The Corona Diaries: Ben Adams

These recent times have been some of the hardest challenges we've faced and as a community, it hit us pretty hard. However during these difficult times, here at Pocket Size Theatre, we wanted to spread a little positivity and share some peoples experiences because we are all in this together. Each day we'll be speaking to our friends in the industry to share their experiences with you all so take a read and see how people are getting through these hard times.

Let's stick together, share the love and get through this as a community!

*Some information mentioned in this article may be out of date due to the progress of the current situation. Please keep that in mind when reading*

Ben Adams is most famous for being in the boyband A1. He has appeared as Brad Majors in The Rocky Horror Picture Show (UK tour) and Nick Hurley in Flashdance (UK Tour) as well as Pantomimes such as Aladdin (Woking & Manchester) and Cinderella (Milton Keynes). He co-wrote the hit musical Eugenius! which played a concert production at the London Palladium and also played two runs at The Other Palace and has since received 7 'Offie' nominations at the Off-WestEnd awards.

On Monday 16th March 2020, The Society of London Theatre announced the closure of all Theatres in London. This followed suit with regional venues. Where were you when you found out and what was your initial reaction? 

I was on tour with A1, We had 40 or so sold-out dates and I think we only managed 29. So we have rescheduled them to February next year. It was the right thing to do but it was obviously a shame to not see all those people who had bought tickets, particularly at a time when people needed a lift mood-wise as it was all becoming pretty scary. As the queen says, "WE'LL MEET AGAIN"!

Can you tell us anything productive you’ve been doing?

I've been doing a lot of writing and producing actually, brilliant to have time to catch up on things I should have already done but didn't have time as I was on tour. We live-streamed Eugenius! to raise money for acting for others which was a huge success and raised a lot of money! You can still see it on youtube and our Facebook page if you wanna be cheered up! I'm also trying to get up to speed with all the social media platforms. Til Tok is fun, but I'm crap at it! Go follow benadamsuk if you want to laugh! We have a new A1 album in the making and I've been doing a lot of meetings and interviews over zoom, planning the return of Eugenius! and a new musical I've written. I also released a clip called THE STUDIO which was something I filmed with some friends of mine for a laugh. We are putting together episode 2 right now. And not many people are aware but I actually had a number 1 classical ep 'ONE BEAUTIFUL MOURNING' not too long ago, so I'll be releasing the follow up 9 MONTHS on April 24th. 

REVIEW: Flashdance at the New Victoria Theatre, Woking

Adapted from the screenplay of the surprise 80s hit film, Flashdance stars Strictly Come Dancing star Joanne Clifton and former A1 member Ben Adams as her love interest Nick. The films influence on popular culture in the early 80s was clear to see and won numerous accolades and made stars for the MTV generation.

Pity that the phenomenon doesn’t extend to this woeful stage version which doesn’t so much leap and bound into the New Victoria Theatre, but rather stumble clumsily into it, held together only by a strong performance by Joanne Clifton.

Clifton is an excellent Alex, in a much improved outing from her previous UK tour as the lead in Thoroughly Modern Millie. She seems at ease in the role of confident, sharp-witted Alex who dreams of being a ballet dancer and showcases her dancing skills and strong singing voice. Sadly she is the only one who dazzles in this production.

REVIEW: Eugenius! at the Other Palace

Eugenius follows the story of classic Geek Eugene who has written a comic book that gets turned into a Hollywood blockbuster. But things don’t necessarily go to plan when the Evil Villain in the story turns out to be real and has headed to earth to get his revenge on the lead super hero. 

Yes, it sound cringe as hell! And that's true, it is. But the story isn’t really the most important part here, the feeling you leave with is the important thing. Think Loserville mixed with Flashdance, then you sort of get this! The music (by Ben Adams and Chris Wilkins) is uplifting and catchy, not ground breaking but its a fun score. It would be great to listen to on Spotify. 

The show is a little full on, there's no easing you into it and you're thrown into the deep end but its a lot of fun. This must be remembered when watching the show, its not the next Evita but it most certainly is an enjoyable night.

REVIEW: Flashdance at the New Wimbledon Theatre

Based on the 1983 film, Flashdance first made its way onto our local stages back in 2008 with a UK tour of the show, starring musical theatre legend Victoria Hamilton-Barritt and the late Bernie Nolan. It transferred into London’s West End in 2010, again featuring Ms Hamilton-Barritt, at the Shaftesbury Theatre before closing after 16 weeks. Since then we have seen a US tour production and many international ones, this time Sell-a-Door production have brought it back to the UK. I wish they hadn't. 

This show lacked any style or vision, nothing was interesting or different. A boring concept which I’m sure anyone with the amateur rights to the show will do exactly the same. Possibly to a higher standard. 

The choreography of the show, which is meant to be the highlight, was instead predictable and uninspiring. Just because you add in lots of girls doing splits in different positions, doesn’t mean I’m going to be interested. In fact, it means the total opposite. 

REVIEW: Aladdin at the New Victoria Theatre in Woking

There is nothing that gets me more in the mood for christmas than Pantomime, remembering back to my childhood where I used to be taken to see one every year brings back all the feelings of excitement!

The pantomime starts out with an advert. Yes, you read that correct, an advert. I feel very disappointed that adverts have now been introduced to theatres. It completely takes you away form the magic of theatre and I couldn't believe my eyes when it started to play! It left the auditorium feeling very stale and unenergised for the performance. However this energy dip was soon rescued by the cast.