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Post by greeny11 on Feb 4, 2023 22:13:40 GMT
I would be very surprised if Carl doesn't get to go on as Romeo again, Tom seems to have a lot of time off (indicated by the fact Carl has done over 100 shows as Romeo).
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Post by greeny11 on Dec 31, 2022 13:02:13 GMT
I'm seeing Newsies tomorrow, which I suspect will make my list, but so far (and I'm sticking to shows I'm seeing for the first time in 2022, otherwise Come From Away, & Juliet and Six would be on there): 1. Choir of Man (loved it in Edinburgh, but loved the extended version currently in London even more) 2. My Son's A Queer (Edinburgh Fringe) 3. Kathy and Stella (Edinburgh Fringe) 4. Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club 5. Moulin Rouge After Newsies: 1. Choir of Man 2. Newsies 3. My Sons A Queer 4. Kathy and Stella 5. cabaret
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Post by greeny11 on Dec 29, 2022 17:40:10 GMT
I'm seeing Newsies tomorrow, which I suspect will make my list, but so far (and I'm sticking to shows I'm seeing for the first time in 2022, otherwise Come From Away, & Juliet and Six would be on there):
1. Choir of Man (loved it in Edinburgh, but loved the extended version currently in London even more) 2. My Son's A Queer (Edinburgh Fringe) 3. Kathy and Stella (Edinburgh Fringe) 4. Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club 5. Moulin Rouge
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Post by greeny11 on Oct 28, 2022 14:25:50 GMT
Cast recording for this is out - some extra bits of dialogue in a couple of the songs, but otherwise not too dissimilar from the London recording with the exception of the cast. I like what I hear mostly - particularly Betsy Wolfe as Anne.
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Post by greeny11 on Aug 30, 2022 9:15:59 GMT
I'm sure she will, but if she's still enjoying herself and not bored, why should she leave? I haven't seen Zara yet, but Miriam is comfortably the best Juliet I've seen, so will be disappointed when she does leave.
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Post by greeny11 on Aug 25, 2022 12:39:35 GMT
I deliberately booked things I thought I'd like - it's my first Fringe, so wanted to have a good first experience of it. I avoided anything that had bad reviews, or just didn't appeal to me! That said, what is 7/10 for me would probably be more like a 5/10 for others.
Two more to add to the list are Rob Madge's show, which was fantastic; and Choir of Man, which was pure joy.
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Post by greeny11 on Aug 24, 2022 11:53:50 GMT
Seen 7 shows so far:
Unfortunate - 7/10 - Liked the songs, liked the characters, not a fan of all the jokes about mens genitalia- 1 or 2 are OK, but this had loads Showstopper - 10/10 - Brilliant, chaotic fun. We had a musical set on a roundabout in Milton Keynes. Ruth Bratt was particularly funny Kathy and Stella- 9/10 - Best of the scripted shows I’ve seen. Really catchy score with some great voices. Very funny throughout as well Fantastically Great Women - 8/10 - really liked this but the schoolgirl character is so unbelievably annoying. Catchy score - favourite songs were Rosa’s song and the finale. Don’t Say Macbeth - 7.5/10 - very cheap compared to some of the other shows I’ve seen, but I really enjoyed this. Loved all the musical references and one of the witches was very funny. Mischief Movie Night - 10/10 - i knew I’d love this and was right. A very funny period drama featuring a gibbon, a music box singing an S Club 7 megamix and some great action sequences Mindmangler - 8.5/10 - pretty sure this was basically the same sequence as in Magic Goes Wrong but slightly extended. Audience were brilliant for this which made for some great banter and ad libbing by Henry Lewis.
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Post by greeny11 on Aug 12, 2022 18:30:17 GMT
To be fair, I feel as though St Louis does the best that she can with what she was given. I genuinely think Donnelly is just awful. He honestly has the charisma and stage presence of a rock. When I last saw it a few months back, some members of the audience cackled as he fell to the floor during 'Stranger...' because it was just so lifeless. Both of the managers aren't great and you had a Carlotta whose diction was horrendous and missed literally all of Carlotta's comic moments (although she was significantly better towards the end of her run!) Greg Castiglioni is so underrated, but the changes to Piangi make him a nuisance throughout. Rhys Whitfield's Raoul was probably the saving point of the show; genuinely probably the best Raoul I've ever seen. He genuinely embodied the character. It's a shame we didn't get to see him with a better cast around him. I agree with this - Lucy was fine when I saw the show - the problem is with Killian. I've liked him in other roles, but not as the Phantom. He brought nothing to the role, and the majority of the big notes he has to sing were painful to listen to. I enjoyed the show far more when James Gant was the Phantom. I've been a regular to Phantom over the years, but am not going back until Killian has gone. My other issue was with how quiet the orchestra sounded at times - particularly Masquerade and during the Final Lair. It was painfully obvious they had reduced the band quite significantly during those 2 songs.
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Post by greeny11 on Jul 10, 2022 17:27:55 GMT
I'd assume it'd be Ben Joyce, given Luke Suri is joining the London cast. Ben Joyce has said he’s taking extended time off to rest his voice. Not that much time off
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Post by greeny11 on Jul 9, 2022 15:49:19 GMT
I'd assume it'd be Ben Joyce, given Luke Suri is joining the London cast.
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Post by greeny11 on Jun 25, 2022 11:18:11 GMT
Pictures of their set show it was Jamie was there, along with Liisi (singing Firework) and the 4 Moulin Rouge ladies singing 'Lady Marmalade'.
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Post by greeny11 on Jun 12, 2022 17:32:22 GMT
Edit: I see it's already been posted.
ALW really does have a complete lack of awareness of the appropriate things to say. That is an awful letter to ask Laurence to read out at a closing performance.
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Post by greeny11 on Jun 6, 2022 18:17:09 GMT
Its great they are filming and releasing this the only thing I would say is they keep reverting back to the original Six queens for all these extra things (except for Saturday at the palace) can they not put their faith in the current cast for some of these extra things? Agreed. I think the original West End cast are very romanticised. It’s odd that the cast haven’t performed the show regularly together for a number years get to do the performance that is forever on film. Possibly because unlike most original West End casts - there's nothing for fans to keep/watch with them performing (apart from illegal bootlegs). The original cast recording was from the initial cast who only did a handful of performances. At least fans of the original West End cast will have this memory of them to keep (assuming it's released for download/DVD eventually). Edit: Not saying I agree with it, just thinking about why they've chosen the original cast.
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Post by greeny11 on May 2, 2022 16:26:37 GMT
Glad we'll have a professional recording of the Megasix, along with the updated arrangements to some of the other numbers.
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Post by greeny11 on May 1, 2022 15:01:23 GMT
You Can’t Stop The Beat from Hairspray- starts off with Tracy and Link, it’s the full cast by the end.
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Post by greeny11 on Apr 22, 2022 16:34:18 GMT
The only issue with the Excel in terms of West End Live is it's quite far out, it's not anywhere near the theatres. The best part of it being in Trafalgar Square is it's really close to most of the theatres, which is also a plus for the cast as it's not far to get back to their theatre. Also, with more shows doing Sunday shows now, I'd expect the Sunday of WEL to be better than it has previously been.
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Post by greeny11 on Apr 20, 2022 21:50:04 GMT
Hop on the Central line from St Paul's to Holborn - it's a 5 minute walk from Holborn to the theatre.
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Post by greeny11 on Apr 20, 2022 11:44:37 GMT
There are parts to like about the show (though not a huge fan of the opening megamix - which is what they performed at the Oliviers), but having seen it twice, I won't go back unless I know there's a different Christian. Harsh as it may be, I don't want to be sitting there wincing at multiple cracks during high notes and some (at best) very average acting. I cannot believe that there wasn't a better actor/singer who auditioned for Christian.
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Post by greeny11 on Apr 20, 2022 11:03:36 GMT
They're pretty quick getting people through, just a bag check and ticket check and you're in. I'd still give yourself 10-15 minutes as there can be queues for programmes/merchandise and the bar, and depending on where you're sitting, it can be a bit of maze to get to the auditorium.
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Post by greeny11 on Apr 20, 2022 9:23:55 GMT
I saw it last Monday (11th) and the programmes had the new cast. Did they have no programmes at all?
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Post by greeny11 on Apr 19, 2022 13:38:42 GMT
There was an excellent pre-show announcement at Tina last night - mentioned mask wearing, no singing or dancing, no phones, bar closed during show and being kind to other patrons and staff. It had the desired effect as there was nothing until Tina encouraged singing during Simply The Best.
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Post by greeny11 on Apr 17, 2022 20:20:07 GMT
Much as I enjoy Jersey Boys, I won't go back just because it seems to attract the very worst audiences.
I have to say, I've seen quite a few shows over the past week, and pretty much every audience has been very well behaved. Bad behaviour is often highlighted, but I feel it should also be mentioned when there are good audiences.
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Post by greeny11 on Apr 17, 2022 5:04:47 GMT
There are understudies, but I'm almost certain JLG and Frances are scheduled to do 8 shows a week.
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Post by greeny11 on Apr 15, 2022 6:02:49 GMT
I saw it Wednesday evening and thought it was very good. I love the score anyway, so I knew I'd probably like it, but it was really very good. Frances, Natalie and George were all fantastic. Jordan sang it brilliantly - and Raise A Little Hell was spectacular, but I was a little less convinced about him being a criminal in love with Bonnie in other parts.
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Post by greeny11 on Apr 14, 2022 18:23:51 GMT
I aaw the matinee and thought Craig Ryder was excellent, and preferred him to Clive. I quite liked Liisi too, but preferred Tanisha who I saw the first time.
Unfortunately, Jamie cracked at least 3 times on high notes and was weak generally apart from Roxanne which was his best part of the show.
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Post by greeny11 on Apr 13, 2022 17:03:42 GMT
Grace has done way more performances as Anna than Aiesha. I hope Aiesha is OK.
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Post by greeny11 on Apr 13, 2022 17:02:23 GMT
The new cast have settled in really well, all 3 of the new principals impressed me, and the new ensemble members are excellent. Saw Alex Tranter as Shakespeare and he was really good, he worked brilliantly with Cassidy. It was a bit weird to see Ivan in the ensemble when Alex was Shakespeare, but Ivan has lost his Shakespeare cover altogether (Carl Man is 2nd cover)
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Post by greeny11 on Mar 27, 2022 6:03:04 GMT
Lots of points echoed in that review, Masquerade did indeed look great - dare I say better than the original production. Are you sure you saw James Gant, he really vocally struggled at times when I saw him and it wasn't the sort of thing you'd neglect to mention. Maybe you saw Ashley Stillburn? Killian does seem to be off a lot. I've seen James Gant as Phantom before, and he was vocally one of the strongest Phantoms I've seen, so maybe you just saw him on an off night. It was James yesterday, he's been posting on Instagram about it all week. Having seen Killian and James, I prefer James massively (based on the performances I saw).
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Post by greeny11 on Mar 19, 2022 5:39:37 GMT
Sounds like they didn't get much rest before their performance, which may explain why the vocals weren't as strong as they could've been. Also, MT sets never really work out of context - I still enjoyed it though, and enjoyed seeing Tom as Romeo. He's got a very strong rock voice which suits It's My Life, but interested to see how he takes on some of Romeo's other, more-poppy songs. First impressions are his Romeo won't be as camp as Jordan's (or Alex's) Romeo.
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Post by greeny11 on Mar 12, 2022 14:50:35 GMT
I've found the score has grown on me significantly having seen the show 3 times now, and now listened to the cast recording a couple of times. Highlights for me are both of Rosanna Hyland's songs, For The Dreamers, Gotta Start Somewhere, plus the songs from the film towards the end of the show. Also love how much of the instrumental sections are on the recording as well.
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