A Gem!

Just a little mention in Burton Mail

"Dillon has recently taken over the role of Bowles and proves to be a gem among the stellar cast"

Burton Mail

Just a few piccies for the night! Stay tuned for more!

New Cabaret Video

Bill Kenwright's Official Cabaret website has updated with a new video interview of Siobhan getting ready for a promotional photoshoot! It's great to see her on camera again, last time that happened was the Christmas special from 2007? Where the time went I have no idea!

New Video

Will have screencaptures up soon!

Also above is a fan photo from Rachel with Siobhan after a night of Cabaret.

NEW Cabaret Pictures!!

Bill Kenwright's official website for Cabaret has updated with new pictures and a new video of Siobhan! Both are brilliant to see, wish the pics were a bit bigger but hey, not complaining! Will have the video up in a bit, for now just check out these great shots!!

4, 6, and 10 are pretty fierce! Love the craze in her eyes in 8 and 9 tears my heart apart!

Blurb from Sunday Mercury

Just a mention from Sunday Mercury for Cabaret. Everything positive, with a comment that needs to be highlighted for it's brilliance!

BOTTOMS up!
It’s 1930s Berlin – and the city folk are having a ball.

Hyper-inflation following Germany’s defeat in World War I has rendered their savings worthless, so they just want to spend, spend, spend.

The Weimar Republic has abolished all censorship so there’s no closing hours, and you can say and print what you like.
All sense of morality has gone out the window.

And everyone is hell-bent on seizing the day by revelling in the wealth of cabaret bars, revue bars and experimental theatre that has sprung up.

The Rep’s production of the celebrated musical Cabaret re-enacts the spirit of these times with relish.
It’s a fast and furious show, with a teasing touch of saucy humour.

The scantily-clad cast reels around the stage in stockings and suspenders, or just flash their bare bottoms, in several scenes while dancing and singing is played out.

Wayne Sleep shows off his fancy footwork and versatility as a dancer – despite his elder years (he’s 61) – and engages wonderfully with the audience who are delighted to welcome his banter.

Lichfield lass, and former star of TV talent show How Do You Solve A Problem Like Maria, Siobhan Dillon proves a striking, yet vulnerable, Sally Bowles.

Her performance was powerful. And her hair, not a central part of the show, so shiny.

It’s a shame the evil Nazis had to break up the party. The show provides a stark reminder of the horrid fate that befell the heady Berliners.

Can't help but laugh out loud on that one! Link below:

SM

Saving the World with Hot Pants!

Sep 18 2009

Catherine Jones, Liverpool Echo

WHILE the New Seekers wanted to teach the world to sing, Siobhan Dillon wants to save it – one song at a time.

It’s an ambition the 25-year-old hopes to achieve through a new charity she’s setting up with record producer friend Eliot Kennedy.

But in the meantime, the How Do You Solve A Problem Like Maria? finalist is on tour bringing a taste of seedy 1930s Berlin to UK audiences as saucy Sally Bowles in Cabaret.

Fishnets and basques are a long way from Maria von Trapp, but then Siobhan has come a long way since the 2006 TV competition.

First was a stint in Grease, and last year she toured with Chesney Hawkes in Can’t Smile Without You. Now it’s Ebb and Kander’s Cabaret.

“I’d never done Cabaret before so I had to learn it from scratch,” she admits.

“It means I don’t have any preconceived ideas of how it should be done. I saw the show in the West End a couple of years ago but I didn’t really remember how they did it.

“I learned the script and songs in a week and they set and choreographed it in a week. I think I was in denial for the majority of it!”

Of course, rather like Julie Andrews and The Sound of Music, Cabaret will always be inextricably linked with Liza Minelli.

“I saw the film a few years ago, it’s one of my mum’s favourites, and you get mesmerised by Liza Minelli and can’t help but watch her body language and the way she moves around the stage,” says Siobhan.

“She’s awesome, iconic.

“But people say to me you have to remember that to give the role life and energy you have to live it through yourself. It has a facet of Siobhan as well.”

Surprisingly, it was the rather risque costume which helped her find her inner Sally.

“The first day I put it on, I walked across the stage when all the cast were there and they were cheering me on,” she smiles.

“It’s a little pair of hotpants and a bra top.

“I thought I’d feel self-conscious, but by the time I got into character I was strutting around. I was in a Sally Bowles frame of mind!”

Siobhan was co-writing songs for a new album when Bill Kenwright asked if she’d like to audition for Cabaret.

“I’ve always been a bit of a melody queen,” she reveals. “I’ve always got ideas about melodies and harmonies and musical bits and pieces.

“Now I’m really getting into it, I could write a song with music and lyrics alone if I had to. My producer has given me that confidence.

“If I did write a musical it would be along the lines of Moulin Rouge. It’s incredible, I love it.”

Then there’s the idea of using music to raise money for good causes.

“Eliot kept saying what can we do that can help change the world?” she says. “You know, those half-drunk conversations! And this is a fantastic opportunity for charity, not just in the UK but worldwide.

“The idea is artists will donate a song to the charity and you become a shareholder when you buy the song online.

“Then you can vote for the charity you think is the most in need and the one with the most votes gets a donation. It’s called Save The World One Song At A Time.”

It’s a happy thought.

Cabaret comes to the New Brighton Floral Pavilion from October 5-10.

.......

Above is a picture of Siobhan and Fran at the Birmingham Arts Festival.

Liverpool Echo

New Leicestershire Interview

I like the title! Siobhan Queen of anything is Ok! in my book! Interesting interview, I loved when she said she drove her classmates crazy from her singing. That's just fun to imagine!

Link below:

Leicestershire

Certainly a Pleasure!

A new gorgeous picture and a quick review for today. This time from the Reviews Gate.

"With Siobhan Dillon, as the legendary Sally Bowles, the naïve, self-obsessed, but ultimately tragic heroine, emphatically proving that while a great singing voice is not an absolute necessity for the role it is certainly a pleasure to listen to, particularly in the poignant and haunting Maybe This Time, and the signature number Cabaret."

Reviews Gate

Hopefully sometime soon we'll get some more production photos!

Reviews!

A couple more reviews have surfaced, one from the Birmingham Post and the other The Stirrer.

I loved what The Stirrer had to say just have to paste it here:

"Lichfield born Siobhan Dillon proudly plays Sally – and How she’s risen to the challenge. Finishing third in the BBC’s ‘How do you solve a problem like Maria’,she now expresses passion and feeling when singing ‘Maybe this Time’ while in the show stopping title number ‘Cabaret’ the applause was loud, long and well deserved. (Most definitely a leading lady of the future she can surely see a very bright future on the road that has already seen her appearing in the West End production of ‘Grease’)"

Here's the links:

Birmingham Post

The Stirrer

Love that picture too!!! Why am I not seeing this???

Reviews from the Fans!

There are a couple mentions of Siobhan I found online, both are of praise! And one review from one of Siobhan's biggest fans Fran from the blog (hope she doesn't mind me posting it!)

"I saw Cabaret this evening and was shocked by how good Siobhan Dillon was. I didn't watch 'Maria' but had heard negative things despite her high placing. She was the best thing about the show"

A little blurb from the hearing aid blogspot

"The stars of the show, a gloriously camp emcee in the shape of Wayne Sleep and runner up Maria (from that ‘How Do You Make Another Million for Lloyd Webber’ programme) Siobhan Dillon were spot on. Siobhan’s voice and acting in particular were first rate, neatly avoiding the musical clichés that so many actors and actresses fall into (over emphasising words, giving it jazz hands all the bloody time, acting rather than living the part…)."

Exactly why I like her she stays away from the cliches! Never knew what exactly it was that I liked about her acting and what I found different from others, but that's it!

Finally a write up from Fran! Thanks Fran:))

Hey!....

I'm back from windy and slightly rainy Birmingham!....
I decided to do the double yesterday and think I may just go and see the show a couple of other times too, just for quality control purposes!....
Well what can I say?.... Well I spotted Anna and Georgina outside the theatre before I'd even gone in to pick up my ticket!....
Anyways I had a nice ticket on the front row right slap bang in the middle!....
So um I'm rather looking forward to the show starting as the last time I saw Siobhan was on the last night of Can't Smile 9 months ago....
Well curtain up!.... The first we see of Siobhan is her flashing past on a ladder screaming!.... Dressed in stockings, suspenders, a pair of pink frilly knickers and a black bra!....
Hmmm ok.... where do we go from there?....
As I'm sure most of you will know Cabaret is a bit of a racy musical, although not as full of nudity as the recent London production.... They seemed to have made this version a little tamer....
The majority of Siobhan's work as Sally is in the first act, she has the numbers "Don't tell Mama", "Mein Herr", "Perfectly Marvelous" and "Maybe This Time" .... She totally nailed all of the songs and although Maybe This Time reminds me of Abi her performance made me grin from ear to ear!.... It was great!....
In the second act her big number is Cabaret and it was fab!.... Nailed it!....
Cabaret is also very hard hitting and as I've just come back from Berlin and visited a concentration camp it was quite weird!....
Infact Siobhan was announced in Cabaret the day I came back!.... Odd!....

7.30 show was just as good, they seemed to add something extra into "Two Ladies" but apart from that it was pretty much the same....

I will say that I'm not a great fan of Wayne Sleep as Emcee.... His diction is terrible!.... Most of the time I had no idea what he was saying!.... I did like Jenny Logan, for those of you that remember the shake and vac lady!.... As Fraulein Schneider.... I also enjoyed Matt Zimmerman's performance as Herr Schultz although sometimes you couldn't hear him too well above the orchestra.... I will also say that although Karl Moffatt's German accent was a bit suspect at times he was very good!.... Same goes for Henry Luxemburg's American accent!.... But I did like him in the part....

Anyways out after the show and to the stage door I go!.... There were a couple of people waiting around so I wasn't alone!....

Anyways hanging around by the stage door and out comes Siobhan!....

With SHORT hair!.... Yep folks she's had it all cut off!....

BUT I must say it does quite suit her, although I was like WHAT!!!!?.... I'd convinced myself she was wearing wig!..

Anyways after talking to the other people there she came over and gave me a hug and told me it was nice to see me!.... So after exchanging pleasantries and her asking if I'd enjoyed the show etc etc.... I asked her about the hair.... She had it cut off about two weeks ago!, said she'd tried a couple of wigs but they didn't look right so the hair had to go!....

She told me about being asked to audition for SOM, I told her I'd love to see her do it and I think she would really love the role too!.... BUT as she said she needs to get this album out!.... she said that she has another 4 songs to record and then its done.... She put it on hold for this three months of Cabaret, Siobhan said she really wanted to do it as it is so different and challenging from other theatre she's done.... So the album is still in production just paused while she does this....

Anyways Siobhan had friends waiting for her and I didn't want to keep her so I thanked her for her time and told her I'd see her again on the tour at some point.... She gave me another hug goodbye and that was it!....

I thought she portrayed Sally very very well.... She was a little sultry and moody in some of her songs which I liked, Maybe this Time, Mein Herr and Cabaret were just fabulous!.... and her acting showed all emotions in the right places!.... Her acting has really come along and I really did enjoy her overall performance..... There were also a lot of people around me at both shows that were commenting on how much they were enjoying Siobhan's performance....

If you get the chance, go see her.... This ONLY a 3 month stint!....

Until next time!....

Bits and Bobs!

It's almost been a week since Siobhan has debuted as Sally Bowles in Birmingham and over the web there have been a few reviews I've scouted out (or should I say have been sent!) So I will have those up for you later on today.

For now there's just a couple pictures to tide you over with!

Here below is a larger version of the Sally Bowles promotional picture.

A couple more pics with Darren from Dancing with the Stars.

And here is a really cool piece of fanart made by Howard Shum. Right away I could tell it was her which makes it even better.

Here's his excerpt "Had it been up to me, I would have chosen Siobhan Dillon to win "How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria?" but alas, the world has yet to succumb and do as I wish. Oh, well, here's her consolation prize, a drawing by me."

Birmingham Article

Yep that's the first official picture of Siobhan as Sally Bowles and if I may quote Zoe Tyler she looks "fan-flippin'-tastic!" I can't tell if she's cut her hair or if it's just a wig, but I'll take a good guess and say wig.

The article is pretty read worthy ranging from being bullied at school to having tea time with the Lord himself! Which I find really amusing to imagine.

Check It Out Here!

Break a leg Siobhan!!!

Happy Birthday!

From the blog, David and I hope Siobhan a wonderful 25th birthday, and hope her next year is filled with surprises, plenty of excitement, and of course lots of music!!!

I look forward to some reviews of her as Sally Bowles in the next few weeks, I'm assuming she's spending today or a better part of it getting prepared for the big day.

Have a great week Siobhan!!