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Post by tmesis on Sept 12, 2023 10:02:30 GMT
I really enjoyed the first night of this new production and, on the whole I liked Kosky’s direction. Scene 1 had no real hint of the wateriness of the Rhine but was effectively staged, Scene 2 was staged as picnic in the middle of a polo match (this was much more effective than it sounds.) Scene 3 was very effective with the gold production stored in buckets, although I feel the colour was a tad ‘off’ unfortunately sometimes resembling buckets of sick! Kosky staged the Tarnhelm transformations effectively - this can sometimes be toe-curlingly embrrassing. Unfortunately the end - the god’s entertaining Valhalla was a considerable let down; it all looked too showbiz and trivial, although it’s a tall order to match Wagner’s magnificent music at this point.
Musically it was very strong with many singers new to ROH and The Ring in general. The highlights for me were Christopher Purves as Alberich and Sean Panikkar as Loge. I found Christopher Maltman a little lacking in authority as Wotan particularly compared to previous singers in the role at ROH like Bryn Terfel and, especially, John Tomlinson.
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Post by tmesis on Sept 9, 2023 22:02:18 GMT
This is highly recommended - what an amazing play, even more remarkable when you know that this was written by Stenham when she was only 19. I didn’t see the original production but I can’t imagine it was better than tonight’s cast who were absolutely brilliant, amazingly so for a first preview. The whole action takes place on (mainly) and around, a bed and is thrillingly effective in the small theatre space. The audience were mesmerised throughout - one of the best things I’ve seen at OTT and one of the best things I’ve seen all year.
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Post by tmesis on Sept 9, 2023 21:47:35 GMT
I didn’t see the original production and I was a little disappointed by this. I didn’t find any of the characters very believable or likeable so this felt like a pretty interminable 95 minutes, not helped at the matinee by being very sweaty in the stalls.
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Post by tmesis on Aug 27, 2023 22:06:46 GMT
Bobby Crush was probably the last of a long line of light ent pianists that used to appear on British TV in more innocent times that started with Winifred Atwell (the best of the lot) and included Russ Conway, Joe 'Mr. Piano' Henderson and Mrs Mills. They all had very successful careers and also used to regularly enter the pop charts.
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Post by tmesis on Aug 27, 2023 6:17:10 GMT
It comes into its own when there is a rail strike like yesterday, when it still runs normally.
I normally come in on the Reading line to Waterloo from Virginia Water but it’s easy to drive to Burnham or Langley and start my journey from there. Don’t tend to use Slough as it’s easier to get free parking from the other two starting points.
However it was very busy last night, probably because of the strike.
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Post by tmesis on Aug 27, 2023 6:09:31 GMT
I absolutely loved this at yesterday’s matinee. What a talented cast and the band was superb too - they launched into the opening overture with huge gusto. It’s definitely my favourite Sondheim musical (which, more or less means it’s my favourite musical period.) I enjoyed it more than the famous MCF production (which I loved) so that’s high praise indeed. It was also great, because of the youth of the actors, to have them at the right age for the final, oh so poignant, roof top scene.
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Post by tmesis on Aug 17, 2023 18:50:12 GMT
Thank you.
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Post by tmesis on Aug 17, 2023 18:09:42 GMT
Is it sung all the way through, ie. through composed, or is there spoken dialogue?
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Post by tmesis on Aug 13, 2023 18:19:37 GMT
I very much enjoyed this at the Saturday matinee. It’s been criticised by some because ‘nothing much happens’ but I found all four women characters so well drawn by Wynne and immaculately acted by the talented cast that I was enthralled throughout. The tone of the play somewhat reminded me of Annie Baker transported to Birkenhead but it’s much funnier than her work with some one liners worthy of Alan Bennett or Victoria Wood. Also in its favour is it’s quite short, coming in at 1hr 55 mins with interval - so many plays I go too are way too long.
Pity the stalls were only half full - it deserves better.
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Post by tmesis on Aug 2, 2023 22:30:36 GMT
I was there last night - no show stop. I had an on stage ticket and have to say the audience around me were exemplary (that sounds a bit like a school report!)
The whole handling of the behind the stage experience was really well done by the Savoy staff. It's incredibly well executed and they are very friendly and professional.
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Post by tmesis on Aug 2, 2023 18:06:52 GMT
It’s selling well - there’s not much left. I agree Dawnstar Kosky’s The Nose was dreadful and his Carmen horrendous but I really enjoyed his Agrippina so I’m giving him a chance and I hated the last Ring Cycle production.
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Post by tmesis on Aug 2, 2023 15:42:22 GMT
Just noted that the top price tickets are an eye watering £325. Even the top price in the amphitheatre is £146. I know Wagner is expensive to put on but I think this is the first time an opera ticket has exceeded £300 at The Garden. Anyway I’m still such a Wagner fan that even the fact it’s directed by Barrie Kosky hasn’t put me off booking.
Ballet prices are really creeping up too - Don Quixote is pretty expensive.
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Post by tmesis on Aug 2, 2023 11:34:24 GMT
Tom Harwood at A Little Life last night. He had an on-stage seat like myself.
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Post by tmesis on Jul 22, 2023 18:47:37 GMT
Amazed this is still running. Saw it over 2 months ago and found it one of the most stultifyingly dull musicals I’ve ever seen. Audience response was also extremely muted. I thought the set was terrible too - a bit like what you might find in an amdram panto.
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Post by tmesis on Jul 15, 2023 22:20:27 GMT
Saw the matinee today and absolutely loved it. This is the third production of S of M I’ve seen and definitely the best. I liked Edward Harrison’s portrayal of the Captain and, unlike some, I found his voice attractive. Janis Kelly (an opera singer I loved in her prime at ENO - she was a terrific Butterfly) had the necessary heft for Climb Ev’ry Mountain and brought the house down, as she is meant to at the end of Act 1. The children were all excellent and their concerted harmonic singing was very accurate (and in tune) - not always a given! Also some beautiful singing from the nuns at the start - what clever pastiche religious music Rodgers writes here - in fact the whole musical made me in awe at his incredible talent; no other composer has quite his rich fund of melody.
Oh and Gina Beck was the best Maria I’ve seen - she made it completely her own; all others I’ve seen have not so much played the part as played Julie Andrews playing the part.
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Post by tmesis on Jul 11, 2023 5:43:41 GMT
Damian Lewis at last night’s Dear England.
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Post by tmesis on Jul 3, 2023 21:53:59 GMT
Oh also forgot, really enjoyed Alex Parker's The Railway Children in Guildford.
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Post by tmesis on Jul 3, 2023 21:48:39 GMT
I too go to 'a bit of everything.'
Since Jan 1st I've been to 37 performances. This breaks down:
Play 16 Musical 10 Ballet 6 Opera 5
I increasingly find satisfaction mainly in the plays I go to see and next in order the ballets. I would go and see more ballets but I have seen most of the standard repertoire so many times there's got to be a good reason to see it. I'm surprised I've been to so few operas but again I've seen all the standard repertoire (and not so standard) so many times there has to be a compelling reason to visit; plus the ROH seems to be gradually replacing all their good to OK productions with something far worse.
I've really not enjoyed many musicals recently; The Secret Life of Bees was quite meh, Glory Ride, boring beyond belief and virtually everything at Southwark I've seen has misfired. I love Crazy for You (seen it 3 times - 2 Chichester 1 WE.) The only new(ish) musical I have really enjoyed and also rate highly is The Band's Visit.
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Post by tmesis on Jun 27, 2023 22:20:35 GMT
Well, assuming Kaufmann’s out for Saturday that’ll be three no-shows in a row for me as he failed to turn up for Cav & Pag and Fidelio before that. I’d prefer not to get Florez for this. In his earlier days I was a big fan when he specialised in the lighter Rossini and Donizetti roles but he has started to take on heavier roles and I really don’t think they suit him. I last saw him a year ago in La Boheme and I found his voice almost laughably thin for the part. I can’t see him being right for Werther but he has been singing it since 2016 and I could be wrong.
The best tenor I have ever heard in the role was the fabulous Alfredo Kraus in the 1970s.
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Post by tmesis on Jun 23, 2023 11:42:29 GMT
Phew nash16 I thought this was only me. Saw the Saturday matinee from a well air-conned seat in the stalls but hated it. Way too quick and superficial and desperately trying to be cool. I didn’t engage with either Romeo or Juliet. In the latter part I thought Isis Hainsworth was particularly poor in the final death scene with unbelievable over-acting. I also thought it lazy of Frecknall to use so much of Prokofiev’s music and let it do so much of the emotional heavy lifting.
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Post by tmesis on Jun 19, 2023 21:35:57 GMT
Well I saw the first 5 minutes tonight and then the show was halted - a number of techy guys started lifting up the stage and peering into the black hole of the revolve mechanism. This went on for an hour whilst a large number of creatives looked on anxiously: Rufus, Rupert and James, the latter looked like he was about to burst into tears. Around 8.45 an announcement was made: performance cancelled, full refund.
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Post by tmesis on Jun 12, 2023 18:21:58 GMT
I had high hopes for this but was hugely disappointed and just bored by the whole thing. Once you know the set up of the story there is nowhere for it to go and definitely no surprises. It’s all way too long and musically dull with predictable modal harmonies and melodies. The cast however are excellent and frankly wasted on this show.
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Post by tmesis on Jun 12, 2023 18:05:05 GMT
With previous all male G&S when on tour to theatres like Yvonne Arnauld, Windsor Theatre Royal et al the cast were definitely not paid. This was confirmed by the pianist/MD.
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Post by tmesis on Jun 4, 2023 19:32:38 GMT
What a tedious afternoon at the theatre this proved to be yesterday. Act One in particular felt interminable. I last saw this at Wilton’s Music Hall in 2017, a production I found enjoyable but just lacking the last amount of professionalism which I thought this might provide. Wrong!…this was amateurish in the extreme with poor performances and a dreary, cheap set. I have also never attended a gender-blind performance that felt more I’ll-judged and pointless.
As a musical it’s far from perfect and the two really good songs: ‘I believe in You’ and ‘Brotherhood of Man’ come right at the end, but it can be made to work far better than this.
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Post by tmesis on Jun 1, 2023 17:43:05 GMT
I’m planning a trip in December and would like to see The Nutcracker. The dates are all showing but the casting is currently blank. Do they get announced when the tickets go on sale or much nearer the actual performances? They usually announce casting just before public booking (usually only principal dancers though - more detailed casting is often only weeks, sometimes days, before.)
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Post by tmesis on May 27, 2023 5:51:54 GMT
I thought I might suffer a bit from overload of this type of play - I was there last night but the week before was The Vortex (Chichester) and the week before that Private Lives (Donmar.) But for me this was easily the most enjoyable of the three which is interesting as the two Cowards both took a bit of a ‘left field’ approach and this was more traditionally directed. I’ve only seen one other Maugham play - can’t remember what now but it was at Hampstead, but this was much more entertaining and I now hope they will revive more of this unfashionable author.
Littler has put together an absolutely tip top cast with the three ‘old lags’ - Le Prevost, Francis and Asher on sparkling form.
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Post by tmesis on May 20, 2023 19:31:29 GMT
Had an interesting journey from leafy Surrey to Chichester for today’s matinee. The Guildford line train to Havant had no connecting service to Chichester so I took the bus from there. In the end it was only a little lengthier than normal and I’m so glad I did because I thought this an excellent production. I very much enjoyed Private Lives at The Donmar last week which, with its more modern take on Coward, has equally divided opinion. Playing it straight through as a 95 minute psycho drama really works and concentrates the mind.
Two superb performances from mother and son Lia Williams and Joshua James
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Post by tmesis on May 5, 2023 19:36:18 GMT
I think the hairdresser might be The Barber of Seville rather than Sweeney.
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Post by tmesis on May 5, 2023 12:59:56 GMT
Seeing this in three weeks. Very much looking forward to it.
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Post by tmesis on Apr 29, 2023 17:15:11 GMT
I found this all a bit well, bland really. The music was perfectly pleasant but never really achieved any melodic, or harmonic distinction and all the songs, musically did what you expected them to do. The story also aimed for a powerful punch but didn’t deliver - towards the end the music could have ramped up the emotional temperature here but it was all pretty pedestrian. And, as others have said, there was way too much of it, particularly as it wasn’t furthering the plot or heightening the tension.
I started looking at my watch towards the end of Act 1 and then constantly in Act 2.
Lovely set design and lighting and an excellent cast.
75% standing ovation at the end so maybe it’s just me.
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