Cruel Intentions: The 90s Musical - The Other Palace

I completely understand that this is objectively terrible and yet I am enjoying the hell out of it. If you remember either the film or 90s pop fondly, definitely go. The cast are doing as well as they possibly could with the material and there is some outstanding singing. Daniel Bravo, Rhianne-Louise McCaulsky and Rose Galbraith are all great.

That venue seems to be cursed with this. When I saw Heathers there it started an hour late due to cast changes last minute. Hopefully it can start soon for you 🤞

How are they nearly a month into this and understudies aren't ready?

Jonathan apologised for this and said they hadn’t been expecting it to be so successful and that since opening things have been a “whirlwind” - there’s probably more to it but we may never know.

No excuse not to have understudies or covers.

I really feel for Verity and the pressure they were under. Most have been so stressful! What about a duty of care towards your cast?

Giving me Paul Taylor Mills / Heathers vibes.

Not here for it. Well done to that cast though.

As I always ask in these situations - were refunds offered?

Yes, the manager at TOP offered refunds as soon as the delay was announced in the foyer. The advice was go to the box office desk.

Not always tbh: some productions do cover runs etc later into the run. I assume this is what happened as Verity was clearly in process of being rehearsed for the role but not 100% ready yet.

I agree it’s less than ideal of course - illnesses and injuries can happen any time.

This show has just been confirmed to be extending, for another 5 weeks until 19 May :-)

I don't know how each show operates on an individual basis, but my friend has covered in numerous shows and sometimes she hasn't had any official rehearsals until after their press night. Personally, I think it makes total sense to have everyone ready at the same time, but maybe they just don't have enough time to rehearse a whole cast and an entire cast of understudies at the same time? Especially with a new show they're creating from scratch  

Saw today's matinee, for the second time, and had an absolute ball!

Verity Thompson was on as Kathryn Merteuil.

Some spoilers follow. . .

I was looking for something cheap and entertaining to fill the matinee slot, so booked "Bronco Billy" last minute for £15 with Todaytix, then promptly got an email it was cancelled at 11am. So I traded the credit for this more expensive Rush show, which Rush was still open, and was charged an extra £9.05 (I guess Todaytix threw me an extra pound as commiseration for the cancellation lol).

Verity Thompson was a fantastic Kathryn! While her belt is modulated and magnificent, it isn't as thrilling as the main Kathryn's, but her performance more than made up for this: she was the T1000 upgrade of sly amoral evil, slinking around like the snake-like Jodie Steele in Heathers, but with more considered maturity, making her seem even more malevolent.

Since all these teen shows are basically bonding morality lessons for the target audience, her slow-building, dark and absolute commitment to Garbage's "I'm only happy when it rains" and Melissa Etheridge's "Im the Only One" really raise the stakes of Valmont's drama, and the importance of the lesson: "Don't be Evil" lol.

As Valmont, Daniel Bravo's distinctive bravura swagger means he remains the West End's most likely future casting as a Prince in a Hallmark movie or a secretly psychopathic boyfriend in a Lifetime movie, but the shocking sudden tenderness he shows in Counting Crows's "Colorblind" (my favourite moment in the show) suggests the former is more likely than the latter lol.

Anyway, the 90s numbers are banging and so brilliantly integrated into the plot, all sounding like either dialogue or monologue, and not the pointless performance of plot-unrelated time-wasters you get in something like Cilla the Musical.

Rose Galbraith and Josh Barnett remain a hoot as the comedy characters, with Galbraith's laugh-out-loud hilarious rendition of Ace of Base's "I Saw the Sign" also serving to remind its target audience that sex is pretty silly, and not to get too het up about it lol.

Abbie Budden, as the unattainable religious Sarah-Brown-from-Guys-and-Dolls-like object of Valmont's desire has developed some terrific chemistry with Bravo, and I found myself tearing up from Natalie Imbruglia's "Torn" onwards, "Colorblind" being the pinnacle of emotion, despite knowing that nothing in a show like this can possibly be taken seriously.

I hadn't planned to see the show again, but I'm delighted to report it's in damn fine shape for a jukebox teen show, and I'd give it 4 stars now.

I had a great time tonight. Full cast was in, which was nice and they're pretty great. I wish this had an original score, though. The songs used are tons of fun and everyone loves them but they only ever TRULY fit in with the story maybe 10% or so of the time and when they start singing a song for absolutely no reason having anything to do with the scene it comes off as insanely lazy. Again, I had a great time overall and would totally see this again but I just wish they would have put a bit more effort into it.

I was at the matinee today and really enjoyed it. Not seen the film for a few years but a lot of the script sounded familiar so it was definitely a lift directly from the film

I did laugh at the “original Katherine” put your phone off announcement at the start of the show. Kudos that they got Sarah Michelle Geller to do this - either it was her or it was a great sound a like

Will definitely go back before it ends. Could see it transferring to somewhere like the Arts Theatre if it gets kicked out of TOP. Think it would get lost in anything bigger than that. It would do well on a tour as well I think

Are we genuinely expected to laugh along with a teenage girl being tricked into loosing her virginity? Horrible.