18,786 posts
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Post by BurlyBeaR on Jun 12, 2017 17:55:57 GMT
See Noticeboard for a member's offer for this Friday.
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5,269 posts
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Post by mrbarnaby on Jun 13, 2017 8:58:20 GMT
Oh dear these made my heart sink. It's going to be their usual cutesy middle of the road music. The glory days of Honk seem a life time ago now.
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2,452 posts
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Post by theatremadness on Jun 13, 2017 11:09:36 GMT
Yes, I agree with MrB and others above. Thought the 2 songs EP played were absolutely fine, but just totally uninspired and it was just a bit deflating, knowing how clever and musically interesting Stiles & Drewe can be.
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5,269 posts
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Post by mrbarnaby on Jun 13, 2017 19:43:46 GMT
I think those days are over sadly. Yes, I agree with MrB and others above. Thought the 2 songs EP played were absolutely fine, but just totally uninspired and it was just a bit deflating, knowing how clever and musically interesting Stiles & Drewe can be.
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2,763 posts
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Post by daniel on Jun 16, 2017 18:21:28 GMT
Anybody else here tonight? I'm in the front section of the Upper - just an FYI for anyone looking at tickets, the handrail is in view for at least the first four rows, with no advance warning on the website or tickets. If you're a purist like me, it'll annoy you!
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Post by Deleted on Jun 16, 2017 18:31:49 GMT
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2,763 posts
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Post by daniel on Jun 16, 2017 19:49:29 GMT
Interval...it's very "meh". Being let down by the music I think. Not a patch on some of Stiles & Drewe's other work.
Book is...okay. Costumes are good, set is good (there's a revolve!).
Casting is very good - every animal has a different accent which I quite like. Strange seeing Simon Lipkin without a puppet.
I'll reflect fully after the show but so far it's 3 stars at best.
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2,763 posts
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Post by daniel on Jun 16, 2017 21:48:57 GMT
So sadly I was left cold by this tonight. It just never quite clicked for me. Maybe it's just me, perhaps I'm not the target market - the design is good, the casting is good, but the book and score just aren't up to scratch. Given how much I loved Sixpence and Poppins, it's a real disappointment from the same team.
Ran pretty much bang on 2.5 hours, no real technical hiccups to note. Mixed reaction from the audience, some clapping and cheering, some more muted.
Programmes £6.50 and are the larger, glossier sort. Assortment of the usual merchandise including t-shirts, mugs and the like. Adverts for the cast recording coming soon.
Worth a watch if at a discount and with a family, but sadly can't really recommend it as anything more than "just okay". 3 stars.
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Post by d'James on Jun 16, 2017 21:54:52 GMT
My friend just posted about it on Facebook and hated it.
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1,936 posts
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Post by wickedgrin on Jun 16, 2017 21:56:37 GMT
Stiles and Drew only added numbers to already hugely successful shows with Poppins and Sixpence. This is entirely their work and so a completely different ball game. I have to say I have never been a fan of their work. Cam Mack seems to rate them highly and has really supported and promoted their career.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 17, 2017 5:03:15 GMT
Ive not see Sixpence but their work in Poppins was flawless and fitted seemlessly into the old songs and stood up against them. Betty Blue Eyes, which admittedly i hated, did have some great songs...its was everything else that let it down. Soho Cinders again has great songs. Their Spoonfull of Stiles and Drewe concert many years back highlighted their great work and the CD is a good reminder. I can definately see why Camerom champions them as they are probably the best the UK has to offer at the moment but they have mever found that big break out solo hit.
I did think they would have been better composers for Charlie and the chocolate factory
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Post by Deleted on Jun 17, 2017 7:39:48 GMT
A solid 3 stars from me. An enjoyable, but unremarkable show, I imagine kids will love it!
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5,269 posts
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Post by mrbarnaby on Jun 17, 2017 21:57:54 GMT
I'm being taken to see it this week and rather dreading it. My friend has paid so I may have to pretend to like it if I'm not enjoying it /
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Post by Honoured Guest on Jun 18, 2017 11:48:34 GMT
Why should you enjoy it? Isn't it intended for children?
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Post by Boob on Jun 18, 2017 15:27:21 GMT
...
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Post by Deleted on Jun 18, 2017 20:52:16 GMT
Went to pre order this on iTunes and its €44.99 !!!!!! (In Ireland so its euros) Is that similar to price being charged in UK?
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6,320 posts
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Post by danb on Jun 18, 2017 20:55:50 GMT
£7.99 on uk itunes.
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18,786 posts
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Post by BurlyBeaR on Jun 18, 2017 20:56:38 GMT
Went to pre order this on iTunes and its €44.99 !!!!!! (In Ireland so its euros) Is that similar to price being charged in UK? It's £7.99 on preorder. Release date 30/6
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Post by Deleted on Jun 18, 2017 22:02:29 GMT
Went to pre order this on iTunes and its €44.99 !!!!!! (In Ireland so its euros) Is that similar to price being charged in UK? It's £7.99 on preorder. Release date 30/6 I See .... Hopefully the price on the Irish iTunes incorrect
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114 posts
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Post by showbizkid on Jun 23, 2017 9:34:59 GMT
So sadly I was left cold by this tonight. It just never quite clicked for me. Maybe it's just me, perhaps I'm not the target market - the design is good, the casting is good, but the book and score just aren't up to scratch. Given how much I loved Sixpence and Poppins, it's a real disappointment from the same team. Ran pretty much bang on 2.5 hours, no real technical hiccups to note. Mixed reaction from the audience, some clapping and cheering, some more muted. Programmes £6.50 and are the larger, glossier sort. Assortment of the usual merchandise including t-shirts, mugs and the like. Adverts for the cast recording coming soon. Worth a watch if at a discount and with a family, but sadly can't really recommend it as anything more than "just okay". 3 stars. I saw this last night and completely agree. Wonderful cast, set, cute story, nice production but it's all a bit boring. 7/10 To delve deeper into the story it actually brings up horrible class issues in British society!!
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26 posts
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Post by phantom1986 on Jun 23, 2017 11:24:19 GMT
Must agree with what has already been said on this. It's quite boring and never takes flight, despite a beautiful set and talented cast. The large group of scouts and brownies behind us seemed almost sedated by the interval. They and a lot of the audience were completely baffled as to what was actually going on.
It's also a shame to see a show in 2017 where all the featured female characters (and there aren't many of them) are depicted as either stupid or boring/worrying mothers. Not a great example to the little girls in the audience. In the age of Frozen and Wonder Woman I thought we'd moved past all of that... a bit of a dud. Avoid.
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571 posts
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Post by westendwendy on Jun 23, 2017 14:27:47 GMT
Denise Welch cannot sing at all and her timing is all over the place. I also thought that she should not have played the barge woman in the second act. Just no reason. I totally agree on the class issues. I found Toad with his big house and posh RP accent and the foxes and weasles with their cockney accents a disgraceful reality check to today's society. The show looks so nice and the costumes and design and music all so sweet but goodness it is a boring musical. The people next to me left at the interval. *** Three stars from me.
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367 posts
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Post by Ade on Jun 23, 2017 21:32:47 GMT
Saw this tonight and it really was a hard slog. It just poodles along and while the sets and some of the music do the job, nothing quite works. Could not stand Rufus Hound as Toad I'm afraid. Wanted to enjoy it but for me it's less Poop Poop and more just plain old poop. I would say the majority of the audience were in the same boat as me - there were some kids next to us who looked bored out of their minds.
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Post by firefingers on Jun 23, 2017 23:06:49 GMT
Already on 40% discount at TKTS...
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5,269 posts
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Post by mrbarnaby on Jun 24, 2017 16:06:55 GMT
Well. That was as flat as a pancake. Why have they even bothered putting this show on? The script is terrible. The music is so middle of the road it makes Gary Barlows music sound positively cutting edge. Not a single song rises above mediocre.
Performance wise the only redeeming feature is Neil McDermott who is pretty terrific, great energy and a real sense of character and not just reciting his lines... unlike pretty much everyone else. The show came alive when he was on stage, when he wasn't..Zzzzzzzzzz
Rufus Hound is meh. Didn't generate a single laugh from anyone sat around us. Talking of which, where is the humour? It's so clinically unfunny.
The only bright spot (Neil McD aside) is the design- some lovely stage pictures, it's the best looking show I've seen at the Palladium for years , not an easy stage to design for.
It did make me feel a warm nostalgic glow though for the glorious NT version years ago. One of my top 5 shows of all time.
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1,936 posts
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Post by wickedgrin on Jun 24, 2017 16:18:27 GMT
Oh yes that NT production and that infamous drum revolve used to it's full capacity. Alan Bennett script if I remember rightly?
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5,269 posts
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Post by mrbarnaby on Jun 24, 2017 17:45:00 GMT
Oh yes that NT production and that infamous drum revolve used to it's full capacity. Alan Bennett script if I remember rightly? Indeed.. and a quite spectacular design. Perhaps the best use ever of that drum revolve.
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851 posts
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Post by longinthetooth on Jun 24, 2017 19:21:37 GMT
I agree with most others here. Thought Rufus Hound was awful, and not at all sure what Denise Welsh was doing there. The whole thing was totally forgettable. However, the kids around me were all as good as gold and totally absorbed in it (either that, or they'd fallen asleep with boredom!), and I heard one mother saying it was wonderful!
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Post by crabtree on Jun 24, 2017 21:18:59 GMT
yep the Bennett NT version was excellent, and hinted at slightly deeper things, especially in the relationship between the four. Ever since a kid, and through professional contact with Toad for many years, I always thought that Toad was the loud gay character, with the others being a little more discreet. But to treat Willows as simply a children's story on one level is so wrong...there is so much going on, especially about the industrialisation of the countryside, that Toad escalates, and the whole relationship between the gentry and the wild wooders. and then the females get very short shrift. And into all this comes Pan, and the Travelling Rat. a lot about male friendship and responsibility going on here.
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5,269 posts
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Post by mrbarnaby on Jun 25, 2017 13:57:38 GMT
yep the Bennett NT version was excellent, and hinted at slightly deeper things, especially in the relationship between the four. Ever since a kid, and through professional contact with Toad for many years, I always thought that Toad was the loud gay character, with the others being a little more discreet. But to treat Willows as simply a children's story on one level is so wrong...there is so much going on, especially about the industrialisation of the countryside, that Toad escalates, and the whole relationship between the gentry and the wild wooders. and then the females get very short shrift. And into all this comes Pan, and the Travelling Rat. a lot about male friendship and responsibility going on here. Yep. All of which this version doesn't even bother with.
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