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Post by robertb213 on Sept 15, 2023 10:25:52 GMT
Feelings aren't facts...3 stars is VERY generous x For someone who disliked the show so much, you certainly enjoy being on this thread! Thank you, been holding my tongue from saying this too!
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Post by mrbarnaby on Sept 15, 2023 10:29:52 GMT
The tickets were booked months ago, so I'm going. Very happy to be surprised - one lives in hope. Not sure why you are bothering quite honestly.
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Post by max on Sept 15, 2023 10:35:12 GMT
Intriguing that this venue opened with 'Marvellous' a biographical story of challenge and moving forward vigorously despite/because. In both shows the biographical subject took to the stage or waved from the audience (though I don't imagine it'll be most nights with TLBT).
A new facet of immersive theatre in which the audience are invested in 'the real'. Or some may feel trapped by an onus on them to not puncture it. Some form of immersiveness, and/or bound-in buy-in feels key to most new shows finding success right now.
Either way, it shows what accessible building/stage design can open up for artists and stories in the West End.
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Post by BurlyBeaR on Sept 15, 2023 10:36:13 GMT
Members personal motivations for seeing this or any show are nobody else’s business and certainly not something they have to justify. Also I’m sure many of us have booked to see things that have potential to be very good or a total car crash so why not just let people get on with it?
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Post by anthony40 on Sept 15, 2023 10:44:08 GMT
Whilst the show may have divided board members on this forum, it's good to see the praise for Amy Trigg- that was the girl in the wheelchair.
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Post by Roxie on Sept 15, 2023 11:01:09 GMT
I went to see this on Tues and I LOVED it!! I thought it was funny, thought provoking, moving. I of course loved Linzi Hateley in it, but everyone was amazing! Alasdair Harvey was great. As someone who has been through (albeit different) life changing trauma this year, it does accurately portray how we as humans react. How you can see the 'old' version of yourself and letting go of that. I especially thought the effect of when the Dr was delivering bad news and the tunnel echoey effect started was effective cos it does feel like that! I'm hoping to make a return trip before it closes!
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Post by Roxie on Sept 15, 2023 11:05:28 GMT
Whilst the show may have divided board members on this forum, it's good to see the praise for Amy Trigg- that was the girl in the wheelchair. She was INCREDIBLE!
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Post by BVM on Sept 15, 2023 11:08:08 GMT
Members personal motivations for seeing this or any show are nobody else’s business and certainly not something they have to justify. Also I’m sure many of us have booked to see things that have potential to be very good or a total car crash so why not just let people get on with it? I think that's a slight stretch to be honest. I you are posting on a public forum, it's understandable people will react to what you say/may want to know more. I do apologise if my post came across as insensitive, that wasn't my intention. I guess I wrote too quickly on a visceral reaction so I'm sorry lonlad for that. And I do agree with the part that people do not have to justify anything. But if someone says on a forum that something sounds absolutely ghastly AND that they are going - I do think you can ask why?! Isn't that the fabled discussion of a discussion forum? (Though you're right; they are under no obligation to reply...)
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Post by usbuzzer on Sept 15, 2023 11:14:21 GMT
Members personal motivations for seeing this or any show are nobody else’s business and certainly not something they have to justify. Also I’m sure many of us have booked to see things that have potential to be very good or a total car crash so why not just let people get on with it? I think that's a slight stretch to be honest. I you are posting on a public forum, it's understandable people will react to what you say/may want to know more. I do apologise if my post came across as insensitive, that wasn't my intention. I guess I wrote too quickly on a visceral reaction so sorry for that. And I do agree with the part that people do not have to justify anything. But if someone says on a forum that something sounds absolutely ghastly AND that they are going - I do think you can ask why?! Isn't that the fabled discussion of a discussion forum? (Though you're right; they are under no obligation to reply...) I sometimes see shows that probably won't be to my liking just because I'm a fan of the topic + I'm interested in business/social part of the theatre as well. What do people like? What is trending? What could be referenced in the future productions? Additionally, bad theatre makes you appreciate good theatre more, so I sometimes go for this as well .
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Post by intoanewlife on Sept 15, 2023 11:19:21 GMT
4 stars from The Standard and 5 stars from WOS I have to say, it sounds ghastly so will go tomorrow night with minimal expectations and hope to be surprised: spurious sentimental uplift is so wearing. Why on earth are you going? Do you have money to burn? Why don’t you pick something else you think you’ll like? Don’t think I’ve ever booked to see something that “sounds ghastly.” It's on every paper site, you can practicly go for free.
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Post by intoanewlife on Sept 15, 2023 11:20:22 GMT
For someone who disliked the show so much, you certainly enjoy being on this thread! Thank you, been holding my tongue from saying this too! *cough Strange Loop
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Post by intoanewlife on Sept 15, 2023 11:25:43 GMT
Feelings aren't facts...3 stars is VERY generous x For someone who disliked the show so much, you certainly enjoy being on this thread! I view and post in lots of threads. Are you the thread police?
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Post by capybara on Sept 15, 2023 11:32:04 GMT
Thought this was a fantastic piece of new musical theatre. Really enjoyed the two Henry’s interactions, as well as with some of the wider cast.
Yes, the book could be tighter and less sitcom-y but it didn’t affect my overall enjoyment of the show.
I can definitely see why some people, including theatre critics, may not enjoy it. Often newspaper critics view musicals (Next to Normal, Bonnie & Clyde, etc) as plays with the score as a minor inconvenience.
But for people who live and breathe musicals, I think most will enjoy this.
Five stars (and I wasn’t expecting that!).
I also think it’s absolutely fair enough for people to not like a show but why bang on about it, especially when you haven’t even seen it? Or can’t give a proper critique beyond snide comments? If we all liked the same stuff it would be bloody boring but seriously, grow up, it’s a bit childish.
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Post by robertb213 on Sept 15, 2023 11:37:03 GMT
Thank you, been holding my tongue from saying this too! *cough Strange Loop Yeah, I posted maybe twice saying it was dreadful and then left the thread alone. You're returning to this thread to continually slate the show, it's unnecessary. You didn't like it, we get it.
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Post by shownut on Sept 15, 2023 12:03:52 GMT
3 stars from The Telegraph
2 stars from The Independent
Not at all surprised that it isn't faring well with critics but glad to agree with most of them for once.
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Post by alece10 on Sept 15, 2023 13:08:23 GMT
Worth noting that this is the first new British musical to come into the west end with no out of town tryout for years, and the theatre is the first westend theatre with good backstage access for wheelchair users so we should praise both of those points.
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Post by shownut on Sept 15, 2023 13:25:37 GMT
Worth noting that this is the first new British musical to come into the west end with no out of town tryout for years, and the theatre is the first westend theatre with good backstage access for wheelchair users so we should praise both of those points. I am glad there is a theatre/stage fully accessable to wheelchair access. Yes, that should be celebrated. I am not glad to have sat through this deeply flawed show so won't praise it's lack of a tryout or the fact that, once again, new British writers aiming to write a hit musical, have laid an egg.
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Post by Jon on Sept 15, 2023 13:31:09 GMT
I see certain people are looking down on British creatives as usual.
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Post by intoanewlife on Sept 15, 2023 13:55:44 GMT
I see certain people are looking down on British creatives as usual. Actually every criticism I have of this show I have of Next to Normal which isn't British. If the creatives behind both had spent more time writing decent material instead of trying to manipulate the audience with cheap parlour tricks, both shows would be much better off. I actually think there is a great show in this one somewhere and being overly positive about something that really isn't very good doesn't help anyone.
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Post by shownut on Sept 15, 2023 14:10:27 GMT
I see certain people are looking down on British creatives as usual. That would be me and yes, I absolutely do have a dismissive view of British creatives in terms of musicals. I would love nothing more than to find British writers whom I am convinced know the craft and can deliver close to top-notch musical theatre. Aside from LONDON ROAD, SIX and TAMMY FAYE, I can think of no other home-grown British musicals over the past decade or so that didn't make me wince at its lack of skill in terms of score, lyrics, structure or all three combined. THE LITTLE BIG THINGS was, to me, a text-book example of bad to mediocre writing dressed up as 'the next big thing'. The idea was great, the delivery was not. Musicals are capable of more than manufactured emotions and sitcom-level characterisations. Yet, this is what British writers give us again and again and again. I had no intention of seeing this show as I had sworn off new British musicals after constant disappointments. Like a fool, I took the comments here as a sign that there might be a change in the air and booked a ticket. Lesson learned.
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Post by usbuzzer on Sept 15, 2023 14:10:27 GMT
I see certain people are looking down on British creatives as usual. Actually every criticism I have of this show I have of Next to Normal which isn't British. If the creatives behind both had spent more time writing decent material instead of trying to manipulate the audience with cheap parlour tricks, both shows would be much better off. I actually think there is a great show in this one somewhere and being overly positive about something that really isn't very good doesn't help anyone. What are the examples of shows which are not manipulating the audience emotionally, but still achieve the emotional impact? Genuine question as I believe Next to Normal is superior to TLBT in terms of the script, cleverness and emotions and can't really think of a better musical drama.
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Post by max on Sept 15, 2023 14:24:56 GMT
Good to see the appreciation for Amy Trigg. I remember seeing her in graduate shows at Mountview where she was on the Musical Theatre course - the first wheelchair user to graduate from a performance course at Mountview.
If she's new to you... She's also a writer, and was joint winner of the inaugural Women's Prize for Play Writing, and has been developing broadcast writing skills as part of the BBC Writersroom 'TV Drama Writers' scheme, and developing scripts for Radio Drama.
Her first play / one woman show 'Reasons You Should(nt) Love Me.' was acclaimed at The Kiln.
So new fans are going to see and hear lots more from her.
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Post by anthony40 on Sept 15, 2023 14:29:56 GMT
She was also in the second Mamma Mia! film in the Waterloo sequence.
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Post by intoanewlife on Sept 15, 2023 14:47:38 GMT
Actually every criticism I have of this show I have of Next to Normal which isn't British. If the creatives behind both had spent more time writing decent material instead of trying to manipulate the audience with cheap parlour tricks, both shows would be much better off. I actually think there is a great show in this one somewhere and being overly positive about something that really isn't very good doesn't help anyone. What are the examples of shows which are not manipulating the audience emotionally, but still achieve the emotional impact? Genuine question as I believe Next to Normal is superior to TLBT in terms of the script, cleverness and emotions and can't really think of a better musical drama. Any of the good ones...just tell me the story WELL, don't tell me how I should feel about it with cheesy manipulations. NTN is superior to this without question, but it too suffered from a very generic score and some odd writing/directorial choices. In both shows I felt I knew more about how the family was feeling, as opposed to the actual person the show is about. Both shows need some decent dialogue scenes which let us know how these people were feeling beyond their actions or appearance. I mean why is the sons story done the way it is in NTN instead of just telling us what happened. Why is he a teenager who simply MUST have a generic 'rock' score? Has she done this 'his' whole life? If so why? That is not a symptom of depression or bi-polar, so what else is wrong with her? I think the stories of both shows are strong enough and speak for themselves, but instead of decent dialogue scenes, we get endless exposition about stuff that isn't even important or in NTN we get the reactions of those around her. I mean was Henry's biggest struggle really that he couldn't let his old self go as that is literally all I got from him. Instead of seeing anything that went into his swift 'recovery' (apart from a quippy doctor) which must've been extremely difficult, we see his brothers or his family doing random stuff. We see nothing of him becoming an artist, but we see his mother go out and get drunk on Monopoly night. It tries way too hard to please the crowd, instead of simply telling us the story which would've been way more emotional.
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Post by robertb213 on Sept 15, 2023 16:35:15 GMT
In fairness, I think one of the aims of TLBT is that Henry Fraser wanted to show what the family went through following the accident and how their actions helped him, which is probably why the focus is often on them more than Henry himself.
I will say that the hyperbolic bloggers really need to calm down on their OTT gushing, this was a lovely warm-hearted show but it's certainly not the life-changing earth-shattering masterpiece some are making it out to be!
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Post by alece10 on Sept 15, 2023 17:19:03 GMT
ITV London news just had a nice little feature about the show with an interview with Henry and couple of very short clips from the musical. The presenter introduced it as a stage play but later said it was a musical.
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Post by westendfan1 on Sept 15, 2023 20:50:37 GMT
Isn't it interesting how a quick flick through this thread would make you think there was a pretty even split between those who loved this show and those who really didn't? Yet if you look at the star ratings, 32 have rated it 4 or 5 stars (with 19 5 stars!), 10 have given it a middling 3 stars, and a mere 3 have rated it 1 or 2 stars. Perhaps those who hated it shout louder?
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Post by shownut on Sept 15, 2023 20:57:21 GMT
Perhaps.
And maybe because some of us bought tickets based on the raves here and found it was not a good show, we have a lot to say about it?
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Post by ThereWillBeSun on Sept 15, 2023 21:23:30 GMT
Good to see the appreciation for Amy Trigg. I remember seeing her in graduate shows at Mountview where she was on the Musical Theatre course - the first wheelchair user to graduate from a performance course at Mountview. If she's new to you... She's also a writer, and was joint winner of the inaugural Women's Prize for Play Writing, and has been developing broadcast writing skills as part of the BBC Writersroom 'TV Drama Writers' scheme, and developing scripts for Radio Drama. Her first play / one woman show 'Reasons You Should(nt) Love Me.' was acclaimed at The Kiln. So new fans are going to see and hear lots more from her. I saw Amy in the RSC Shrew at the Barbican, then a live stream of her one woman show... then Medea. She is brilliant to watch and a talent. Hope she continues to thrive. Happy for her.
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Post by gmoneyoutlaw on Sept 15, 2023 21:45:39 GMT
Perhaps. And maybe because some of us bought tickets based on the raves here and found it was not a good show, we have a lot to say about it? I always want to experience it for myself. I love both popular shows and those more challenging
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