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Post by david on Sept 11, 2018 23:26:23 GMT
Having watched tonight’s performance at the Liverpool Empire, I can categorically say this tour is a definite improvement on the last one which I thought was actually the worst one I’ve seen for this musical. The fact that Bill Kenwright has actually employed a proper band to play the music really helps recreate that Bee Gees vibe of those iconic songs that was so lacking in the last tour.
The use of the “Bee Gees” to sing the songs in my opinion had mixed results. For the big disco numbers like Stayin Alive and Night Fever it worked really well and you got a real sense of being in a 70s disco and the 3 guys doing the singing really where great to listen to, however where this approach didn’t quite work for me was in those songs with real emotional depth like If I Can’t Have You and Tragedy as the actors where singing along with the Bee Gees and as a result I felt that the impact of these songs was lost in the narrative of the story and you couldn’t get any emotional connection with the characters as a direct result. Personally I would like to have kept these as solo’s to get the angst and despair of the characters during these songs. Though apart from watching Dirty Dancing, this is the first musical where I haven’t seen the lead actor sing anything, even during the ensemble numbers. When various cast members did sing, they did a decent job, I just would of liked to of heard a bit more from them.
With the musical numbers, all the SNF album songs are there, though in this tour Disco Duck is not included but you get Too Much Heaven as a replacement song. Of course you do get the obligatory megamix at the end which is good fun.
The setting is very minimal, though the metal staircases get used a lot in various guises during the 2.5hr show. Though at least they have got the lighted up dance floor. This production must have some of the biggest disco balls around. It would definitely hurt if they fell on you.
The dancing i thought was ok, but nothing special. For me, the best dancing came from the Spanish dancers.
One thing I did notice at tonight’s performance was how quiet the audience was throughout the whole show. There was no singing or clapping along, not even doing the dance moves to Tragedy. I’ve watched SNF the musical both on tour and in the WE and this is the first time it’s happened. It was only at the megamix end did they come alive and every time Richard Winsor took off his shirt giving a number of shouts of approval for his well toned body.
I think it was mentioned in a previous post that the Bee Gee guys didn’t get a chance to get a stage bow at the end. This hasn’t altered in tonight’s show which is a shame as I thought they deserved to get that show of appreciation by the audience rather than staying on the balacony where they sing.
Anyway, not a bad night out and a respectable version of an iconic film.
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Post by Dr Tom on Sept 12, 2018 7:18:56 GMT
A belated report from Wimbledon last Friday, where the crowd took the opportunity to spread out around the empty seats.
It was perfectly fine and inoffensive entertainment. By inoffensive, I mean easy to watch and with known music (there is swearing etc).
I was on the front row (good view) and one of the show groupies was sat a few seats along. She insisted we all got up to dance for the megamix.
I did see the last tour from rear stalls and remember very little about it. The set for this one looked very similar, but the overall show as better. The main change that worked was having the Bee Gees singing (although they did change it up in the second half as one played a guitar). Occasionally, other members of the cast joined in, although generally the sound didn't change, so I presume their microphones weren't turned on.
Richard Winsor was good. The groupie said he'd been nervous earlier in the week, but he looked fine. The main reaction was when he took his shirt off.
The audience were generally good. Lots of quiet talking to one another, which normally annoys me, but as the audience was so spread out, it didn't bother me as much.
A loud shriek of laughter at the end of Tragedy, which rather destroyed the mood of what was meant to be an emotional moment. For the associated consequential scene, the crash mat was very obvious.
And Michael Cortez turned out to be in it, which is a nice treat.
It will never be a particularly strong show, but very watchable in its current incarnation.
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Post by SageStageMgr on Sept 12, 2018 16:34:28 GMT
every time Richard Winsor took off his shirt giving a number of shouts of approval for his well toned body. . Did the rest of the audience join in? |
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Post by david on Sept 12, 2018 17:19:56 GMT
every time Richard Winsor took off his shirt giving a number of shouts of approval for his well toned body. . Did the rest of the audience join in? Thankfully no. I don’t think everyone was drunk enough to even try it! |
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Post by SageStageMgr on Sept 12, 2018 22:10:30 GMT
Did the rest of the audience join in? Thankfully no. I don’t think everyone was drunk enough to even try it! Ha! Ace return, server has no answer... |
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Post by stevejohnson678 on Sept 16, 2018 9:26:35 GMT
I was disappointed with this yesterday at the Liverpool Empire where members of the audience seemed to be stifling fits of the giggles for much of act two, with one person feeling that the appropriate response to a character committing suicide was shrieks of hysterical laughter.
The show starts promisingly enough with a run of classic Bee Gees hits. However, about twenty minutes into act one the songs dry up for what felt like an eternity as the story drags, devoid of fun, littered with unnecessary F-bombs and endless scene changes. It never really regains its momentum until the finale of each act and briefly at the start of act two.
While the full company numbers initially dazzle, the choreography is pretty similar for every routine so eventually becomes quite repetitive. Nevertheless, it was a welcome relief every time the full company appeared on the stage and the clunky, laboured dialogue was briefly put to one side for a high energy number.
There's certainly some great dancers in the ensemble, particularly Jess Ellen, Olivia Kate Holding and Aimee Moore, while the vocals of Edward Handoll, Alastair Hill and Matt Faull as the Bee Gees are outstanding, with Kate Parr their match in a terrific rendition of What Kind of Fool.
Richard Winsor is okay as Tony, he dances well enough but never looks entirely comfortable and doesn't really have the charisma that's a pre-requisite for the role.
Overall, while there's some great moments in there, I found the production as a whole a fairly unsatisfying experience. When you're leaving a jukebox musical feeling strangely deflated, you know the show has failed to hit the mark.
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Post by danb on Sept 16, 2018 11:07:24 GMT
Are ‘Nights On Broadway’ and ‘If I Can’t Have You’ still in there?
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Post by stevejohnson678 on Sept 16, 2018 11:24:10 GMT
Are ‘Nights On Broadway’ and ‘If I Can’t Have You’ still in there? They sure are. If I Can't Have You is one of the handful of songs where another member of the cast gets to share the lead vocals with the Bee Gees. |
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Post by danb on Sept 16, 2018 11:40:26 GMT
Are ‘Nights On Broadway’ and ‘If I Can’t Have You’ still in there? They sure are. If I Can't Have You is one of the handful of songs where another member of the cast gets to share the lead vocals with the Bee Gees. Well then I might give it a go. I think the wafer thin plot stands or falls on the size of the dance numbers propping it up. Is the ensemble big enough to fill the stage, especially now that they don’t need to do the hustle with a trombone in their hand? |
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Post by stevejohnson678 on Sept 16, 2018 12:07:06 GMT
They sure are. If I Can't Have You is one of the handful of songs where another member of the cast gets to share the lead vocals with the Bee Gees. Well then I might give it a go. I think the wafer thin plot stands or falls on the size of the dance numbers propping it up. Is the ensemble big enough to fill the stage, especially now that they don’t need to do the hustle with a trombone in their hand? Yes, it's a fair sized cast, so no scrimping from Kenwright from that perspective, although the number of staircases in the set means that the dance floor might be rather squashed on stages which aren't as vast as the Empire. |
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Post by BurlyBeaR on Jan 24, 2019 22:44:51 GMT
Well I very much enjoyed this tonight. It’s not going to win any awards but it’s a fun night out and delivers in most of the areas you want it to. Richard Winsor carries it all along efficiently and has some decent moves albeit a bit clumsy in the more balletic bits. There’s a “contemporary daaaance” (my bête noire) sequence that’s shoehorned in for some inexplicable reason which totally doesn’t work. The rest of the boys are suitably butch in their tight polyester flares and Father Frank’s bum is something to behold. I’ll be stalking Marios Nicolaides on twitter later.
Female leads not so good. Annette was bland AF and that very emotional snot-nosed speech by Stefanie in the film where she confesses to all of her insecurities “he helps me, he HELPS me” is totally thrown away by Kate Parr. It makes you realise how good that film was, and how well it was acted.
So what remains now is all about the music and those amazing disco tracks. The Bee Gee boys are really good and set the tone perfectly throughout. They DO get their moment at the end and quite right too. Sadly A Fifth Of Beethoven is forever spoiled for me by Glee’s Warblers mash up with Get You Alone. Whenever I hear “DA DA DA DAAAAH” I want to do a Darren Criss (in every sense) and launch into “Baby Guuurl where you at...”.
Great fun ⭐️⭐️⭐️
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Post by mrbarnaby on Jan 24, 2019 22:59:40 GMT
What has happened to Richard Winsor? He used to be so handsome but he just looks gaunt in the pictures
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Post by BurlyBeaR on Jan 24, 2019 23:27:36 GMT
Nothing. He’s very sexy in real life.
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Post by grannyjx6 on Feb 28, 2019 19:58:14 GMT
I saw it this afternoon and pretty much agree with all the reviews. It did get a bit boring in the first half and I said to my husband if I hadn't watched Richard Winsor (avidly) in Casualty every week when he played Cal, I would have said he couldn't act. It did improve later, although the story was hard to follow volume wise, maybe because I was sitting in the gods and to be honest don't actually remember it from way back.
After a dodgy first 20-30 minutes I ended up really enjoying it, especially the finale.
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Post by justfran on Mar 7, 2019 21:54:37 GMT
Saw the matinee today in Newcastle and overall enjoyed the show. Richard Winsor was an excellent dancer and did have a good stage presence, though he did have a funny “resting face” I thought. I can only guess he was trying to look cool and laidback as the character perhaps? I agree that the contemporary dance didn’t really fit in the show. It did feel like the routines were repetitive and maybe it was just the venue but the dancefloor looked quite small, which was a shame as the ensemble would have looked even better if they had more space. The 3 Bee Gees were great singers and glad they got their own round of applause- might have been better to have them come down to the front of the stage. Audience cheering when Richard was getting changed and putting on *thee suit* was a bit inappropriate I thought since other actors were singing at the time. Accents were ok, a bit *New Yawk* and not totally convincing. A bit too much swearing but didn’t affect my enjoyment as I thought it might. I do love a megamix at the end of shows. A fun afternoon out 😊
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Post by peggysue on Mar 8, 2019 9:45:49 GMT
Saw the show yesterday afternoon and really enjoyed it. Agree with poster above about Richard Winsor being a very good dancer but he did lack that extra bit of sparkle to make him really stand out from the rest. I would have preferred to see it at the Sunderland Empire which has a far bigger stage and would have highlighted the dancing better. The Bee Gees were brilliant and should have been given the chance to take their bows at end at front of stage. 3* from me
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Post by Dr Tom on Jun 1, 2019 18:17:22 GMT
I see the production is touring again from 6 August. A new cast by the look of it, as Michael Cortez is going into Joseph, the Bill Kenwright site says "photos of previous cast" and none of the venues have any cast details.
Some smaller venues such as Coventry, so they might be booking a "name", but just curious if anyone has heard anything?
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Post by BurlyBeaR on Jun 1, 2019 18:27:00 GMT
Storyhouse Chester are advertising it as Richard Winsor.
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Post by Sean on Jun 1, 2019 21:26:59 GMT
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Post by Dr Tom on Jun 1, 2019 23:53:29 GMT
Storyhouse Chester are advertising it as Richard Winsor. It was confirmed last week that Richard Winsor is back in the role. Thank you both, obviously I chose the wrong venues to check in my sample. Will still be interesting to see who the rest of the cast are and how many are returning from the previous tour. |
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Post by stevejohnson678 on Sept 24, 2021 16:38:03 GMT
Saturday Night Fever is at the Peacock Theatre from 1 Feb - 26 March 2022.
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Post by danb on Sept 28, 2021 12:52:11 GMT
Saturday Night Fever is at the Peacock Theatre from 1 Feb - 26 March 2022. Do we assume that the tour is going back out, with this sit down? |
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Post by TallPaul on Sept 28, 2021 13:08:14 GMT
From the Peacock website:
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Post by marob on Sept 28, 2021 13:10:59 GMT
Saturday Night Fever is at the Peacock Theatre from 1 Feb - 26 March 2022. Do we assume that the tour is going back out, with this sit down? From the Peacock/Sadler’s Wells website: “Saturday Night Fever returns to London’s West End for 8 weeks only as part of a national tour throughout 2022.” www.sadlerswells.com/whats-on/saturday-night-fever/Is that Adam Garcia under all the photoshopping? |
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Post by TallPaul on Sept 28, 2021 13:18:01 GMT
Bill Kenwright's image  The Peacock's image  |
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Post by danb on Sept 28, 2021 14:37:36 GMT
Still no clearer then! 😂 I don’t ‘think’ that is the same face? Will there be an orchestra this time or just a tape and a couple of horns piping up every now and then? Will they shell out for a huge bridge to dance on/jump off? A giant light up dance floor? Or just put everything on a giant screen? Exciting. I like this show despite it’s general awfulness. I blame Tara Wilkinson & Anita Louise Coombe’s ‘Nights on Broadway’!!! I live in hope that something will match that but it rarely happens. Kym Marsh was quite good in at at the Apollo Vic a few (at least 15!) years back.
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Post by TallPaul on Sept 28, 2021 16:47:23 GMT
When it comes to casting Tony, there is of course only one man for the job. Any plans for spring 2022 our david? 🙂 |
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Post by david on Sept 28, 2021 17:21:35 GMT
When it comes to casting Tony, there is of course only one man for the job. Any plans for spring 2022 our david ? 🙂 Funnily enough TallPaul , I'm getting some new clobber sorted out just in case I get the call and I'm working on some new dance routines as we speak. I'm watching SCD to get some ideas.danb - My first trip to the Palladium was watching SNF from the front row of the stalls. Ben Richards was Tony when I saw it. An absolutely fantastic production and sound in that wonderful auditorium for me has never been beaten in any of the other versions I've seen over the years either at the Vic Apollo or on tour. I'd love that staging and musical arrangement to go back on tour in the future. |
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Post by BurlyBeaR on Sept 29, 2021 6:32:25 GMT
Is this the Kenwright anniversary production?
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Post by marob on Sept 29, 2021 12:03:39 GMT
I’d assume so as it’s pretty much the same artwork as the Richard Winsor tour a couple of years back, but with people added in the background.
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