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Post by tal on Nov 14, 2022 16:28:55 GMT
Well it’s definitely NOT going to the Phoenix that I know. A huge new play is booked to go in there next year. I'm really hoping My Neighbor Totoro transfers from the Barbican. That is definitely a huge new play, even though I'm not sure the Phoenix stage would be large enough to accommodate that production.
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177 posts
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Post by tal on Oct 21, 2022 14:08:36 GMT
Yet another brand new production of Wicked was announced. This time in Brazil, where the original touring production was running (in Brazilian Portuguese) in 2016-2017.
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Post by tal on Oct 17, 2022 11:15:11 GMT
I was expecting stress, so I feel very relieved that I managed to book the tickets I wanted.
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Post by tal on Oct 17, 2022 9:38:59 GMT
Two musicals again, I like that.
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Post by tal on Oct 13, 2022 16:04:55 GMT
Ariana DeBose?
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Post by tal on Oct 10, 2022 12:00:40 GMT
So that is not the Spanish production with Alice Ripley, right? I understand this is the full thing, in a new production with new sets, staging and new direction. Oh wow, that is huge. This is so exciting!
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177 posts
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Post by tal on Oct 10, 2022 11:56:43 GMT
So that is not the Spanish production with Alice Ripley, right?
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177 posts
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Post by tal on Sept 30, 2022 11:07:39 GMT
Has anyone tried the standing section yet? I stood for the first preview. View was ok, but it will be affected by your height - if you're shorter, you'll have more trouble seeing the action. For a standing section, it was comfortable enough, as there's space to lean on behind the last row. And you're obviously super close to the actors anyway, so it was not difficult for me to get moved by the story.
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177 posts
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Post by tal on Sept 28, 2022 15:23:15 GMT
If it's being produced by David Ian and Michael Harrison as the original plan was, it'll be a cheap as hell production so tickets should be affordable! Unfortunately, it seems to be getting more and more common to have cheap as hell productions with tickets that are far from affordable.
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Post by tal on Sept 28, 2022 15:21:19 GMT
I guess every presale is unique, exclusive and special in its own way
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Post by tal on Sept 26, 2022 22:51:45 GMT
First preview went completely smooth and finished at exactly 9:10pm as promised (there was an extra number with the band after that, though).
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177 posts
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Post by tal on Sept 26, 2022 0:02:10 GMT
Looking forward to seeing this for the first time in November! I have booked stalls row R but looking at the view from on SeatPlan, there is a bit of overhang from the circle cutting off the top of the stage. Does anyone know if I'll miss much from these seats? I think you will be fine. I checked SeatPlan too, and it seems you can see all the way up the arches of the set from row R. I don't think anything ever appears above those arches - basically, if you can see the clock you won't miss anything at all.
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Post by tal on Sept 25, 2022 23:55:19 GMT
Almeida sounds familiar... Desperate for someone to do it with Ruth Wilson as Desiree But yes, I'd also enjoy a Cate Blanchett version You guys are getting me too excited with a project that probably does not even exist yet!
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177 posts
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Post by tal on Sept 25, 2022 23:53:41 GMT
What a great night! Audra was spectacular - I really did not expect her to sing Gypsy and Cabaret and her versions of those songs were outstanding. The stage also looked great, with a beautiful set and lights and the great orchestra. What a pleasure to be there.
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Post by tal on Sept 22, 2022 13:32:34 GMT
Oh nice! I smell a nice long London visit brewing. Pacific Overtures matinee, Into the Woods evening. Suddenly the West End got a whole heap more interesting again. I know, right? All that’s left is an announcement of a transfer for the wonderful Opera North/ Leeds Playhouse production of A Little Night Music, and then we’d have it all. Here’s to hoping.
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Post by tal on Sept 22, 2022 13:27:02 GMT
They’ve added standing room tickets for the first few performances. I managed to get a cheeky last minute ticket for the first preview. Can’t wait!
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177 posts
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Post by tal on Sept 19, 2022 18:25:07 GMT
Funnily enough, they had an open air version of Evita in Brazil earlier this year. Based on the style of the initial marketing material, I thought it’d be the Jamie Lloyd production. But the costumes and sets were quite different on the photos of the actual show.
I was really hoping for this to come back, as I thought it was great at Regent’s Park.
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Post by tal on Sept 17, 2022 1:15:33 GMT
I'm seeing this on the weekend, but reading the comments on this thread I can't help but wonder why the Arts would prefer to have this over Bonnie and Clyde. I stand corrected: I thought this was thoroughly entertaining. Despicable characters and some great laughs, what else could you ask for?
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Post by tal on Sept 16, 2022 23:03:51 GMT
This does get quite intense at times and I did consider leaving during the long opening scene of the second act (don’t want to spoilt what it is. My friend’s watch even warned him his blood pressure had gone up too quickly during that scene. Also, I didn’t like the ending. Apart from that, I think the play was great, it’s the good kind of mix between the crude reality of modern life and the poetic and comforting shared experience of quality theatre.
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Post by tal on Sept 15, 2022 8:55:10 GMT
I've always wondered if many of these people are actually repeat offenders. I mean, I don't think theatres actually go through the trouble of keeping a ban list or anything like that, do they? The theatre I work at definitely has a ban list, and I work for a very well-known nationwide theatre company. They log on to the system and 'blacklist' them so they can't make any further bookings, but I suppose there's no way to stop them setting up a new account under a new name. Well, that's good to hear.
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Post by tal on Sept 14, 2022 21:57:47 GMT
From Matt Hemley of The Stage, on Twitter: "As much drama off stage as on it at Back to the Future tonight after an inebriated audience member disturbed act one: picking a fight with the person in front, climbing over rows & virtually sitting on other people’s laps, before the producer got security to throw him out." I've always wondered if many of these people are actually repeat offenders. I mean, I don't think theatres actually go through the trouble of keeping a ban list or anything like that, do they?
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Post by tal on Sept 14, 2022 21:54:50 GMT
I was enjoying this in the first act, but the second act just went everywhere and lost me completely. Still, the performances were great and there were some great ideas that I wished were tied together in a more concise way.
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Post by tal on Sept 14, 2022 21:51:00 GMT
I thought this was so good! I liked the pacing and thought the 1h30min flew by. The performances are top notch, very good use of the set and lighting, and the songs left me humming on the way back home. I was surprised at how good the book was given such a simple framing device. I agree with what somebody said before that I was expecting it to be funnier, but I thought it delivered so much when it got more serious. I can't wait for the cast recording (which they were announcing on a poster by the entrance), and if this had a longer run I would see it again.
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Post by tal on Sept 13, 2022 15:16:55 GMT
I'm seeing this tonight. Will try to ignore the less than favourable reports and go with an open mind.
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Post by tal on Sept 13, 2022 15:13:43 GMT
I didn't manage to see it last time around, so I hope my anxious wait will finally come to an end.
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Post by tal on Sept 8, 2022 13:16:06 GMT
So the slips are the best seats in that price band then? I've never been to this venue so don't know what's good. Other seats in that price band are in the back of the circle, and the circle in that theatre is a really long way from the stage. The slips are at the same level from the first rows of the circle, but closer to the stage. Obviously they have a side view, but I usually don't mind that in concert productions, as the actors tend to be center stage.
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Post by tal on Sept 8, 2022 12:23:35 GMT
This was probably my least favorite Lloyd production so far. I thought it was very one note, and if the rest of the cast were at the same level of Indira Varma this would have been so much better.
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Post by tal on Sept 8, 2022 12:21:46 GMT
I thought this was so much fun. I would see it for either Caroline Quentin or Kerry Howard alone.
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Post by tal on Sept 8, 2022 12:20:12 GMT
Oof, I don’t know if I’m getting crotchety in my old age because I seem to have hated a lot of shows lately, but I really did not like this. The acting is great, but there’s just no plot at all. It’s like watching a particularly plot-lite episode of Frasier if Frasier was working class and Martin was a dick. The dialogue is funny enough but very sitcom. The transphobic rant in the opening scene was deeply uncomfortable. I don’t care that Harbour’s character rebuts it with “don’t be mean to the nice trans people” it’s still exploiting trans people and transphobia for a cheap laugh. The scene with the girls was one of the most misogynistic and gratuitous things I’ve ever seen on stage. Female characters as literal sex objects. Yes it’s supposed to be an insight into the character who picks up the girls but that could have been achieved without the play grinding to a halt entirely so we can watch five minutes of scantily clad girls twerking. Are they supposed to be sex workers who are paid to be there? I didn’t get that sense. Does the writer really believe teenage girls just go around giving free lap dances and asking for breast gropes from every single man they come across? Left at the interval so perhaps the second half is better, but the poor writing and one dimensional female characters made this unwatchable for me. In the second act - and I'm not suggesting here for one minute that you should have stayed, because I'd happily have left at the interval myself - you do learn that the girls are sex workers who are being paid to be there. (Just to answer your question!) I'm in total agreement with this review. I thought it was a pretty weak play, unconvincing, tiresome - the longer it limped on, the more annoyed it made me feel. It got a bafflingly positive reaction from the audience at the end - an enthusiastic standing ovation, if you please, which made me even more irritated, because I actually felt it was one of the worst things I've seen for months. I do think it gets better in the second act. I don't think this was perfect, but I did enjoy it overall, and the emotional conversation between Akiya Henry and David Harbour in the second act was a highlight for me.
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Post by tal on Sept 8, 2022 12:16:58 GMT
I'm seeing this on the weekend, but reading the comments on this thread I can't help but wonder why the Arts would prefer to have this over Bonnie and Clyde.
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