre token AND a signed flyer from the show.....

Something like this....

 

 

 

 

All good fun!
They also have Q&A's with Stars, Snapchat Takeovers. Its all a big laugh and a great thing to get involved it.

And its not all behind a screen! They often arrange group outings to shows with a stop off at the Theatre Café...I have yet to attend a meet up but I look forward to being able to in the near future!!

You are free to post into the group and ask questions or discuss recent visits or to get opinions on a show/cast.
Everyone is always willing to chat and you can get so much wisdom from some members. Some have been in productions of many a musical and are more than happy to share advice/experiences with the younger generation.

I could sit here and go on but instead I will allow you all the opportunity of finding out what a great bunch of people they are for yourselves....don't take my word for it!!

The MTAs can be found via the below links:

Facebook: The Musical Theatre Appreciation Society
Twitter: MTAs Official
Blog: MTAS
Snapchat: @MTASSociety



Go take a look - I'm sure you'll love it!!

That's all from me this week....
See you next week!!

There are some exciting things lined up for you for the next few weeks so watch this space!

Love you all xx
Jade xx :)

Filming in Theatre!

Another week, another blog!

Where has the time gone? I mean seriously, this week seems to have absolutely flown by!

Anyway, this week I'm going to talk about a somewhat controversial topic in the Theatre World

Filming in Theatres.


 A complete no go right? Well, personally I can't decide! I am eternally grateful for all those bootlegs floating around on YouTube, I mean how else would I get to hear Anna O'Byrne in Phantom or see Kerry Ellis on Broadway. Or even reliving some old moments such as Chitty Chitty Bang Bang in 2002 at the Palladium...

So from that point of view I am happy people occasionally break the rules and film or record the audio. It means people like me get the opportunity to see or hear things they may never have had a chance to hear. In a way it can actually open other peoples eyes to Theatre and get them into shows they may have never found an interest in otherwise!

But then there is the other side, the actors and audience perspective. I have personally had the experience of a young lady a row in front of me filming while I was seeing Phantom of the Opera. After a quick glare she soon stopped :)
But it did make me think, if more shows were professionally filmed and released maybe, just maybe people would be less likely to record during shows.

Now I understand there is a huge cost in filming productions but just think about how amazing it would be if, maybe even for a limited time, people could see some of their favourite casts in action.

Take something like Cats. The revival in 2014 was amazing! Nicole and Kerry took on the role of Griz. Now as far as I am aware the only professional recording of Cats was back in the day when the film was made with Elaine Paige. All due respect to Elaine, but wouldn't it be nice if we had our hands on a newer version?

Take Sunset Boulevard and Starlight Express, old classics that have disappeared....all we have are soundtracks. Personally I would love to see Starlight revived and filmed.

Now I do understand some of the big shows are filmed for anniversary shows, take Les Miserables, 10th and 25th anniversary recordings! Phantom 25th Recording, Miss Saigon 25th Recording....

All are available for us to watch and relive over and over again. Younger generations can be introduced to such old classics...

Now from the perspective of being able to see new versions and cherish experiences I understand recordings. Personally I would never film in the theatre, but that is my opinion.



When I went to see Phantom I was more than a little miffed that the woman in front of me was filming. She soon stopped and that was that. Once I had someone next to me playing Candy Crush all the way through Act 1 of Les Miserables.....
But I do know how distracting it is having a phone waving about near you just so someone can get some hits on YouTube.
Now the Audience can't always see if anyone is filming but there are people who can.....THE ACTORS!!

Those people on stage who perform night after night, 8 shows a week. They can see. Out there in the darkness they can see the light of a phone, the reflection of the stage lighting off the logo on the back. They can see everything and it is so distracting for them!!!
I am always seeing interval tweets or post-show tweets from actors saying that yet again they have had a camera on them all night.
It is distracting for them!
And the Audience!!



Long story short,
Don't film in theatres.....period.....
Yes I watch bootlegs and will not deny that but, don't film in theatres people. It does ruin the show for not only the audience but the actors too


So that's all from me this week!

See you soon
Jade xx