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Post by mallardo on Sept 18, 2018 8:03:38 GMT
I agree with Ryan re David Suchet and especially Russell Tovey in The Collection. It seemed to me that Tovey was doing a full on Ricky Gervais, the voice, the manner, everything - and doing it brilliantly. But Suchet was also wonderfully way out there and his "slum slug" speech was one for the ages.
The other two actors, John Macmillan and Hayley Squires, were good but not particularly memorable. They had The Lover to themselves but couldn't quite make it work because of Jamie Lloyd's cartoon like take on the piece. Not for the first time with Pinter, Lloyd has seen fit to have his actors heighten their performances into something slightly grotesque - see The Homecoming and The Hothouse of recent memory. Pinter's plays are already highly stylized and need no such embellishments.
Re the cat, there was a line reference to it in The Collection which Suchet made the most of so I suppose the creature was needed. She was immaculately behaved.
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Post by mallardo on Sept 15, 2018 13:42:36 GMT
Re emicardiff, I was just alerted to loud chanting voices in the street below and looked out to see a mob of Cardiff City football fans swarming down the road under heavy police escort as they made their way toward Stamford Bridge. They're in a good mood now but if they lose to Chelsea this afternoon things might get a little fraught on the return journey. I'm told the Cardiff fans are somewhat prone to mayhem - true, Em?
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Post by mallardo on Sept 14, 2018 9:38:51 GMT
I first saw her in Ragtime, pre-Broadway, when I didn't know who she was - and was completely blown away by her performance. Back To Before was absolutely devastating, I'll never forget it. Later, when she moved briefly to California, I saw her in 110 in the Shade and Brigadoon, both with her husband, Jason Danielly, and she was wonderful in both - she was as fine an actress as she was a singer, which is saying something. I always felt she had the most beautiful soprano voice on Broadway. Or anywhere, really.
This news is just overwhelming. Words fail. RIP to a great star.
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Post by mallardo on Sept 13, 2018 17:04:23 GMT
I don't question the abilities of the cast. It's the show I'm complaining about. The West End should never be a place where a "filler" production is given a major theatre for a six month run. Can we imagine such a thing happening on Broadway? If it's between a filler and a dark theatre, most theatre owners would pick the filler and many Broadway theatres do have filler, the Marquis Theatre has The Illusionists doing a short run for Christmas for example.
Point taken. But The Illusionists is running for a month, at Christmas, as you say. It's a seasonal thing.
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Post by mallardo on Sept 13, 2018 16:49:28 GMT
I don't question the abilities of the cast. It's the show I'm complaining about. The West End should never be a place where a "filler" production is given a major theatre for a six month run. Can we imagine such a thing happening on Broadway?
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Post by mallardo on Sept 13, 2018 8:52:40 GMT
People's outrage on here is hilarious. It's a musical, not the end of the world.
Since it's a theatre board, outrage is completely appropriate. The end of the world can be dealt with elsewhere.
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Post by mallardo on Sept 13, 2018 8:18:25 GMT
What does it say about the West End that a ten year old flop musical that has already toured extensively in the UK should take over a premier theatre like the Savoy? Is there really nothing else to go in there? Frankly, I'm a little bit appalled.
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Post by mallardo on Sept 6, 2018 23:03:38 GMT
I loved it too. I'd loved to have been at the meeting when the guys from the ad agency pitched this one. Must have been one of the great pitches, ever.
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Post by mallardo on Sept 6, 2018 18:18:25 GMT
I have pulled something in my back. Either by sitting at a desk, or by sleeping. Annoyingly, I normally have physios 'on tap' who can fix this sort of thing in my day job...but I'm not in until next week. Sonofabitch.
Last time I had what you have, Em, Ibuprofen fixed it right up.
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Post by mallardo on Sept 6, 2018 18:08:10 GMT
It sounds like the same basic story as the Lionel Bart/Alun Owen musical. They really should change the title.
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Post by mallardo on Aug 31, 2018 1:57:06 GMT
Hollywood Blvd. is dirty and tacky. You'll have plenty of costumed characters to spend time running away from. I’m staying at the Hollywood Roosevelt but apart from dinner at Musso & Frank (and possibly a film at the Egyptian), I’m not planning on spending too much time on the Boulevard itself, when I’m in NYC I tend to give Times Square a miss because of the preponderance of overweight Elmos and Captain America’s. You're going to spend some time on Hollywood Boulevard just walking to Musso & Frank's for which I would switch the dinner to a lunch if I were you. After that you can do the walk of stars and try to locate the spot where Trump's star was vandalized. And, of course, at the Roosevelt you have the Chinese Theatre right across the street - worth a visit to the lobby after you've done the footprints.
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Post by mallardo on Aug 28, 2018 0:01:20 GMT
Question for our American readers or international readers in the know: How many days should one plan for Philadelphia? I know about all the independence stuff (which I've pencilled one day sightseeing in for) but I don't know what else to do/see. No, I'm not striking a dumb Rocky pose on those stairs and from all I've heard Atlantic City is not worth the bother of a side trip. Current plan is two and a half days, not sure what to do on the second full day. Interests are varied, mostly history, but open to any ideas.
I've never been to Philadelphia as a tourist, just on business, and I find it hard to imagine what a tourist would do there. It's just a standard issue American city. Valley Forge, of Revolutionary War fame, is in one of the northern suburbs but it's a pretty bleak place. Definitely skip Atlantic City, there's nothing to it and what's there is is dreadful.
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Post by mallardo on Aug 27, 2018 23:52:02 GMT
I'm curious, is Tamburlaine portrayed as lame, either by Marlowe or by this production? His name, a nickname, is usually translated as Timur the Lame because he was badly crippled by battle injuries.
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Post by mallardo on Aug 23, 2018 22:34:40 GMT
As Ali notes above, Benanti reads older than she is and older that Lauren Ambrose for sure. Actually she might read older than Harry Hadden-Paton. She has a natural sophistication that is not what we're used to in Eliza. On the other hand she's a superb actress so it will be fascinating to see what she makes of the role.
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Post by mallardo on Aug 22, 2018 21:03:35 GMT
Orchestrator was quoting relevant lines from JRB's A Summer in Ohio (The Last Five Years). Disrespectful? No.
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Post by mallardo on Aug 22, 2018 20:23:17 GMT
It's a new musical that is appearing during a not so busy season. It's also summer, and there are a lot tourists. It will sell well for the next six months and even do well during the holidays and Christmas. But January to March will be brutal when the tourists disappear. It requires New Yorkers to want to see it, and New Yorkers have a lot more options, and their New York Times told them not to. It'll make some cash now and then close shop and make a lot more cash on tour. It's a bad show, but not a bad enterprise.
My crystal ball looks rosier than yours. No show survives on the Manhattan crowd with all their "options". As well as tourists - and the tourists never "disappear" from New York - this one seems to be attracting the suburbanites, the so-called bridge and tunnel folks - note the success of A Bronx Tale to see what that means at the box office - and, especially, it's strongly attracting a young-ish female audience, which means everything. Bad Show? I haven't seen it. But audiences are clearly responding to it.
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Post by mallardo on Aug 22, 2018 17:34:52 GMT
I think it will come to the West End and be a huge hit. It's playing to 100% capacity at the Nederlander Theatre and setting house box office records. It's one of those shows, like Wicked and Mama Mia, where the critics are irrelevant.
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Post by mallardo on Aug 21, 2018 21:11:35 GMT
Just back from the matinee. I think the main flaw is the cheerleading performances are simple and lacking, but they’re meant to be two top teams in a competition. Lots of stumbled landings and little in the way of impressive throws, towers and other routines. Two of the cast had obvious braces of their legs so that may have hindered things.
I haven't seen this production but I did see the original production (pre-Broadway) which had a cast full of Olympic gymnasts who were absolutely amazing in the cheerleader routines. For the show to really work that element has to be spectacular, no question.
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Post by mallardo on Aug 20, 2018 13:48:26 GMT
The St. Trinian's films, especially the first iconic one. I would cast it in the same way with one actor playing both the headmistress (in drag) and her criminal brother. It's a fabulous double role for a big name actor. There are also great roles for the slithery Flash Harry and the female police officer. And of course the girls. There is no real leading man so that would have to be created. But, with the right score, I can definitely see this working
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Post by mallardo on Aug 19, 2018 16:02:25 GMT
I don't know about best but most beautiful... Jerome Kern's All The Things You Are.
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Post by mallardo on Aug 19, 2018 2:13:02 GMT
He would, but if he isn't Jewish, will there be some stupid campaign by the professional moaners to prevent him playing it? Hope not, as I agree it's a brilliant idea. Exactly who are ‘the professional moaners’ you are referring to? I don’t recall them staging a protest when either Omid Djalili or Alfred Molina played Tevye?
There was a considerable controversy in New York when Molina played Tevye. And, unsurprisingly, he was extremely good in the part - though no one seemed to care about that.
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Post by mallardo on Aug 13, 2018 22:11:33 GMT
I see that Pretty Woman - still in previews - broke the box office record at the Nederlander Theatre last week. Whatever the critics say later this week, the show looks very much like a hit and Sam Barks looks very much like a star in the making. TM, I know you, like me, heartily approve!
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Post by mallardo on Aug 10, 2018 23:34:50 GMT
I could be wrong (but I don’t think so as I was pulled up on it about a year ago) but I didn’t think board members were allowed under board rules to promote shows they are involved with. I always thought that rule was in place because otherwise I am sure people would be talking about productions they are doing all the time. But maybe I’m wrong. That’s not to say that I don’t wish you well with the show though
I'm glad you added that last sentence.
A member (of long standing) of this Board has written a play which is currently being produced in a West End theatre. How about... congratulatons, paplazroo, on your fantastic achievement!!! I can well imagine what you went through to get the piece to this level but now it's your turn to enjoy it. And on to the next one.
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Post by mallardo on Aug 10, 2018 13:53:39 GMT
They only have three understudies so they can't do the whole play - just selected scenes. I think I can guess which scenes they won't select. The three understudies will go on. The rest of the company, bar the three roles being understudied, will perform and they'll run the whole play.
You may be right but their twitter page says it's a 75 minute "excerpt".
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Post by mallardo on Aug 9, 2018 19:26:34 GMT
They only have three understudies so they can't do the whole play - just selected scenes. I think I can guess which scenes they won't select.
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Post by mallardo on Aug 5, 2018 18:06:44 GMT
Party scenes are very hard to stage - clearly. I don't think Joe Hill-Gibbins got enough credit for keeping what was essentially a three hour night club party going in relatively convincing fashion in Absolute Hell.
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Post by mallardo on Aug 5, 2018 15:52:39 GMT
Let's not be giving Miranda all the credit. Tom Kitt wrote half the score. Miranda's music stands out, for sure, because he has such a strong style, but he also had the best part of the story to deal with.
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Post by mallardo on Jul 28, 2018 23:41:26 GMT
Why is it only in America that these free refills occur Personally, I'd rather have universal free healthcare than universal free coffee refills, but each to their own, I guess .
Why not have both?
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Post by mallardo on Jul 28, 2018 19:21:37 GMT
I'm in LA at the moment and went out to breakfast this morning, during which my coffee cup was refilled four times by the waitress. The same would have happened if I'd ordered iced tea or, indeed, a coke. Why is it only in America that these free refills occur? I know that every time I have to pay for a second cup of coffee in London (or anywhere in Europe) I resent it.
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Post by mallardo on Jul 23, 2018 22:23:50 GMT
Charlie Stemp moving up to the role of Cornelius, perhaps?
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