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Post by Rory on Jan 4, 2024 12:22:20 GMT
It was all so good but I think the highlight for me was Bonnie's 'I'm Still Here'. It was just superb.
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Post by Rory on Jan 3, 2024 22:33:31 GMT
I wonder if she was allowed to say that! What did she say?
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Post by Rory on Jan 3, 2024 22:17:03 GMT
Sweet Jesus, that was fantastic! Just out. Full house and electric atmosphere. As far as I could tell, only Clare Burt was out. Jo Riding did Ladies Who Lunch superbly.
Pure unadulterated joy! If they could only bottle it!
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Post by Rory on Jan 1, 2024 12:45:13 GMT
Thanks for all the work you put into this every year, n1david. I always love this thread!
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Post by Rory on Dec 30, 2023 22:42:53 GMT
Going on public opinion (as represented in the plays section of TheatreBoard), I’d say Backstairs Billy, but I haven’t seen either and should probably just be quiet. Some of the remarks other people have made are quite interesting though, at least interesting enough to read while waiting for dinner. Are you forced to decide between the two for a ticket purchase or just making conversation? I have a slot on Wednesday and was trying to decide between these two!
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Post by Rory on Dec 30, 2023 13:38:34 GMT
As per other thread, Men Up on BBC / iplayer was superb.
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Post by Rory on Dec 30, 2023 0:34:15 GMT
I thought this was fabulous. Real writing from the heart, exploring male friendship and relationships. Superb acting throughout. Paul Rhys is just wonderful in this. They all are.
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Post by Rory on Dec 29, 2023 18:06:59 GMT
The Homecoming or Backstairs Billy?
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Post by Rory on Dec 27, 2023 13:55:17 GMT
Kenny Wax puts all his stuff in Nimax venues usually, so my guesss is the Apollo.
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Post by Rory on Dec 25, 2023 5:29:46 GMT
According to predictions and announcements, what time of the year should I come to London to watch the best of the West End and Off? I look forward to Opening Night, Enemy of the People, Minority Report, Sky's Edge, Long Day's Journey. Any other shows that are not to be missed, The Hills of California by Jez Butterworth at the Harold Pinter, directed by Sam Mendes. Player Kings directed by Robert Icke with Ian McKellen at the Noel Coward (followed later in the year by Armando Ianucci's adaptation of Dr Strangelove with Steve Coogan). I am also very intrigued by Double Feature at the Hampstead by John Logan, directed by Jonathan Kent. Will be interesting to see the casting in this. Vibes of Hitchcock Blonde, which I loved, with a behind the scenes look at the classic movie Witchfinder General with Vincent Price. Later in the year, also at the Hampstead, Michael Longhurst is directing Between Riverside and Crazy by Stephen Adly Guirgis. Before that, Longhurst is (co) directing his final show as Artistic Director of the Donmar, The Human Body. This is Lucy Kirkwood's new play with Keeley Hawes and Jack Davenport. A Mirror by Sam Holcroft transfers from the Almeida to the Trafalgar in January. No Michael Ward this time round but Jonny Lee Miller, Tanya Reynolds and Geoffrey Streatfield are returning, directed by Jeremy Herrin. SJP and Matthew Broderick are transferring to the Savoy from Broadway in Neil Simon's Plaza Suite directed by John Benjamin Hickey, who appeared in The Inheritance at the Young Vic a few years ago. This will be followed by the long awaited West End transfer, from Broadway, of Mean Girls. Nachtland at the Young Vic is a new German play by Marius von Mayenburg directed by Patrick Marber with Romola Garai, John Heffernan, Jane Horrocks and Angus Wright. Sarah Snook appears at the Haymarket in a one woman production of The Picture of Dorian Gray, the Sydney Theatre Company production which had video installations and sounds great. Later in the year at the same venue, James Macdonald is directing a major new production of Waiting for Godot with Ben Whishaw and Lucian Msamati. I think the National's programming continues to be very impressive. Till the Stars Come Down, Dear Octopus and London Tide are the standouts for me. Nye is also being done in the Olivier with Michael Sheen and the terrific actress Sharon Small, so good in Good recently. I didn't love Next to Normal quite as much as a lot of people on here, but it's a very slick production with a standout lead in Caissie Levy and is deservedly transferring to Wyndham's in June. Finally, the long overdue Hello, Dolly! directed by Dominic Cooke, not at the Adelphi as originally planned, but installed at the London Palladium for a summer season. Imelda Staunton, Andy Nyman, Jenna Russell and Tyrone Huntley star.
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Post by Rory on Dec 24, 2023 15:04:06 GMT
I could imagine this in the Criterion or Ambassadors.
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Post by Rory on Dec 23, 2023 12:49:53 GMT
I hope that everyone has a happy and peaceful Christmas, with thanks once again for the sense of community on here. And a big thank you to those who make it all possible for us!
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Post by Rory on Dec 20, 2023 13:32:42 GMT
They've changed the artwork.
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Post by Rory on Dec 20, 2023 9:15:11 GMT
I was going to come on here with a list of recent major Pinter revivals I've seen but then realised that most of them were pre-2002 when I left London. I think Pinter is in a different league to the other writers you mention, Jan, and I can't imagine that the big plays won't get major revivals from time to time over the years. When, though, was the last major Caretaker revival? I can't think of one since the Patrick Marber one with Michael Gambon and that was presumably 2000? The Bath Ustinov is reviving The Lover/The Collection in the Spring with David Morrissey. Ayckbourn is an interesting one, as you say. Down in the west country we seem to get Relatively Speaking in Bath every two or three years, but nothing else on tour. Matthew Warchus did a superb Norman Conquests a few years back. But those big plays where he was at the height of his reputation as a serious comic dramatist haven't had much interest as far as I can see. Has there ever been a revival of Man of the Moment, for example, which was one of Gambon's finest hours? The last major revival of The Caretaker was at the Old Vic in 2016. Matthew Warchus directed Timothy Spall, Daniel Mays and George Mackay. Before that, I think, was the Trafalgar Studios transfer from Bath of Christopher Morahan's revival in 2010 with Jonathan Pryce, Peter McDonald and Sam Spruell.
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Post by Rory on Dec 19, 2023 15:03:53 GMT
1. Sunset Boulevard 2. Dear England 3. The Motive and the Cue 4. A Little Life 5. Accidental Death of an Anarchist
Honourable mentions to A Streetcar Named Desire, Next to Normal, Patriots and The Unfriend.
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Post by Rory on Dec 19, 2023 12:17:31 GMT
I wonder if it's a short six week run as the Criterion has something else lined up for April, when Unbelievable had been due to finish?
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Post by Rory on Dec 18, 2023 13:40:03 GMT
Great cast announced for King Lear.
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Post by Rory on Dec 14, 2023 20:20:01 GMT
Fair enough, and therefore producers need to let go of the concept of not reviewing a show before “opening night” 👍 Not necessarily. Previews still exist to bed in a show, they just cost the same. They shouldn't charge full whack until it has fully bedded in.
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Post by Rory on Dec 14, 2023 15:38:05 GMT
Bruno Tonioli at Sunset Boulevard. Also saw Jamie Lloyd (with notebook in hand,) the third director I’ve seen this week. I can imagine him trying to get up on stage! I've seen Bruno twice, once at Gypsy with Imelda and then more recently at Jerusalem.
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Post by Rory on Dec 14, 2023 6:27:42 GMT
5* star rave fram Rachel Halliburton in the Times.
4* in the Telegraph from Claire Allfree
3* from Arifa, natch.
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Post by Rory on Dec 13, 2023 15:11:48 GMT
👀
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Post by Rory on Dec 11, 2023 15:05:08 GMT
I’ve not posted my thoughts on this yet, beyond a few short posts in the days after. But although I’m likely not posting anything new on this thread, I wanted to come back to do so as it’s now over a month since I saw the show, and it’s still resonating with me. I should start by saying I’m not hugely familiar with a lot of Sondheim’s work - West Side Story yes, and the tracks he did with Madonna for I’m Breathless, plus Losing My Mind via the Liza Minelli / Pet Shop Boys collaboration, but otherwise most of this show was new to me. So I wasn’t one of those battling for tickets to last year’s gala celebration, or even trying to get tickets for this run when it first went on sale. Inevitably what convinced me to go was the enthusiasm and love for the show on this forum. I belatedly watched the gala concert on iPlayer just to make sure I wouldn’t hate it, and decided I really didn’t want to miss it. I was having a rubbish week and could see Rush tickets were fairly easy to get, so off I went to the Gielgud a few weeks ago. And wow – I’m so so glad I went! Right from the off the show was joyous, and one of the things that I loved was the delight on the cast’s faces to be performing in the big ensemble numbers. Unlike other shows where people are more ‘in character’ this felt like they were being themselves more (bar some elements like the Sweeney Todd section of course) and that visible joy was infectious. Seeing Bernadette sing Losing My Mind was wonderful, and not something I’ll ever forget (so glad we get her version on the cast recording that’s just been released). Bradley Jaden was an absolute star throughout – I’ve seen him multiple times in Les Mis but it was so lovely to see him smiling and he was on stage in this far more than I expected. And as for his stint in wolf’s clothing – also something I’ll never forget! And Christine Allado too – she was only thing I enjoyed about We Will Rock You at the Coliseum, and she shone in this, particularly in the West Side Story section. I loved the set, simple but effective and realised they’d replicated the gala approach and used some of the Les Mis set for both Sweeney and WSS. Plus Bonnie too of course – yes she gurns a lot and is perhaps a little OTT at points, but I’m Still Here was fantastic, and can easily be interpreted as partly-autobiographical given her longevity. Seeing Old Friends felt like a musical theatre education and I think what made it was the sheer talent on that stage – this cast really is drawn from the crème de la crème of West End and Broadway performers and whilst they might not be household names as such, for those of us in the know it was an incredible chance to see them all together on stage in one place at one time. If I possibly can I’d like to go back again before it ends! What a wonderful review! I am seeing this for the first time in its final week and I haven't looked forward to something so much for a very long time!
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Post by Rory on Dec 8, 2023 8:37:11 GMT
Today Tix have a good deal on this until the end of today only, I believe.
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Post by Rory on Dec 7, 2023 9:29:52 GMT
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Post by Rory on Dec 6, 2023 15:00:41 GMT
The reviews seem to praise most aspects of the production itself but the misogyny of the text appears to have lowered the star ratings.
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Post by Rory on Dec 6, 2023 10:48:14 GMT
I find the LW Theatres site to be 'glitchy' in general.
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Post by Rory on Dec 2, 2023 0:07:16 GMT
Oh to be a fly on the wall. "Cast illness", "Technical issues" ....I bet they are all stressed out of their minds. Feel sorry for them. They'd have been better cancelling the tour and honing the script.
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Post by Rory on Dec 1, 2023 0:29:55 GMT
I hope this does well (although I'm not optimistic at all) and one of the reasons is that Grace Molony deserves a West End break, after her run in The Watsons was pulled so cruelly because of covid, seemingly permanently.
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Post by Rory on Dec 1, 2023 0:24:47 GMT
If I'd seen this play at the Park or Southwark I might have rated it better. There are funny moments and I think the acting of the two leading ladies is pretty good, if not helped by their parts. But this is a very expensive product and the audience has a right to be more demanding when it is being asked to pay very high prices for tickets. Nice set, nicely staged but whilst I have seen plays which combine tragic and comic elements successfully, here the laughs and the serious stuff work against each other which - when combined with the pretty average writing - leaves you wondering if the whole thing is just built on a fantasy and makes you question what the writer is trying to achieve. The KST character is like a stray from a Tennessee Williams play who has wandered into a sequel for The Lady In The Van so the trauma being experienced by the Lily James character pales and you end up watching the two key characters bumbling along in clumsy slapsticky routines which diminishes the dignity and credibility of the roles. I have to say the audience reaction was fairly positive and wonder... might we end up with theatre where the actors, or celebrities, become the only reason to see a production? The critics may hate it, discerning theatregoers might scoff but if bums are put firmly on seats at prices well skywards of £100 and now moving beyond £200... the producers may worry less about quality. Like blockbuster movies which are panned but make tons at the box office. Is this a potential future for theatre? My guess is that Sonia Friedman and Ian Rickson, creatives of integrity, will have been very stung by the critical mauling this has received and will learn from it. That it has been a commercial success is a matter of good fortune, and largely due to a starry cast, strong sales before opening and a no refund policy.
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Post by Rory on Nov 30, 2023 23:57:06 GMT
I love programmes, I love flyers, I love physical tickets. I try to get something for everything I see from fringe through West End. I keep 'em in chronological order and look back every now and again. I completely agree, Dave! I love a programme, a poster and a flyer, any tangible representation of a show! I wish all the shows would go back to doing flyers. I've got tonnes of them from the early 90's onwards.
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