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Post by singularsensation10 on Mar 22, 2019 23:03:40 GMT
Front row is now on sale - we’ve just booked front row for opening night 🙂 Thanks for the heads up. Can’t believe they are still 80 quid. For a short show, the prices for this really are bonkers.... (Of course I know prices don’t relate to show length but you get my drift!) I thought the same about Come From Away but I guess the show still costs the same to run and the actors should be paid the same as a longer show so the financials are the same regardless of show length.
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Post by singularsensation10 on Mar 22, 2019 22:58:12 GMT
Sorry to double post but must shout out the box office guy that sorted me out - we had 3 separate seats from the rush on today tix this morning (two in dress one in grand) and he put us all together in the stalls. I know it’s better for them to pack out the stalls but thought that was a lovely thing to do.
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Post by singularsensation10 on Mar 22, 2019 22:56:42 GMT
Well I believe every good review I’ve heard and read. What a joyous experience. Why some shows get huge amounts of hype and sell out whilst this slips under the radar except for those in the know I will never be able to understand (for example, most of the GenPub has heard of Hamilton but few have heard of this show).
Absolutely wonderfully written and performed. I loved every moment and didn’t want it to end. I will be back again...and again probably. Few shows have made me want to go back recently, but I would happily return to this tomorrow even.
A rare 5* from me. Lovely poignant theatre.
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Post by singularsensation10 on Mar 22, 2019 12:58:27 GMT
Managed to bag 3 separate rush tickets this morning for tonight’s performance - couldn’t even get 2 together after logging on at 10:01 so this rush initiative must be proving really successful for today tix and the shows that are choosing to do it!! Very excited after not having seen one single bad review, and many people whose opinion I trust calling it such things as ‘life changing’!
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Post by singularsensation10 on Mar 21, 2019 15:17:55 GMT
How DO people find out about shows like Newsies being staged in the UK? I'd never heard of it until reading about Jac Yarrow here. I would certainly have tried to see it had I known. I have seen a couple of drama school shows which I only discovered by chance. Is there any central source of information about them ? I often check out the websites for Mountview Guildford Arts Ed Lamda Royal Academy of Music Lipa And see their “what’s on” pages - note they often sell out quickly! I think LSMT are doing Grand Hotel and Lend Me A Tenor soon.
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Post by singularsensation10 on Mar 20, 2019 8:06:09 GMT
Congratulations to him. He will have to have a tough skin. Also they will have to age him for the second half. He looks very very young, which he is. He has to start hitting the gym too. If he’s an artsEd boy he will have no problem in the loin cloth department.
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Post by singularsensation10 on Mar 18, 2019 20:47:29 GMT
Adult auditions are this week. My guess is they’ve cast Evan, got it down to the last few choices for the other younger roles and will see how they all fit with the adults once they’re down to the last few adults.
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Post by singularsensation10 on Mar 17, 2019 8:32:34 GMT
I can't imagine they'd go through this very lengthy audition process and essentially waste people's time if Amy was already signed up. Lol you are joking right? Remember that time when they had recast Glinda then Savannah decided to stay? Or like Waitress UK had 3 British in finals for Jenna then offered KMP more money so she accepted? They go through this process without fail every year, just to have all bases covered - then the next year they will get people back in from last year, along with the new people they have been seeing. Casting is not like an office job where they wait until someone puts their notice in to find someone new. Although Les Mis & Phantom is like that for the most part, they tend to ask who’s staying, then put return offers out, then recast for the tracks they need to recast for. Cam Mac is not actually the villain he’s painted out to be.
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Post by singularsensation10 on Mar 17, 2019 8:25:18 GMT
Regardless of what she said, because believe it or not people have opinions no matter how warped, the fault is on the producers. She’s not just an understudy, she’s playing the lead role in a show which is likely to do pretty well. If a member of the public could do this digging, it really would’ve made sense for the producers to have a quick social media check too.
Also, the reaction of people on Twitter being so vile and vehemently rude to her directly is fighting hate with hate and in my opinion it’s equally as despicable as what she said originally.
I bet she is absolutely gutted at this whole thing (whether she stands by her original post or not), and knows she won’t be playing the role anymore - people could have written to the producers or the theatre directly but in stead they chose to post vile words about this girl on social media (the irony is staggering) with her personally tagged into the post.
Just goes to show we’ve still got a long way to go, and we should probably look to ourselves before throwing stones.
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Post by singularsensation10 on Mar 15, 2019 9:51:28 GMT
With more pressure than ever to cast BAME actors in every show, I’m sure it will have been a very important variable in the casting process. They could’ve approached someone like Beverley Knight or another awesome woman of colour for the Narrator (who knows, they may have done initially), but I don’t think diversity will be an issue when the full cast gets announced.
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Post by singularsensation10 on Mar 12, 2019 7:57:32 GMT
I don’t know who is or isn’t up for what but I do know that they offered London lead to their Elphabas and Glindas of the last UK tour at the cast change after they finished (Nikki Year 1, Ashleigh and Emily Year 2). Of course Emma and Savannah ending up staying on anyway in 2015 so it was a pointless offer but it wouldn’t surprise me if Amy and Helen were given first dibs on the lead roles. Whether they’d take it or not would be another conversation entirely. Amy prob would, knowing how hard she worked to get from Ensemble/Understudy to leading lady, it would really surprise me if she didn’t take lead.
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Post by singularsensation10 on Mar 11, 2019 21:53:36 GMT
Oh I've been saying Philip for a while as Fiyero! He needs his time to shine in a lead role, it's time. Or even Boq. He deserves a leading role. 😍😍 Having met Philip I don’t think he’s a definite fit for either role, too Boq-y for Fiyero and too Fiyero-y for Boq. He’s a phenomenal dancer so is more likely to be Fiyero on that front, but I’m just not sure it’s his casting 100%.
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Post by singularsensation10 on Mar 2, 2019 8:24:54 GMT
I hope there are some fabulous new orchestrations that give this show a new modern vibe and not the same tacky 80s synths the Kenwright tour has been dragging round the U.K. for 96 years.
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Post by singularsensation10 on Mar 2, 2019 8:04:26 GMT
I saw this on Wednesday eve having not seen the London company since Alexia Khadime's first run. It's held up great! I recall reading on the forum some people aren't too keen on the current leads but I have to say, I thought they were both great, Alice especially who has one heck of a voice! I don't want to make this sound as though I'm opening a window for bashing or anything but I'm curious to hear why people on here aren't the biggest fans of Alice and Sophie My issue with her Elphaba is that it can be quite two-dimensional, those two dimensions being frustrated and angry. This transforms itself into quite a harsh, shouty singing tone at times. She riffs a LOT - it seems as though she could trust the score and trust her ability to tell a story without displaying anger and frustration so overtly. She has an absolutely incredible voice, I personally wish she would use it more and just sing the score as written.
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Post by singularsensation10 on Mar 1, 2019 9:06:03 GMT
I’m torn here. I love SS and the Narrator is one of my most cherished roles for what he show (and the role) meant to me as a child. But I can’t help but think she is just not the best casting for the role as this person needs to be the best singer in the show (Joseph can speak sing most of his lines if necessary). The Narrator needs to be the bridge between the audience and the story, therefore needs a calm, authoritative yet vibrant and empathetic nature and I think SS has the warm likeable side but I’m hopeful she is directed to bring out a grounded and direct delivery whilst maintaining her quirks and likeable nature.
When done right, this show can be joyous and poignant - most of the time it is fluffy and vacuous. Let’s hope this production turns out to be the former.
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Post by singularsensation10 on Feb 28, 2019 18:33:59 GMT
Yes his bottom register would look wonderful in a loin cloth... transpose it up a few keys to hear some of his top register though please!
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Post by singularsensation10 on Feb 16, 2019 11:48:43 GMT
Callbacks for Conor and Zoe are well underway - and they’re pressing on with huge speed. Not sure about Evan, haven’t heard of anyone receiving a recall from the opens yet.
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Post by singularsensation10 on Feb 16, 2019 11:46:09 GMT
I’ve heard more grumblings of a fringe (ie Southwark) production of next to normal - not hugely hopeful of the validity of the source though.
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Post by singularsensation10 on Feb 11, 2019 22:58:51 GMT
Went again tonight. All I can say is... Great British public please invest in some vitamins and eat some broccoli. Could barely hear the show over the coughing and sneezing.
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Post by singularsensation10 on Feb 8, 2019 8:52:37 GMT
If you have watched the filmed performance of Newsies, you will notice some of them use hairline mics, while others wear the ear ones. I wonder if performers can decide what feels more comfortable for them? Usually no, performers don’t usually get that much autonomy regarding technical elements of the show - it is likely to be to do with the fact it was being filmed so one mic could have been for the recording and one for the live mix. It’s incredibly difficult to split the mix to re-mix when it gets to editing the video so if they have an extra audio track it should give them more to play with in editing stages.
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Post by singularsensation10 on Feb 8, 2019 8:44:53 GMT
Really disorganised here. They didn’t allocate the seats, and the auditorium was supposed to open at 7 but it didn’t until just now. Spent the last 40 mins squashed into the foyer with no room to move, or indeed put my stick at one point! We are finally in now though, row g of the circle and the view seems really good (last time I was here was for Chicago!). We got given a badge each, and there are people dressed in waitress outfits selling mini pies! Great atmosphere, although we seem to be sat next to some people eating a mini picninc in their seats (which is currently a prawn sandwich and crisps!) Sorry but you attended a dress rehearsal... they had far more important things to worry about than the people who bought a FREE ticket to see a rehearsal.... dress runs rarely start and finish on time. Hope you enjoyed nonetheless :-)
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Post by singularsensation10 on Feb 6, 2019 19:59:45 GMT
Whilst I really really appreciate that the ‘names’ they are using to sell this production are bona fide talented MT performers, I can’t help but think that Ball and Fletcher are spectacularly miscast in their roles. Ball is one of my favourite Male MT Perforners but has a natural comedic timing which is wasted on Javert - not saying that Javert isn’t an iconic and complex role, just saying that I think there are better roles for Ball and other actors more suited to playing Javert. Also, the decision to make the temporary (if one can class 4 months as temporary) production a concert production seems cheap and somewhat lazy. Concert productions should be saved for one-offs IMO. Won’t be paying megabucks to see this, although will likely go if there are any offers on.
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Post by singularsensation10 on Feb 5, 2019 18:00:36 GMT
Great question. I’m a bit of a geek with all this!! It’s to do with the sound design in the theatre and also type of vocals being amplified.
A hair line mic will need more amplification and gain given that it is further away from the sound source.
So in a space like Southwark Playhouses where the speakers are very close to the actors, more gain would result in more feedback.
Over-ear mics are cheaper than good quality hairline mics, yes, but it’s more often than not to do with the sound design in the theatre. They are probably being used in Waitress given the pop-rock style of the show, it’s very bass and drum heavy - so a hairline mic will pick up more of this excess noise. Also contemporary singing styles are very different to left / classical singing styles (stereotypically contemporary singing is more consonant-focussed and legit is more vowel-focussed, so Waitress being a pop show the vocals may be harder to amplify with a hair line mic than a legit show such as Carousel for instance). Thus over ear mics provide the sound guys with a more isolated amplification of the sound source (the performer).
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Post by singularsensation10 on Feb 4, 2019 18:17:58 GMT
On the note of Lucie, could she be starting on Broadway then replacing Katharine when she’s finished here?
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Post by singularsensation10 on Jan 28, 2019 18:56:42 GMT
Shows often open up their last dress runs (albeit not to public / fans), I went to the final Dress of Mamma Mia a few years back with a friend whose sister was in the cast. It was one of the most wonderful, supportive and exciting atmospheres I’ve ever experienced in a professional house.
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Post by singularsensation10 on Jan 28, 2019 9:12:53 GMT
I really don’t see what the problem is. They are trying to drum up interest in the show. It’s a post that you will read for a matter of seconds before you scroll right past it. We live in a world where Movie trailers have trailers to tease the full trailer. I’ve just had a flick through their twitter page and there’s only 4 of these pre surprise announcement posts. It’s not a big deal. It’s just marketing. And they certainly aren’t overdoing it. Totally agree. I prefer this sort of marketing style to the generic “book your tickets now”.
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Post by singularsensation10 on Jan 22, 2019 18:04:00 GMT
Actually, with all the effort they’re going through with the open auditions to scout talent, I think we may get a graduate as Evan. There is a separate day for graduates - it has been arranged with the casting team and the principals of the schools. So lots of ‘graduates’ (ie people about to finish their training) will not be going to the open call. Open calls are usually just a great way for the production to gain some exposure and media attention.
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Post by singularsensation10 on Jan 20, 2019 10:42:34 GMT
Saw this show off broadway almost 10 years ago. Wonderful evening of music. I’ll take a trip!
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Post by singularsensation10 on Jan 12, 2019 12:10:12 GMT
The last time I saw the show (almost a year ago), the set was tired, the production had no life with it because the creatives who are receiving royalties are no longer part of the day to day running of the show so it is down to the in-house resident direction team to re-cast and keep the show alive. That means the direction that the cast received is second if not third hand which ultimately means, with no disrespect to the resident directors because they do a great, tough and often thankless job, the quality of the staging and direction is aged and diluted. I thought the show looked old and tired - and welcome the idea of a new production. I’ve only heard great things about the touring production and personally see no great issue with this new production replacing the tatty, old, original production. And don’t think this is Cam trying to avoid paying royalties - from what I’ve heard he’s very fair and pays people what they deserve.
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Post by singularsensation10 on Jan 7, 2019 8:47:34 GMT
They could get a pop-star name for the Narrator and properly cast Joseph. Amelia Lily could be good (albeit not a huge pop star name). They’ll prob stunt cast the whole thing though let’s be honest.
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