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Post by Mr Snow on Jul 1, 2017 20:13:04 GMT
I saw todays matinee and loved it. It felt modern and up to date, yet still classic. Also, is this the hottest cast in london?! i mean seriously!! Interestingly this appeared a year after Oklahoma but it retains the old Music then Comedy then Music format, with no real attempt to blur the edges. The musical interludes were a bonus. So the females were 'modern', but the format was anything but. and...errrr...yes...yes I thought so.
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Post by Mr Snow on Jul 1, 2017 17:18:29 GMT
Just back put me down as another big fan of this production. Had never seen the show and now regret not making more effort in the past. The score is fabulous.
For those who complained of lack of plot I thought the framing device,24hrs of freedom, made it a pressure cooker, then just add boy meets girl x 3 and ding, ding, ding! we have a winner. (It worked much better than on the film.) To think this was on stage before the end of WW11 when shore leave really meant something. All the details in Some Other Time where they long to experience the boring bits of a relationship, made it so poignant.
Cast, choreography all very good if not upto the standards of 42nd Street and AAIP. London is blessed for classic musicals this summer.
Also in the film don't they change "it's a hell of a town...." to "it's a wonderful town..."
Shame the last performance is tonight (?) I would happily have gone again.
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Post by Mr Snow on Jun 30, 2017 12:21:21 GMT
There are very practical reasons for it being a simple poll and it’s nice to see a strong response to the vote. Other systems were considered but they too have their drawbacks. As to what to include, well the two books about Lyrics are essential and we could also have included a film script! Drawing a line under his major contributions to Musicals semed right. Amazing to see him attracting votes for work across a 33 year period.
I was very tempted to vote for Follies (too ‘in joke’) or ALNM with it’s brilliant cast at the National a few years ago impressing the hell out of me.. The first act of Sunday…
In the end I’ve gone with Company. When I saw the Sam Mendes production with Adrian Lester at the Donmar, I realised Musicals could go up to a gear I never knew existed. Technically brilliant and part of a grand tradition, yet completely fresh and …as involving and complex as any straight play. I still can’t work out why but I was able to relate completely to these people who lived in a world I’d never known, in a situation I hadn’t experienced, while at the same time dazzle and entertain me. If there’s one Sondheim show that’s brilliant but doesn’t have even a hint of ‘to clever by half’, then this is the one for me. Later I saw a concert version done for Radio 2 at the Hackney Empire that (Someone in a Tree pointed out to me) had Julian Ovendon in the lead and it didn’t disappoint, even as a one off. The big theatrical event for me this year is seeing the promised version with a female Bobbie – any news of tickets?
(If I have reservations it is how the score will sound in 100 years, it does sound very 70s).
I would also say about 5 years ago I saw a shortened but quite brilliant Assassins at the Ed Fringe by the (amateur) Princeton University Theatre group that allowed the shocking subject to slap you in the face. It was 100% better than the much lauded Menier version. I hope his musicals are revived for years and years and welcome a fresh approach to them each time.
Still keen to hear more about productions that showed how great a score is.
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Post by Mr Snow on Jun 30, 2017 9:26:22 GMT
A Question has been asked whether you should only vote if you’re familiar with all the works?
That’s neither practical nor necessary. If you’ve seen a few and feel that one of the works is his masterpiece, your vote is welcome to.
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Post by Mr Snow on Jun 30, 2017 8:54:27 GMT
there's certainly an air of superiority around when most people dismiss the very idea. No superiority Mr S. Honestly. Just joshing around and I've already said I know some people love them. Just to be clear I wasn't singling out anyone on here and your humour was noted and enjoyed.
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Post by Mr Snow on Jun 30, 2017 8:39:02 GMT
I love cruises, and musicals so this is my idea of heaven! Shame the single supplement is so high, if it was in school holidays I would be there with my family for sure but not sure I can justify paying twice the price. I honestly don't know anyone personally who has been on a cruise and not enjoyed it. I would say not to knock it until you try it! Of course if you go for the cheapest brands that will attract a certain level of clientele however I have never seen any bad behavior on my 10+ cruises and 6 months of working onboard (6 years ago). 5* Hotel, wake up somewhere different every day, cinemas, spas, a casino, fantastic cocktails, amazing food, great singers (mostly) and a large scale theatre production every night. I also love the glamour of properly dressing up most evenings. It is actually becoming more popular for MT performers to do stints onboard. Cunard for sure have increased the number of 'stars' in their insights program with Ruthie Henshall, Maria Friedman, Alfie Boe, Samantha Barks, Willemijn Verkaik all featuring on their schedule for next year. Sisco (Scott Garnham and Simon Schofield's venture) have a number of acts, the barricade boys being the most well known who are popping up more and more among the lines too. I would certainly be more inclined to book a particular voyage knowing that there was a well known MT performer scheduled. Well said, sometimes it's hard to swim against the flow and there's certainly an air of superiority around when most people dismiss the very idea. Mrs Snow and I have yet to 'take the plunge' but like several things in life we once disparaged, we expect to have a good time and wonder why we waited so long (based on what we've heard from those who've actually been, which has nearly all been 100% positive.) We are thinking of combining the fjords and St Petersburg, but it hasn’t so far been suitable at the times of year we currently take holidays.
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Post by Mr Snow on Jun 30, 2017 8:31:31 GMT
With the aid of the moderators, if popular this will be the first of a series where we explore favourite Composers and Lyricists in some depth.
Part 1
For the next 7 days we will have a Poll to establish the top 10 major works of one of the greatest living (theatre) composers. The poll will close at 9.30am on Friday 7th July.
We are asking for you to vote for what you think is his greatest work. Just one please. Sometimes this may not be your favourite. It should be the one you feel is the strongest overall, the one you think everyone needs to see and you might want to consider:
Innovation
Historical importance
Overall consistency. I.e. With few longueurs or weak songs.
Plays well.
Of course its subjective but please do not go for the one you feel you can most relate to, but the one you think people will want to see in 100 years. If you haven't seen all of his works we would still like you to vote, just base your choice on what you know.
In order to make it more interesting please post why you chose X over Y and tell us something about the greatest production of it you've seen.
Part 2
Once the poll is closed and a winner is declared we will move into the second part of the poll, more on that later!
Once this thread has run its course, the moderators will be seeing what worked and whether any members would like to use the same format to take on a different composer/Lyricist.
Thanks for reading this and looking forward to reading your replies.
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Post by Mr Snow on Jun 30, 2017 8:03:25 GMT
For the first time ever I did what I believe to be the exact opposite of this. I came late! Had tickets for Mitrade at the ROH for some time before my company booked a FUN day team building. So after spending day in open air building towers of crates, falling backwards like Eleanor Powell (don’t ask and yes the reference was lost on the others) and getting very wet building rafts and other “watersports” I headed off for 3 hours of pretty obscure Mozart.
Knowing there were two intervals allowed me not to rush to get there and to sit out the first 70 mins in a very comfy sofa just outside the auditorium. Oh the 40 winks were lovely and thus I was able to thoroughly enjoy the last two acts.
I know it was selfish of me not to tell my co to stuff it as I was going to some ART that evening. Perhaps I should have sent the cast some flowers to apologise for my inconsiderateness? Stood everyone in the amphitheatre a round for not being there with them? Best comment came from Mrs Snow. “It’s hot in there, the seating is as tight as usual, so I rather enjoyed having the extra space.”
PS Can't recall ever leaving early, though there were several I wished I had done.
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Post by Mr Snow on Jun 30, 2017 7:48:13 GMT
We could do our own version. Hire someone straight out of drama school, stick them in a pedalo and do circuits of Battersea Park Boating Lake. You could call it something catchy, like Swan Lake?
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Post by Mr Snow on Jun 28, 2017 15:06:02 GMT
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Post by Mr Snow on Jun 28, 2017 12:05:50 GMT
The ROH allocation for La Tragedié de Carmen had already sold out by the time Friends booking opened this morning, but if you're keen, Wiltons has its own allocation which goes on sale to the public at 11am on Monday, or if you become a friend of Wiltons (£35) then the tickets are on sale now and there are plenty available. HAv a thank you. Would love to see this. It was sold out even for Freinds + so hopefully Wiltons have a large no of seats for sale.
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Post by Mr Snow on Jun 28, 2017 12:03:27 GMT
We are off to Liverpool for the weekend but that probably means seeing something on Saturday, 29th July.
We are staying with a friend near the waterfront and just wondering what’s on locally (will happily get on the train somewhere else if that helps).
Not really looking for a touring show as we are London based, but keen to hear of any kind of Musical Event, play or …. That would make Saturday night special.
Is there a good website to consult?
Recommendations please.
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Post by Mr Snow on Jun 28, 2017 9:05:31 GMT
I love magic shows but didn’t really enjoy P&T when I saw them in Vegas. Too much patter and not enough business. It also convinced me that what I like best is close up magic not the big illusions. So each to their own.
I've several times hired a magician for company events. Pushed the boat out once for a founder of the company's leaving do. Got several recommendations for the act.
His speciality was cutting up a box containing the guest of honour, with a CHAINSAW.
All was going well, he came early and we hid the ‘box’ from sight as it was to be a surprise. But as our guest arrived he whispered he couldn’t go ahead with it! When I enquired why, he pointed out that the guest had brought his young children and he didn’t want to traumatise them! Sadly never got to see the highlight.
Anyone got a link for MagicCircle showcases?
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Post by Mr Snow on Jun 28, 2017 8:50:53 GMT
Mitradate tomorrow night - after a day spent activity team building! Oh please let it not be warm!
ON the Town Sat matinee. Oh please don't let it rain, or the sun shine!
(I'm not sure I'm cut out for this anymore. Can’t decide if I should change my name to Mr Sleepy or Mr Grumpy!)
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Post by Mr Snow on Jun 28, 2017 5:49:28 GMT
Here is the rub for me, which I personally find distasteful and I know there is nothing coming up in the queen's speech about this, so it's not going to be law anytime soon. But to go on a theatre messenger board and talk about an art form, then happily indulge that you scarper at the interval, I find completely alien and disrespectful. People who have paid for their ticket lose their right to walk? I do question walking DURING a performance but at the interval why shouldn't they? I 'donate' a significant amount of my personal disposable income to the theater and sometimes I get RUBBISH in return. More fool me for not checking up beforehand but to suggest that I have to eat it all up is perverse. You have to entertain an audience if you want them to come back....after the interval. Calling walkers disrespectful is suspect IMO. Too many people around the arts are somewhat more than a little precious about how important what they do is. If I do my job poorly, I don't expect my customers to come back.
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Post by Mr Snow on Jun 26, 2017 21:14:38 GMT
I was there on Wednesday night and pretty much agree with everything you say Mr snow. I was sat row H of the amphitheatre, and JK definitely sounded underpowered in places especially in Act One and Two, although I did think he seemed to gather confidence as the night progressed and i felt slightly more engaged in the third and last acts. Nerves definitely got the better of him early on and I don't yet think he has got under the skin of the role or worked out where he needs to hold back slightly and where he can really let go. I'd love to see him do the role again after he has a couple more productions under his belt as he really has the potential to be one of the greats in this role. I thought the production was fine but uninspired and I hated that bloody lion that they trundled across the stage, just didn't seem in keeping with the expressionists staging of the rest of it. Also couldn't quite see what was going on in that mirror from my seat, I assume some sort of tortured, broken otello? Was also disappointed wth the Iago who lacked the darkness of tone and the menace that the better singers have in that role, probably not helped by the fact that JK has such a dark tenor voice as well. A 3.5 star performance for me overall and not with some of the raves from the people sat around me or the press. The couple sat next to me had come across from NYC to see it and thought it was the best thing they'd ever seen! WE must have been quite close in the Right? I asked friend sitting on the Left about the mirror as I was unsighted by the frame. Apparently the second time he looked into it the reflected image was distorted/dishevelled; a sign of him cracking up? (not a verbatim report but what I took from it).
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Post by Mr Snow on Jun 26, 2017 21:09:08 GMT
Manna from heaven this for Jeremy Corbyn. Go 'ed Jezza lad Really? In what sane world is the DUP in power a result for JC, or anyone for that matter?
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Post by Mr Snow on Jun 26, 2017 20:27:38 GMT
Th surprise element is that Northern Ireland only gets the money if they get back to governing with SF. A silver lining?
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Post by Mr Snow on Jun 26, 2017 19:49:50 GMT
..is back in town!
Hir playing at the Bush until July 22nd.
Anyone going?
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Post by Mr Snow on Jun 23, 2017 11:33:29 GMT
The theatre costs way too much damn money to consider leaving before I've seen everything, Strikes me as the very definition of Masochism. 'This is killing me, but I'll stay untill I get everything I've paid for'. Rumour has it there are sites on the Web where your interests are fully catered for.
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Post by Mr Snow on Jun 23, 2017 11:22:19 GMT
War Horse - I seriously considered leaving. ^^^ oh god I thought I was the only person in the world who thought this. I only got through it by focussing on the bum of one of the puppeteers in his very tight breeches 😋. The rest of it left me cold. And I thought Mrs Snow and I were a very exclusive Club on this one. Our duet is now a Quartet.
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Post by Mr Snow on Jun 23, 2017 7:01:59 GMT
Hope to write more at the weekend. But...
JK, just a little underpowered (I was in Row K of the Balcony)? A modern Otello, certainly not a 'great man' falling from heights. But hard to sympathise with.
For the Drama we needed a threatening Iago, not really dark enough.
(Its possible that the two we more closely matched in this production and that was the drama, but if so such subtleties didn' project upto the heated heights where I was.)
A good production that went off the rails with grafitti, a broken lion and a modern hotel room. Presumably the later to remind the audience that this Opera is still relvant today (Ho Hum).
It was good, but not what it might have been and not what the interval darlings were bleating about.
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Post by Mr Snow on Jun 17, 2017 17:34:07 GMT
Loved this. Absolutely wonderful production. Kurzak and Alagna were both excellent. +1 Also de Billy's conducting was rather fine. This surprised me because I though he gave A poor Don Carlo recently
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Post by Mr Snow on Jun 15, 2017 10:04:12 GMT
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Post by Mr Snow on Jun 13, 2017 14:56:18 GMT
I only knew her as a singer but after seeing her in Chicago, Mrs Snow commented "She's very ....bendy!"
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Post by Mr Snow on Jun 13, 2017 13:12:29 GMT
A challenging piece.
Brownlee is most accomplished in the Title role, but unless you came as a Jazz or more particularly Parker fan, I’m not sure that the Opera created a compelling case for why he was so important. Perhaps they felt if they focussed on the women in his life we emotionally would buy into it, but it left me a little cold.
I admire Parker’s playing but don’t really ….like it. The composer tried to suggest the complexity of his thought and gave him a style unlike the others. I preferred the music for everyone else! As for themes, I couldn’t recognise any standards except some thing that was repeated’ that sounded very like “Bess, you is my woman now”.
A strong cast and great musicianship from the ‘Orchestra’ made it an interesting night out. Much of the audience found it VERY challenging.
Seen 09 06
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Post by Mr Snow on Jun 12, 2017 7:07:21 GMT
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Post by Mr Snow on Jun 8, 2017 15:53:37 GMT
I did choose one of the top 4 on the list because to me this time the choice seems clear. But in the past I have voted for each of them in a General Election. I consider myself a floating voter with no party allegiance whatsoever.
That’s why I get depressed when these discussions split so quickly into them and us. I'm amazed that people believe that something as amorphous as a Club of politico’s can together form a Party that really means anything. They support a Party life they choose to support a Football team. I’ve had the vote for 40 years and seen each of those parties policiesmove around quite a bit. To me that makes sense. We have all prospered (yes I mean that) under a mixed economy and when a Party recognises that there are conflicting needs to be met, it tends to be more electable. They have to accept that and moderate their extremists. The Conservative Party have been more successful at this and less dogmatic which is why they’ve been in power for 28 of those 40 years, despite not being at all ‘popular’ – witness the results of our poll.
As long as we are stuck with a two party system we are hostage to dogma (witness Brexit, Holland, Trump etc.) and reluctantly I’m now in favour of PR with the hope of being ruled by coalitions (with all their disadvantage) of centre parties. However, our representatives will never vote for that, so I can dream on.
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Post by Mr Snow on Jun 8, 2017 13:00:04 GMT
I can't work out if you're doing a *thing* by the way; is it on purpose that you're calling someone an idiot while being consistently unable to spell the word? It's not translating well if it is. Think it might be a 'witty' play on the spelling of her surname... Thansk you for that...but no "I am the Idiott"
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Post by Mr Snow on Jun 8, 2017 10:57:50 GMT
But they’ve always been loyal to each other.
They were lovers.
I was trying to put it subtly. As Mrs Snow likes to say, not my forte apprently.
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