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Post by theatremadness on Jul 26, 2017 15:30:21 GMT
goes hard when it goes stale. Don't we all!
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Post by theatremadness on Jul 26, 2017 12:05:54 GMT
Just got a 19.50 in circle for matinee. Clearly been reduced at some point. I hope it's not because Audra isn't on. Either way, cheap matinee sorted. I might be making this up, but I'm pretty sure on Broadway she had no understudy, so if Audra wasn't on, the show was cancelled. If that is true, the same has probably been adopted for this run too. So enjoy!
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Post by theatremadness on Jul 26, 2017 10:43:17 GMT
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Post by theatremadness on Jul 25, 2017 18:07:23 GMT
Ah I didn't try the mango ones. Guess I'll have to now!!
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Post by theatremadness on Jul 25, 2017 14:32:30 GMT
Bought some of the much-discussed lemon & lime jaffa cakes from M&S last night for my tube journey home. Consider me a fan!! Delish.
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Post by theatremadness on Jul 25, 2017 14:10:42 GMT
TodayTix already has some of the AA/BB tickets on sale across select dates. They are £15, so just check the dates which show prices "from £15" - unless there's a mistake, doesn't seem like they will only be available on the day!
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Post by theatremadness on Jul 25, 2017 0:18:18 GMT
^ Sure, but in the context of this production, there are two physical acts the audience sits through. Disregarding what is joined together when, Act 1 is around 45 mins and Act 2 around 1 hour 40. It's twice the length, despite Act 2 technically containing two acts in itself. I don't think people are faulting the play, but commenting on the choice made for this production.
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Post by theatremadness on Jul 25, 2017 0:01:44 GMT
I was there tonight, and I would say 3* is absolutely right. This is complete bog-standard, middle-of-the-road, uneventful, harmless theatre. Didn't hate it by any means so wouldn't go for 1* or 2*, and it teased the dizzying heights of 4* but never really quite reached it. It thought the acting, all round, was fine. Not an offensively bad performance from anyone in my opinion, but certainly nothing outstanding. Act 1 is all but a monologue from Sienna Miller, and she delivers it with aplomb but with hit-and-miss skill. She tries a tad too hard, maybe. Jack O'Connell does indeed fare slightly better (no towel-slipping tonight) and Haley Squires is fun, but everyone else is pretty inconsequential, to tell the truth. A rather annoying sibilant 's' from the actor playing Gooper did start to grate as it began to mess with his accent (accents were not offensive either, but then again I'm not Southern American!). Anyway, the acting. Again, middle of the road, if not a tad boring. The nudity isn't completely gratuitous, it didn't effect my perception of the acting. It wasn't *so* bad that it felt like the nudity was there to distract, in my opinion. Directing was a bit dodge, though. Lots of 'arriving just in time for the character to be needed' and quite a bit of walking on for a couple of seconds and walking off. A nice design, would've been nicer if something 'happened' with it I guess. Very, very bare. There are some cute kids, too.
This was my first experience of the play, having held off watching the film which I have recorded at home, and to be honest, I wasn't particularly enamored with it. Maybe it was this production, but not much seemed to happen. Little drama (and just because people shout and throw things - boy is there a lot of mess made!!!! - doesn't fool me into thinking there's drama), no stakes, nothing much to keep an audience invested at all really. I came out thinking "why is this a play?". Why do these people's stories so desperately need to be told? What is special about their lives, about this evening that we are dropped into? I'm all for a bit of drama that centres around normal people, where no big events happen and it's all a little "psychological", but there didn't even seem to me to be much of that, either. Much like the acting, I found it all to be rather inconsequential. Yes there's a lot to be said about the truth of a family and the consequences of the lies we tell, maybe this production just didn't totally grasp it. And my goodness don't they repeat things a lot. Maybe it's because the period writing jarred a little with the modern setting, but Act 2 could be half the length if the characters didn't repeat themselves and other characters quite so much!
Again, it's not to say I hated it at all. There's some comedy to enjoy, some nice one-liners, and even though Act 2 is over double the length of Act 1, I found it didn't actually drag much. So even though I have my reservations about the play, I must've been engaged one way or another. And again, maybe those reservations are down to a possible sub-par production which was, as I mentioned, my very first introduction to this play. But I am looking forward to watching the film.
Lovely spread at the after party, though!
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Post by theatremadness on Jul 23, 2017 14:32:28 GMT
Haven't watched it yet, but isn't it partly in aid of Comic Relief, too? Looks like a pretty funny idea. Doesn't it take so much energy to be grumpy so much?!
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Post by theatremadness on Jul 23, 2017 11:15:12 GMT
Sophie is also one of the nicest and most genuine people you could meet or work with so I hope she's 'popular' with the fans and that the crazies don't take advantage of her kindness!
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Post by theatremadness on Jul 22, 2017 20:47:48 GMT
Currently watching 'Speed' for the first time. It's so awesome 90's, I love it!!!
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Post by theatremadness on Jul 22, 2017 19:31:34 GMT
Is she taking social media lessons from Ms Erivo?!
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Post by theatremadness on Jul 22, 2017 14:30:42 GMT
Anyone else greeted by Anusol ads every time they log in? Or am I being singled out?! I've been told Anusol is good for our souls, but there's a chance I may have heard that wrong.
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Post by theatremadness on Jul 22, 2017 12:59:46 GMT
Thanks. I'll give it a listen. I also think I'll swerve seeing the show based on your last sentence. Im quite pedantic about musical sound so don't want to have to deal with that show if theres an issue already. Apologies - didn't mean to put you off, as it's only my personal opinion! I just think the show (as it's my favourite of all time) deserves to be much louder and somehow fuller as I believe that would deliver an even higher emotional impact and do the show and orchestrations justice Just feels a bit flaccid, for want for a better word!! Unlike the 25th Anniversary UK Tour where, even from the back row of the gallery at the Barbican, the sound filled the place. West End-wise, the best musical for sound levels, purely in my opinion, was Memphis. That almost literally (as well as figuratively) blew me away. Anyhow, like I said, only my opinion. It certainly isn't effecting the show at all as the Queen's is, of course, regularly packing in the very happy punters!
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Post by theatremadness on Jul 22, 2017 12:24:19 GMT
I have a question re: Les Mis in London. Has the show been re-orchestrated over the years/moves? The original show as reflected in the original soundtrack was quite heavy in synth (Yamaha DX7 to be precise). But I noticed for some of the more recent releases including anniversary performances had replaced a lot of the keyboard work with orchestra instrumentation. Ive yet to see this show in London and would be a little bit disappointed if the show wasn't still laden in the synths. Would rather know in advance to prepare myself. The orchestrations in London were changed for the 25th Anniversary in 2010 to reflect the new orchestrations (by Christopher Jahnke, Stephen Metcalf and Stephen Brooker, as listed on the Les Mis website), which were originally introduced to the show for the 2006 Broadway revival. I believe the orchestrations used in London currently are a more downsized version of what was originally written; the full effect of the new orchestrations can be heard on the Les Mis 25th Anniversary UK Tour cast recording if you so wish to do so! The orchestra and pit was expanded for this change (I believe), as they lost 3 seats either side of the original orchestra pit (which became fan favourites as they were usually heavily discounted due to being so close you were practically on stage) when it was expanded. Even with the expansions and extra musicians, I still think the sound at Les Mis in London is so tinny and thin and they could desperately do with cranking up the volume a few notches, but that's another issue!
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Post by theatremadness on Jul 21, 2017 20:49:11 GMT
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Post by theatremadness on Jul 21, 2017 16:43:09 GMT
If it's anything like the system used in "Singin' In The Rain," the stuff was so thick with chemicals it was more like jelly when it hit the front row. Or containing piss, if you worked with Tommy Steele during SITR....apparently!
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Post by theatremadness on Jul 21, 2017 16:37:29 GMT
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Post by theatremadness on Jul 21, 2017 14:39:47 GMT
No ho ho, don't mention blind casting... Actually I read a very odd review of Fiddler in Chichester which seemed to think that casting a man who is Iranian heritage ( and not Jewish) as Tevye was in some way something to be remarked on. Can o' worms? Sorry to go OT, but that's an interesting one. Fiddler is a show about a minority group of people, much in the same way The Colour Purple is, for example. But there would never, ever be a Celie cast as anything other than black, I should think? Should the same apply to Fiddler? Their original Lazar Wolf, Chris Jarman (who is now no longer part of the production), is a black, non-Jewish man playing a Jewish man whose skin colour is indeterminable. Is this comparable to Shug Avery being played by anyone other than a black woman? Must stress, this ISN'T my opinion, but a question to which I have no answer! On the other hand (to coin Tevye's phrase), to cast an entire musical where being Jewish is directly related to the story, with only Jewish people is probably far less logistic than casting an entire musical with black people, where it is dictated by story. I've seen other reviews that said having mixed race/black people in Fiddler adds yet another level of contemporary realism to the story, which is also a good point. Of course, being Jewish has nothing to do with skin colour and Jewish people are far less likely to be "denied" a job based on that factor compared to a black actor, for example, so of course it's not a like-for-like comparison by any stretch of the imagination, but a smattering of food for thought nonetheless.
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Post by theatremadness on Jul 21, 2017 9:54:48 GMT
How does one acquire the U25 tickets, specifically for Fun Home? Or all they all sold out now?
EDIT: Worked it out - not available during previews which is what I was checking! Got my U25 tickets for the end of June 2018, madness!
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Post by theatremadness on Jul 20, 2017 17:33:44 GMT
Cynners?
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Post by theatremadness on Jul 20, 2017 15:11:04 GMT
Heard on the grapevine that Bronte Barbe will be Carole on the tour, but I can't say for certain!
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Post by theatremadness on Jul 20, 2017 15:06:42 GMT
I've heard Samuel Holmes may be Farquaad for this tour, but not 100% sure!
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Post by theatremadness on Jul 20, 2017 9:34:09 GMT
Just coming here to say that there definitely isn't a bootleg of the cinema screening, just in case anyone definitely didn't want to see it.
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Post by theatremadness on Jul 19, 2017 21:55:48 GMT
Seeing this next week. Boy am I excited now!!!
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Post by theatremadness on Jul 19, 2017 21:09:06 GMT
Ah well there you go! In that case, it makes sense - and shows what I know!
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Post by theatremadness on Jul 19, 2017 20:49:45 GMT
I somewhat boggled when I got to Marcus Brigstocke but I guess he was in Spamalot so presumably can sing. Hmm, dubious! When Spamalot came back in its current down-sized form, singing ability was very much not at the forefront of King Arthur casting. I mean, I saw Joe Pasquale! Although I believe he's on the UK Tour cast recording so he can be listened to and I think he's just fine IIRC. It's a weird bit of casting. Belinda Lang, too. There's no particular reason why those two names names, who are not associated with musicals and/or classical music, would entice those who were. Unless they're trying to get not your usual Prom audience into the Albert Hall, but I just don't know why fans of either of those two actors would have any interest in seeing them in Oklahoma!, so one has to assume that they must be actually good. Time will tell!
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Post by theatremadness on Jul 18, 2017 11:05:53 GMT
Throwing back a bit to when this was on at Regent's Park the first time, we found out that Tyrone Huntley was originally Annas before he stepped into Judas. Can't remember whether we ever talked about/discovered who the original Judas was supposed to be, so apologies if we have, but in case not: today's bit of useless information is that it was supposed to be Ricardo Afonso. Not sure what happened exactly, maybe something vocal!
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Post by theatremadness on Jul 17, 2017 10:36:53 GMT
What movie version? There is no movie version and never was. There most definitely was a movie version of Phantom, from 2004. And it was awful. Oo I've been looking for an excuse to use this meme....in jest of course, no offence meant
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Post by theatremadness on Jul 16, 2017 15:30:33 GMT
HURRAH!!!! What an amazing feeling, bring it on!!
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