So on Wednesday on the national news we had a story about a Spice Girl pretty much going bankrupt and moving back in with her mother.
Let's just say I didn't find this riveting or even mildly interesting. If she squandered a fortune she has to live with the consequences.
Then we had an attempt by a young woman to set a new window cleaning world record. This involved cleaning just three large panes of glass in a controlled clean. She broke the record but was this really national news? Better off on the One Show which I don't watch because it's just too incredible, amazing, wonderful, incredible, stunning and unbelievable.
*. *. *
Last night we went to see Hethersett Academy's performance of Legally Blonde. It was full of colour and high energy and one of the best shows yet put on by the youngsters.
It made me think about what kind of musical I enjoy. Legally Blonde is well down the list I'm afraid but that's no comment on the school's production.
For me musicals need to either have a serious plot or have superlative music or be funny. A lot try to be funny and fail miserably. The biggest exception to this is The Book of Mormon which was both funny and irreverent at the same time.
So you will see from my top five that they all have serious content and superb music
1/ Les Miserables. I've seen this four times and find something new every time. It works on so many levels just as the Victor Hugo book does. It's about love, war, redemption, kindness, politics and much more.
2/ West Side Story - gang warfare set to the brilliant music of Leonard Bernstein and lyrics of Stephen Sondheim.
3/ Carousel - supreme Rogers and Hammerstein music which ensures You'll Never Walk Alone.
4/ Phantom of The Opera. Ok the plot might be a bit circumspect but the Andrew Lloyd Webber/Tim Rice music certainly isn't.
5/ Miss Saigon. West Side Story is based on Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet and Miss Saigon on Puccini's Madame Butterfly. From the same stable as Les Mis. Includes a helicopter on stage, the Vietnam war and a doomed love affair. See what I mean about serious action?