Post by Dr Tom on Nov 25, 2021 13:46:32 GMT
I caught the first night of the UK tour last night in Wimbledon. A great seat at the end of the front row in a very full theatre.
Let's face it. The show has toured for years and is like a well-oiled machine. Almost everything last night was very polished. There were a couple of minor microphone issues and line flubs and some backstage bangs, but nothing really noticeable. The single biggest problem was someone in the second row whose seat was faulty, then a whole parade of people trying to fix it during an extended interval (before he was eventually moved to another seat).
I also saw the first night of the current West End production and I enjoyed the tour version so much more. Essentially it's the same production, but the sound quality in Wimbledon is so much better and the sound edits less obvious. I was sat close to a speaker too, which was helpful for drowning out the woman singing behind me.
I really liked Michael Pickering, who is playing Frankie Valli, but all the cast were excellent (especially those moving seamlessly between multiple roles with a range of different wigs to content with). Lewis Griffiths, who has been Nick Massi now for many years (possibly longer than the real Nick Massi ever toured for) was excellent too. Blair Gibson is a great Bob Gaudio, having previously played the role on the cruise ship version. Then there's Dalton Wood as Tommy Devito, who really has to hold the show together from the first moment on stage. Then there was George Salmon, making his professional debut as Joe Pesci, who made sure he got every swear word out there to maximum effect.
A thoroughly deserved standing ovation at the end for the whole cast. I'm not in a rush to see the West End production again (although hopefully they have sorted the sound quality by now), but I would certainly go back to see the touring cast.
Let's face it. The show has toured for years and is like a well-oiled machine. Almost everything last night was very polished. There were a couple of minor microphone issues and line flubs and some backstage bangs, but nothing really noticeable. The single biggest problem was someone in the second row whose seat was faulty, then a whole parade of people trying to fix it during an extended interval (before he was eventually moved to another seat).
I also saw the first night of the current West End production and I enjoyed the tour version so much more. Essentially it's the same production, but the sound quality in Wimbledon is so much better and the sound edits less obvious. I was sat close to a speaker too, which was helpful for drowning out the woman singing behind me.
I really liked Michael Pickering, who is playing Frankie Valli, but all the cast were excellent (especially those moving seamlessly between multiple roles with a range of different wigs to content with). Lewis Griffiths, who has been Nick Massi now for many years (possibly longer than the real Nick Massi ever toured for) was excellent too. Blair Gibson is a great Bob Gaudio, having previously played the role on the cruise ship version. Then there's Dalton Wood as Tommy Devito, who really has to hold the show together from the first moment on stage. Then there was George Salmon, making his professional debut as Joe Pesci, who made sure he got every swear word out there to maximum effect.
A thoroughly deserved standing ovation at the end for the whole cast. I'm not in a rush to see the West End production again (although hopefully they have sorted the sound quality by now), but I would certainly go back to see the touring cast.
