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Post by Dr Tom on Feb 20, 2020 22:40:06 GMT
Saw an excellent and innovative version of Little Shop of Horrors at LAMDA tonight.
They've moved the setting to a dystopian future, with the Earth having been ravaged by global warning meaning that resources are scarce. The poor people on Skid Row carry an oxygen mask and rely on supplements. Dressed dirty and shabby (at least until their fortunes changed), the only thing that suggested the poverty wasn't as bad as it seemed was a few sets of exceptionally white teeth. Audrey II is innovatively played by a human, starting from just a hand.
LAMDA don't have a musical theatre course, so it's always a treat to see their acting students try a different genre. Some strong vocalists here. Can't really comment on dancing as this isn't much of a dance musical. But great for the students to have another string to their bows. Nate Morley really stole the show as Orin Scrivello, but that's always the best part.
A nice theatre and venue too, just a few minutes walk from the centre of Hammersmith. Sadly this was the last night and wasn't quite sold out, but LAMDA's musicals are always worth a trip.
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Post by FrontroverPaul on Feb 21, 2020 0:55:51 GMT
Just checked the summer productions for Italia Conti for anyone interested. Little Shop of Horrors on Thurs 26 and Fri 27 March. Seven Brides for Seven Brothers on Thurs 2 and Fri 3 April Ticketing doesn't look to be live yet, but is usually through EventBrite On sale now although three out of the four performances of Seven Brides ... are already sold out. Only Thursday evening still available.
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Post by Dr Tom on Feb 22, 2020 19:08:44 GMT
Tracked down the Urdang dates for anyone interested. In The Heights - 21 and 22 February (too late now and unfortunately sold out or I would have gone) Our House - 28 and 29 February (also sold out - but worth checking back) Pippin - 6 and 7 March All are Friday and Saturday, with a matinee and evening performance both days. They're all at the Bernie Grant Art Centre and bookable through that site. All final year students. Unfortunately I can't make those dates, but hope that helps someone. Maybe FrontroverPaul if you have a free Friday afternoon?
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Post by Dr Tom on Feb 22, 2020 21:34:20 GMT
Finally saw Mr Burns this afternoon (well 12:15) at Mountview. This thread should probably be in General Posts, but this is a play with music and Act III is entirely musical, so I hope it fits.
I've not seen this play before but it has always intrigued me. Previous productions have had enough trigger warnings to put me off. Mountview didn't have one, but I was slightly alarmed with a gunshot warning when I arrived. Thankfully this was limited to five quick sounds in Act II, all off stage (although there were more than enough guns being waved around).
Unusually, the Mountview host at the Backstage Theatre was requesting everyone not to film or record when they arrived and again after the interval. Presumably there have been problems. This was the penultimate performance and most of the seats were full.
Seating on three sides of a staging area. Three acts. First two acts before the interval (where we all had to leave so they could replace the set). The third act, very short, came after the interval
As I said earlier, this is more a play with music than musical theatre, but it was performed by the actor musician students, with a lot of talent amongst them.
The play takes as its inspiration one of the best episodes of The Simpsons of all time, but I don't know if all the audience had enough knowledge of The Simpsons (or dated back far enough) to understand this. It concerns a future civilisation where humanity had survived nuclear explosions that wiped out the majority of the world's population, but at the same time had lost all video recordings. At the same time as people fight for survival, groups of people try and recreate their favourite TV and use this to earn a living.
The final act sees a far future forward group combine The Simpsons and their own past to reflect on what brought them to this point. It's a very spiritual and religious performance.
The whole show is flawed and the first act incredibly slow, but this was performed well with lots of talent evident. I'm glad I got the chance to see it. Today was the last performance but Mountview still has a few shows this year and always deliver. If you were alive in the '90s and remember The Simpsons, you'll be shouting out (in your head at least) the memories of this episode. Now I'm determined to track down the original episode to see it for myself (with the rakes safely stored away).
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Post by FrontroverPaul on Feb 23, 2020 1:26:30 GMT
Tracked down the Urdang dates for anyone interested. In The Heights - 21 and 22 February (too late now and unfortunately sold out or I would have gone) Our House - 28 and 29 February (also sold out - but worth checking back) Pippin - 6 and 7 March All are Friday and Saturday, with a matinee and evening performance both days. They're all at the Bernie Grant Art Centre and bookable through that site. All final year students. Unfortunately I can't make those dates, but hope that helps someone. Maybe FrontroverPaul if you have a free Friday afternoon? I could book Pippin but saw an amateur production of that only last Saturday and didn't like it enough to revisit so soon. Like you I would have gone for In the Heights which I haven't seen since the run at the Kings Cross Theatre back in 2016. Was free Friday too. It shows how difficult these college shows can be to track down so please carry on the detective work ! Oklahoma performed by Guildford School Of Acting at the Yvonne Arnaud Theatre this week matched the professional Chichester production and the expanded dream sequence was the best I've ever seen it done.
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Post by matilda1 on Feb 23, 2020 14:51:32 GMT
Love Oklahoma! Any standouts? Anyone to be looking out for in the future?
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Post by FrontroverPaul on Mar 3, 2020 1:30:52 GMT
Can recommend Urinetown at the Royal Central School Of Speech and Drama this week. Not seen it before and really enjoyed it. The cast played it all very much tongue in cheek, the male lead came close to losing it completely a couple of times. Lots of young talent there. Wildly enthusiastic audience creating a great atmosphere with loads of laughs.
Very close to Swiss Cottage tube station, directly opposite Hampstead Theatre, and tickets are only £10, £5 for concessions
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Post by ThereWillBeSun on Mar 9, 2020 15:56:48 GMT
Can recommend Urinetown at the Royal Central School Of Speech and Drama this week. Not seen it before and really enjoyed it. The cast played it all very much tongue in cheek, the male lead came close to losing it completely a couple of times. Lots of young talent there. Wildly enthusiastic audience creating a great atmosphere with loads of laughs. Very close to Swiss Cottage tube station, directly opposite Hampstead Theatre, and tickets are only £10, £5 for concessions I was there on Friday and it was interesting the gender bending aspect for me! Fifth time of seeing it (third drama school grad show) and there were some brave choices!
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Xanderl
Member
Not always very high value in terms of ticket yield or donations
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Post by Xanderl on Mar 11, 2020 8:48:18 GMT
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Post by FrontroverPaul on Mar 12, 2020 0:43:44 GMT
Visited the Bridewell Theatre tonight to see "Something Old, Something New" staged by the Musical Theatre Academy (MTA).
It's a fast moving two hour revue with 26 numbers. They've included songs from Tootsie, The Prom, Something Rotten!, The Band's Visit, I Love You Because, Seesaw, Dreaming Wide Awake, Love Me, Love Me Not and A Gentleman's Guide To Love and Murder, all unfamiliar to me, along with Aida, Legally Blonde, Rent, Spring Awakening, Betty Blue Eyes etc. , finishing with a full company Half A Sixpence medley.
Lots of quick costume changes, mostly top notch vocals and much creative choreography.
I enjoyed it so much I've just booked to see it again on Friday.
The next two MTA musicals at Bridewell will be " The 45th Marvellous Chatterley Village Fete" from June 10th -13th and HG Wells The Time Machine from September 9th -12th.
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Post by Dr Tom on Nov 5, 2021 7:58:32 GMT
Bandstand - ArtsEd
My first student production since the pandemic hit, back in one of the nicest theatre spaces in London (and with a huge stage).
I think this may be the UK debut of Bandstand, which I didn't catch on Broadway. It's a gentle musical, very swing and jazz focused, very character driven.
I saw Gregor Milne as Donny, who barely left the stage, as well as Olivia Saunders as Julia. Both were excellent. As always with ArtsEd, this was a very polished production and they made the most of the big dance numbers.
Not too much to the set. Lots done with projections, as is the modern way of doing things.
As with so many student productions, there is always one slightly camp actor, who has only a few lines, but gets great cheers and claps from the other students in attendance whenever he's on stage. I'm sure that's just some part of the theatre school experience that passed me by.
Very glad I saw this one and that the students are getting to show their talents to real audiences this year.
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Post by robertb213 on Nov 5, 2021 12:12:15 GMT
Wish I'd known this was on, glad it was good!
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Post by ThereWillBeSun on Nov 5, 2021 12:40:11 GMT
Wish I'd known this was on, glad it was good! Spongebob next, sold out bar two matinees!
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Post by Someone in a tree on Nov 5, 2021 12:44:30 GMT
Wish I'd known this was on, glad it was good! I wish I also knew about Le Miz at the Mack theatre as it looks really interesting.
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Post by Theatre Fan on Nov 5, 2021 13:04:41 GMT
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Post by FrontroverPaul on Nov 5, 2021 14:09:11 GMT
Wish I'd known this was on, glad it was good! Same here, I'm sure had bookings for their cancelled 2020 shows so disappointed I wasn't added to an emailing list. Would definitely have booked but tonight* and both tomorrow's are sold out. Same with Les Mis, been to several Mountview shows but college productions don't seem to communicate with previous patrons, will keep checking back. *(Some seats are now available for Bandstand tonight but I'm going to hold off in the hope there is late availabilty tomorrow too)
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Post by Dr Tom on Nov 5, 2021 14:10:50 GMT
I'm at Les Mis for tomorrow's matinee. It was sold out but I kept checking back until a ticket appeared, so it's always worth trying. I got quite lucky with a Spongebob ticket as well. I spotted them the day they went on sale but they were almost sold out then.
We could do with a proper calendar of student productions.
Italia Conti has Pippin, Urinetown and The Wedding Singer coming up if they interest anyone.
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Post by Theatre Fan on Nov 6, 2021 0:20:03 GMT
I'm at Les Mis for tomorrow's matinee. It was sold out but I kept checking back until a ticket appeared, so it's always worth trying. I got quite lucky with a Spongebob ticket as well. I spotted them the day they went on sale but they were almost sold out then. We could do with a proper calendar of student productions. Italia Conti has Pippin, Urinetown and The Wedding Singer coming up if they interest anyone. It's incredible, especially the cast you're going to get to see tomorrow - I did a mad dash from Bristol after someone offered me their spare ticket, to see it a second time lol Enjoy 🇫🇷 x x x
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Post by digne on Nov 6, 2021 1:41:35 GMT
I wish I could see it - maybe I will get very very lucky with a return tomorrow.
Though I'm confused they keep calling it the first contemporary staging when Dallas Theatre Center did it in 2014...
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Post by Theatre Fan on Nov 6, 2021 1:52:22 GMT
I wish I could see it - maybe I will get very very lucky with a return tomorrow. Though I'm confused they keep calling it the first contemporary staging when Dallas Theatre Center did it in 2014... What it was billed as originally, and what it actually is lol the first time a college has been allowed to stage the full production, not the schools edition x
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Post by digne on Nov 6, 2021 10:50:28 GMT
I just managed to get a return for the matinee - one seat left on the website if anyone needs it.
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Post by FrontroverPaul on Nov 6, 2021 12:08:27 GMT
Me too, had to leave my house in Kent immediately after booking and rush to the station but should just make it in time. Slightly stressed out as train is currently going very slowly but really excited. If anything comes up for Bandstand tonight - currently sold out - I'll book that too
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Post by frankubelik on Nov 6, 2021 17:17:50 GMT
When I worked in "the business" over twenty years ago, I was fortunate (or sometimes not) enough to see so many student productions. It gave me the opportunity to see some classic Broadway shows including LITTLE ME, MERRILY, PROMISES, INTO THE WOODS, COMPANY, MAN OF LA MANCHA, BYE BYE BIRDIE and a truly stunning and inventive CABARET directed by Matt Ryan. Happy Days.
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Post by Dr Tom on Nov 7, 2021 20:45:43 GMT
Les Miserables - Mountview
Very much enjoyed this yesterday afternoon, although I suspect if this was a professional production it would get both 1* and 5* reviews.
This was a modern day urban take on the musical, which could never happen in a professional production while this is running in the West End. I can't imagine a Cameron ever allowing a character to sing sitting on a toilet with her knickers down, or the four letter words used getting into the main script (only between the songs, which were kept lyrics untouched). And good to see a few non-traditional relationships highlighted on stage.
There was a nice scaffold effect on three levels which worked well.
This doesn't translate perfectly to the modern day. It is very strange to see people communicating using mobile phones at the start and end, then them suddenly disappearing for the middle section of the show where communication has to be by letter. I do feel some parts were more developed and polished than others, but it is a long show so a lot to work on (3 hours 5 minutes, longer than the West End version).
The vocal performances were mixed, but this is a student production (and probably also an audition for one of the biggest employers of musical theatre students in the West End). Some people didn't sing quite in time with the music, which I presume must have been a deliberate choice as it happened too often to be accidental. Singing in regional UK accents also takes some getting used to.
The highlights in the Claude-Michel cast were Harry Goodson-Bevan as Marius (who could easily be planted straight into the main show), Yazmin King as Eponine and Georgia Mann as Cosette.
My seat in the top level was awful, with a bar in view. But the people near me were masked, unlike most of the audience who just ignored the instructions.
Very glad I got chance to see this. It is a pity alternative stagings like this can't get a bit of further life, even though a few tweaks would be needed.
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Post by danb on Nov 8, 2021 9:11:19 GMT
Ahhh I remember when it was 3 hours long…those were the days. You didn’t get heart palpitations from the tempo and could almost work out who people were before they died. Halcyon days.
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Post by Theatre Fan on Nov 8, 2021 20:08:00 GMT
Some gorgeous production photos have been posted, from the Mountview production of Les Misérables - /?sfnsn=scwspmo
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Post by Dr Tom on Nov 8, 2021 22:17:12 GMT
Some gorgeous production photos have been posted, from the Mountview production of Les Misérables With 217 photos, they're really trying to do their best to showcase the production and everything the students did, but without being able to share any videos or audio.
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Post by FrontroverPaul on Nov 9, 2021 0:33:44 GMT
Les Miserables - MountviewVery much enjoyed this yesterday afternoon, although I suspect if this was a professional production it would get both 1* and 5* reviews. This was a modern day urban take on the musical, which could never happen in a professional production while this is running in the West End. I can't imagine a Cameron ever allowing a character to sing sitting on a toilet with her knickers down, or the four letter words used getting into the main script (only between the songs, which were kept lyrics untouched). And good to see a few non-traditional relationships highlighted on stage. There was a nice scaffold effect on three levels which worked well. This doesn't translate perfectly to the modern day. It is very strange to see people communicating using mobile phones at the start and end, then them suddenly disappearing for the middle section of the show where communication has to be by letter. I do feel some parts were more developed and polished than others, but it is a long show so a lot to work on (3 hours 5 minutes, longer than the West End version). The vocal performances were mixed, but this is a student production (and probably also an audition for one of the biggest employers of musical theatre students in the West End). Some people didn't sing quite in time with the music, which I presume must have been a deliberate choice as it happened too often to be accidental. Singing in regional UK accents also takes some getting used to. The highlights in the Claude-Michel cast were Harry Goodson-Bevan as Marius (who could easily be planted straight into the main show), Yazmin King as Eponine and Georgia Mann as Cosette. My seat in the top level was awful, with a bar in view. But the people near me were masked, unlike most of the audience who just ignored the instructions. Very glad I got chance to see this. It is a pity alternative stagings like this can't get a bit of further life, even though a few tweaks would be needed. I was very lucky on Saturday and got a prime stalls seat for the same matinee you attended. Booked it over the phone at 10.45 and only made it to the theatre by slow trains 15 minutes before curtain up. I sat next to a very nice lady who I think was the current Executive Director of Mountview and my seat had been returned by her. We got chatting before the show started and I mentioned that I had attended previous Mountview musicals, but wasn't notified of this show and almost missed out on seeing it ; she then accompanied me to the box office during the interval and they added me to the emailing list for future shows. She also gave me some background info about how they were able to stage - and change - Les Miserables - very close links to Sir Cameron Mackintosh hence the renamed Mack Theatre. She told me the young man playing M. Thenardier was German which I would never have guessed. I particularly like the performances of both the Thenardiers ( Timo Tatzber and Elspeth Day-Collins) and Madame T was quite a woman ! I had no idea the show was a revised production before curtain up and it was never really made clear exactly what the protests were about. The mass shootings did seem a bit at odds with the present say setting including mobile phones and even a character eating KFC but overall I felt it worked and there was some real talent on stage. I tried to get a ticket for Bandstand in the evening but it was still showing as sold out at 12.30pm and the booking page was removed by 4.10pm. I also tried to book a seat at the evening performance at Mountview - there were two different casts for the main roles - but there were no returns at 4.15 and no guarantee there would be any later so decided to head back home.
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Post by Dr Tom on Nov 15, 2021 14:16:05 GMT
The Wedding Singer - Italia Conti
Another enjoyable show with some good jokes (if you remember the 80s) and some catchy songs.
I caught the Friday matinee and got the pleasure of being selected as "ugly guy" (although personally I think I'm not that bad looking when I have a mask on). All good fun and I was likely one of few audience members not related to anyone in the cast.
This was a final year production, although they're rather hampered by only having four or five male students in the final year (there were five men in the cast, but I think one was a second year). That means there are two sets of female leads, but only one set of male leads. Everyone I saw had a lot of potential, but my cast board photo didn't come out well enough to relay names.
The only other time I've seen this show was in Wembley with Kevin Clifton a while back. A very different cast of 80s tribute acts joining at the end, mostly due to the largely female cast.
One health and safety issue which I hope is being considered for the future. There was a knocked over glass of liquid midway through the second half, forming a puddle on the floor. For the next 20 minutes or so I could see people avoiding it but wondering why no one took the initiative to do anything about it. Finally someone whizzed on with a mop proceeding to extend the water over a much larger slippery area. During the finale, two of the ensemble went down. Thankfully both were okay and just got up and continued.
I've always enjoyed Italia Conti shows and this was no exception. It will be a shame for theatregoers when they move to Woking and the venue just isn't as quick and easy to get to, but it should allow them to upgrade the facilities.
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Post by forevercolours on Nov 18, 2021 19:37:09 GMT
Interesting thread here about the ArtsEd production of Spongebob. Not a good look for them especially after the recent controversy surrounding the actions of some staff members.
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