270 posts
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Post by littlesally on May 22, 2017 0:02:23 GMT
We were in the really cheap gallery side seats. The sound was perfect. Having seen MCF twice and Broadway twice with CE I have to say this blew us away. Cynthia E is unique. And unparalleled. Which is why the different take we saw tonight worked so well for MW. She made the role her own and owned it. Having seen four Shug's now Rachel equalled Heather H. High paise indeed. For a concert this ticked every box and proved that there is s market for a full production in the WE.
Bring it on!
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4,458 posts
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Post by poster J on May 22, 2017 7:30:03 GMT
We were in the really cheap gallery side seats. The sound was perfect. Which side of the gallery - from where I was sat in the cheap side gallery seats the sound balance was woeful in Act 1! I don't agree that this concert proves there is a market for this show in the West End though - for one, there were a fair few empty seats and quite a few others clearly filled by friends and family of the performers and organisers, and also we've quite recently had a revival that was so different and groundbreaking in terms of the history of the show that it doesn't need to be repeated anytime soon. There are plenty of other shows crying out for a revival before we get TCP back, and I think even if we did it would likely struggle unless it was at the Menier or another smaller venue. And I'm saying that as someone who loves the show.
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Post by Deleted on May 22, 2017 8:58:00 GMT
We were in the really cheap gallery side seats. The sound was perfect. Which side of the gallery - from where I was sat in the cheap side gallery seats the sound balance was woeful in Act 1! I don't agree that this concert proves there is a market for this show in the West End though - for one, there were a fair few empty seats and quite a few others clearly filled by friends and family of the performers and organisers, and also we've quite recently had a revival that was so different and groundbreaking in terms of the history of the show that it doesn't need to be repeated anytime soon. There are plenty of other shows crying out for a revival before we get TCP back, and I think even if we did it would likely struggle unless it was at the Menier or another smaller venue. And I'm saying that as someone who loves the show. I'm not arguing your point haha, but it should be noted the seats by the veey front wall were not put on sale at all, so they were empty or filled by friends of people. The Stalls did look pretty much full, I didn't see a single empty seat. But obviously you had a more clear view of the full stalls. I agree a one night concert doesn't atomatically prove anything, but I think the right venue and right promotional campaign it couls work a limited run, sure. Plus the audience last night made enough noise most theatres double in size don't make haha.
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4,158 posts
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Post by HereForTheatre on May 22, 2017 9:30:09 GMT
Yes it was a very loud audience. I enjoy that though.
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Post by Deleted on May 22, 2017 9:38:42 GMT
Anyone reading this who wasn't there though, at least from my experience, the audience was very respectual and bar a couple of times mid song, cheered and went crazy only at the end of numbers.
The funniest thing, I don't know if it was just me who found it funny, was that the appaluse for the entry at Act I and Act II was hilarious. The Ensemble would come on and people would clap and cheer, then stop. Then the conductor would come on and it would happen again and stop. And then the cadt would come on and it would happen again and then the Act would begin. I don't know why I found it so funny, it was just because we kept stopping snd starting again literally three times over with a gap of two seconds between I think, but it made me really laugh.
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Post by Mr Wallacio on May 22, 2017 9:43:37 GMT
Which side of the gallery - from where I was sat in the cheap side gallery seats the sound balance was woeful in Act 1! I don't agree that this concert proves there is a market for this show in the West End though - for one, there were a fair few empty seats and quite a few others clearly filled by friends and family of the performers and organisers, and also we've quite recently had a revival that was so different and groundbreaking in terms of the history of the show that it doesn't need to be repeated anytime soon. There are plenty of other shows crying out for a revival before we get TCP back, and I think even if we did it would likely struggle unless it was at the Menier or another smaller venue. And I'm saying that as someone who loves the show. I'm not arguing your point haha, but it should be noted the seats by the veey front wall were not put on sale at all, so they were empty or filled by friends of people. The Stalls did look pretty much full, I didn't see a single empty seat. But obviously you had a more clear view of the full stalls. I agree a one night concert doesn't atomatically prove anything, but I think the right venue and right promotional campaign it couls work a limited run, sure. Plus the audience last night made enough noise most theatres double in size don't make haha. There were empty seats around me during act one. These were filled at the start of act two. Couldn't work out if this was people sitting further back who moved forward, or people who couldn't read the start time on their tickets.
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Post by Deleted on May 22, 2017 9:45:54 GMT
I'm not arguing your point haha, but it should be noted the seats by the veey front wall were not put on sale at all, so they were empty or filled by friends of people. The Stalls did look pretty much full, I didn't see a single empty seat. But obviously you had a more clear view of the full stalls. I agree a one night concert doesn't atomatically prove anything, but I think the right venue and right promotional campaign it couls work a limited run, sure. Plus the audience last night made enough noise most theatres double in size don't make haha. There were empty seats around me during act one. These were filled at the start of act two. Couldn't work out if this was people sitting further back who moved forward, or people who couldn't read the start time on their tickets. Thy did have really messed up times of letting people in I found. There were four empty seats behind us for alot of Act I then when Rachel had her entrance the usher brought those people in. I saw another group enter toward the end of Act I in the Gallery too.
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Post by Deleted on May 22, 2017 11:37:04 GMT
Anyone reading this who wasn't there though, at least from my experience, the audience was very respectual and bar a couple of times mid song, cheered and went crazy only at the end of numbers. The funniest thing, I don't know if it was just me who found it funny, was that the appaluse for the entry at Act I and Act II was hilarious. The Ensemble would come on and people would clap and cheer, then stop. Then the conductor would come on and it would happen again and stop. And then the cadt would come on and it would happen again and then the Act would begin. I don't know why I found it so funny, it was just because we kept stopping snd starting again literally three times over with a gap of two seconds between I think, but it made me really laugh. This is usually the case at classic/orchestral concerts. Applause for the first violin, applause for conductor, applause for soloist.
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Post by Deleted on May 22, 2017 12:23:42 GMT
Ooooo I have got a flaw, finally about the show. The male ensemble/chorus. Too stage school. When they performed with Tyrone it was so over the top and embarassing. And then when the guy who brought on Wendy in the second half, he was soover the top in his few lines. Itwas toally not believeable. More trainign is definately needed.
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4,158 posts
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Post by HereForTheatre on May 22, 2017 12:33:19 GMT
Ooooo I have got a faw, finally about the show. The male ensemble/chorus. Too stage school. When they performed with Tyrone it was so over the top and embarassing. And then when the guy who brought on Wendy in the second half, he was soover the top in his few lines. Itwas toally not believeable. More trainign is definately needed. Yeh they were a little too enthusiastic. That 'prison guard' made me laugh because he was probably the campest 'prison gaurd' i've ever seen LOL. And yeh, i had no idea what was going on in that scene with Tyrone, they seemed drunk or something. Bizarre. The choreography in general was quite OTT. For me a few things would have made it better: - Toned down choir/ensemble - Better sound and lighting - Someone else playing Mister (sorry)
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Post by Deleted on May 22, 2017 13:16:32 GMT
The Stage has given it a 5 star review!
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151 posts
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Post by gra on May 22, 2017 16:23:00 GMT
There were empty seats around me during act one. These were filled at the start of act two. Couldn't work out if this was people sitting further back who moved forward, or people who couldn't read the start time on their tickets. Thy did have really messed up times of letting people in I found. There were four empty seats behind us for alot of Act I then when Rachel had her entrance the usher brought those people in. I saw another group enter toward the end of Act I in the Gallery too. I think the 6 o clock start might have caught a few out. At least two groups of people were shown to their seats around 45 minutes after start time.
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Post by Deleted on May 22, 2017 16:49:05 GMT
Also intrigued, as everyone is throwing comparisons to just Marisha regarding her and Cythia, but how did Wendy and Rachel match up to Danielle and Jennifer/Heather/Jennifer for those who saw it on Broadway?
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4,458 posts
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Post by poster J on May 22, 2017 22:12:42 GMT
Also intrigued, as everyone is throwing comparisons to just Marisha regarding her and Cythia, but how did Wendy and Rachel match up to Danielle and Jennifer/Heather/Jennifer for those who saw it on Broadway? I said in my review last night that I thought Wendy Mae Brown was just as good as Danielle Brooks. I think overall Danielle had a slight edge as she had fantastic chemistry with Kyle Scatliffe, who played Harpo, whereas in Act II last night I didn't think Wendy and Tyrone were quite as good together. I didn't see Heather - she was off the day I went and her understudy Rema Webb was on instead. I thought Rema was great, but I loved Rachel John's interpretation of the character last night as well. Rachel is definitely a stronger singer, but acting wise they were both brilliant. I think the problem is the Broadway cast were universally strong, there was really no weak link at all, so whoever you're comparing to in terms of the Broadway production was at such a high level that whoever was in the role last night had such a high bar to reach, it was always going to be difficult to be as good or better. For me, only Shug and Nettie were better last night than when I saw the show in New York, and that's not to say that the cast I saw in New York was bad at all - just that the actresses last night were very minimally better.
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1,186 posts
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Post by theatrelover123 on May 22, 2017 23:01:00 GMT
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1,186 posts
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Post by theatrelover123 on May 22, 2017 23:02:21 GMT
I didn't record this, by the way
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Post by Deleted on May 29, 2017 21:44:57 GMT
Guys its finally on YouTube... Marisha doing I'm Here!
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4,158 posts
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Post by HereForTheatre on May 30, 2017 7:41:34 GMT
I appreciated her performance and her effort but i didn't go away from the concert appreciating her vocals an awful lot, it has to be said. I did find her really quite screechy and that was certainly most on display in I Am Here as well as her voice just not holding out at all at times and cracking and sounding strained. As i said, i loved her performance overall, she is a star and she put a huge amount of effort and heart in the role and especially that song, so i did give her a standing ovation because she deserved it, but it wasn't really for the singing.
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7,491 posts
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Post by alece10 on May 30, 2017 10:45:44 GMT
Guys its finally on YouTube... Marisha doing I'm Here! I wasn't at the concert and I know this is a recording made on a phone but I prefer Cynthia's performance and interpretation.
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4,458 posts
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Post by poster J on May 30, 2017 13:59:29 GMT
I appreciated her performance and her effort but i didn't go away from the concert appreciating her vocals an awful lot, it has to be said. I did find her really quite screechy and that was certainly most on display in I Am Here as well as her voice just not holding out at all at times and cracking and sounding strained. As i said, i loved her performance overall, she is a star and she put a huge amount of effort and heart in the role and especially that song, so i did give her a standing ovation because she deserved it, but it wasn't really for the singing. I agree with that entirely. I also joined in with the standing ovation, but for her overall performance not the vocal gymnastics.
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Post by Deleted on May 30, 2017 14:11:48 GMT
It's the same reaction a lot of people give her in Dreamgirls. Amber sings the hell out of it sure, but Marisha gives a much more powerful performance in terms of her acting and acting through the song.
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