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Post by Mark on Aug 27, 2022 9:36:37 GMT
I thought the reason we hadn't had a full production was that the creatives wanted a full open ended run or nothing. How would this be better?
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Post by Mark on Aug 26, 2022 17:14:45 GMT
Had just got to the station and about to tap in and… cancelled due to cast illness tonight. This would have been their second preview.
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Post by Mark on Aug 25, 2022 20:40:12 GMT
Well… 16th times the charm! Show was on fire tonight. Took a friend for the first time and she absolutely loved it. The audience reaction was brilliant (full house in the stalls!). Glad to see this show enjoying great success - I’m sure there will be a big rush in the final few months to see it.
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Post by Mark on Aug 25, 2022 11:47:30 GMT
To answer of those I have seen on your list. Bad Jews - I really enjoyed and thought it was a strong production. Life of Pi - Great show Fra Fee and Amy Lennox are great in Cabaret.
I will see Ride tomorrow night so will be sure to post. Feedback on All of Us has been very positive on this board.
Eureka Day with Helen Hunt will be playing the Old Vic, and The Crucible starts at the NT on the day you arrive.
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Post by Mark on Aug 25, 2022 9:32:05 GMT
DMT Email just dropped. Limited run from February at Wyndham's
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Post by Mark on Aug 25, 2022 8:14:32 GMT
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Post by Mark on Aug 23, 2022 21:21:05 GMT
I'd imagine this will take a daytime/matinee slot at one of the Nimax venues (maybe @sohoplace?). They tend to do a lot of stuff like that.
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Post by Mark on Aug 23, 2022 16:38:48 GMT
Very excited about this- that is one hell of a cast. Here’s hoping Elton put a bit more effort into this than The Devil Wears Prada Elton is very hit and miss as a musical theatre composer. For every Billy Elliot and The Lion King, you get a Lestat and The Devil Wears Prada. I assume they're hoping for a further life after the Almeida run. Haven’t heard Lestat anywhere (is it available?) but I actually quite liked a lot of Devil Wears Prada
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Post by Mark on Aug 23, 2022 15:10:32 GMT
In terms of the Disney 'empire' it is my understanding that Hercules is the next to be stage adapted. Not to sure whatever happened with Tangled. (I've said it before and I'll say it again) personally, I think The Aristocats is ripe for a revamp/remake. Hercules has already been stage adapted Yep! Hopefully the new production at Paper Mill Playhouse will lead to a commercial production.
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Post by Mark on Aug 23, 2022 11:02:19 GMT
Have never seen it on stage so count me in for this one!
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Post by Mark on Aug 23, 2022 10:35:31 GMT
Other theatres need to take note! This is how you do it.
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Post by Mark on Aug 23, 2022 9:41:34 GMT
No surprises that Sonia Friedman is attached to this one. Very high hopes.
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Post by Mark on Aug 23, 2022 9:08:06 GMT
Andrew Rannells? Count me in for that!
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Post by Mark on Aug 22, 2022 21:30:07 GMT
Overall, I liked it and think it has potential, but feel it still needs a lot of work before it’s ready for a full production.
First, some things I enjoyed. I thought the cast did well, especially Les Dennis and Daniel Boys as the comedy relief. In fact, I’d say Les Dennis had the best number of the night with “Paperwork”, and Daniel Boys has some good moments too. That said, we’ve seen it before, in JCS and Hamilton, of the “bad king turned comedian”.
Carrie Hope Fletcher as Martha I also particularly enjoyed, singing the one number I’d heard before - “Inevitable”. There was also a really nice duet in act two between Martha and Thomas - “Blind Fair”
The music I’m on the fence about. When it’s good it’s great (all the stuff for the King and Cecil is very good), the music for Martha I also liked. However the stuff for the guys involved in the “plot” just all blended into one and pretty bland. The lyrics often try far too hard to find the rhyme and thus don’t particularly flow very well. There were a few numbers which ended so abruptly that the audience were unsure whether to applaud or not. I really hated the rapping narrator, felt unnecessary and very out of place.
As a whole, I found it to be very disjointed and difficult to follow in concert format. There are gaping holes of plot that just don’t come through, and we go from number to number with no explanation of what is actually happening. Of course a full production can fix this with scenery/props but I’m not sure if there will be dialogue added or additional music to fill in the gaps. Act one ends suddenly, and for all the build up the last ten minutes or so is rushed and there is no real conclusion. Basically, if someone had gone in with no knowledge of the gunpowder plot, they’d come out none the wiser to what happened other than there was going to be an attempt to blow up parliament, and that there was a romance between a guy called Thomas and Martha…. Guy Fawkes? Who’s he? Yes he appears but the ending is so rushed you have no chance to really understand what role he has and why he became the scapegoats. The show heavily focuses on the relationship between Martha and Thomas to the detriment of the overall plot.
At the moment I’d put it in a basket with the likes of Jekyll & Hyde and A Tale of Two Cities, and those big style 80s/90s style historical shows.
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Post by Mark on Aug 22, 2022 17:10:40 GMT
I remember absolutely loving Sara Kestelman in IHO at Hampstead. Definitely adding this to the list.
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Post by Mark on Aug 21, 2022 14:29:54 GMT
To the Gilly? Would be the perfect venue for this production.
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Post by Mark on Aug 21, 2022 13:37:52 GMT
Seems to be selling very well at the weekends (can't get two tickets next to each other in the stalls for the Saturday Matinees) with slower business in the week. But then this is typical for everywhere. An interesting one in terms of target audience. When I went in New York there was a lot of kids (8-14 range) in the audience so it's a great show for families with slightly older children than the audience for say, Frozen.
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Post by Mark on Aug 21, 2022 11:38:43 GMT
There's a few new "off-West End" original musicals (or atleast, not based on movies) opening/about to open.
Diva: Live From Hell at the Turbine Ride at Charing Cross Rehab at Playground theatre Help! We Are Still Alive at Seven Dials Playhouse
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Post by Mark on Aug 20, 2022 13:25:30 GMT
It really seems that the cast members past and present have such an admiration for this show. I have no doubt it will be back at some point.
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Post by Mark on Aug 18, 2022 15:45:45 GMT
Enjoyed this much more than I thought I was going to having only booked off the back of the Heartstoppers in the cast. The three adults were excellent in particular. As for the piece I liked it, it flowed well, and a great opportunity for these young actors. I do agree with an earlier comment - why are they wearing so much thick clothing when it’s so hot inside?
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Post by Mark on Aug 18, 2022 9:12:32 GMT
Part of what I love about the film is the cast, which will obviously be lost on stage.
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Post by Mark on Aug 17, 2022 8:17:31 GMT
How very sad. All these stories coming out about how lovely he was.
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Post by Mark on Aug 17, 2022 7:09:16 GMT
I still kick myself for missing Grey Gardens when it was on at Southwark Playhouse - couldn’t make the dates work.
There’s a few musicals I just haven’t had the opportunity to see as there’s never been a revival in my theatregoing lifetime. I’d love for there to be a big splashy Brigadoon revival - the recent recording from NYCC is glorious and it’s one of the few classics that (as far as I know) hasn’t had a major revival in over 30 years, last seen at Victoria Palace in 1988/89
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Post by Mark on Aug 16, 2022 10:53:09 GMT
So stupidly I booked tickets for a show on Friday not realising that there are tube strikes on. I'm wondering how difficult it is going to be to get around and whether there will be any tubes running at all? Will need to get to Oxford Circus from either Uxbridge or Hammersmith. Or do I give up and try to pass the tickets on? From Uxbridge, West Drayton station isn’t too far and trains will be running to Paddington.
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Post by Mark on Aug 15, 2022 17:31:40 GMT
The negative would be - a university isn’t the place the study Musical Theatre. Look in the programmes of most shows and the majority of people come from a small number of colleges (Mountview, Arts Ed, Laine, GSA, etc). Sure there are exceptions to the rule but it is rare.
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Post by Mark on Aug 13, 2022 20:44:22 GMT
Has anyone else been? I did enjoy it. It’s very shouty and not all that believable, but certainly gets the laughs and some from the sheer shock factor of what is said. Dress circle was closed though and stalls maybe 70% full.
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Post by Mark on Aug 13, 2022 20:42:31 GMT
Really enjoyed the matinee. Alex Jennings very good indeed and I found the writing to be excellent - and very funny at times. Got a TodayTix Rush ticket in the side section row J. There was only three of us in this whole section, was a shame to see lots of gaps, maybe 60% full overall, but the audience lapped it up.
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Post by Mark on Aug 12, 2022 22:41:24 GMT
Watched it tonight. Very disappointing agreed, it just didn't work as a film and they've taken so many good numbers out from the stage musical.
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Post by Mark on Aug 12, 2022 16:20:54 GMT
Quite tempted by these super cheap tickets, but I'm a bit of a wuss unfortunately - obviously as someone said earlier fear is subjective, but how scary do people actually find it? I wouldn't say it was particularly scary and I'm also a wuss.
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Post by Mark on Aug 12, 2022 12:10:50 GMT
First show tonight. 1hr 35mins no interval according to the website. Will be there tomorrow - practically sold out now across the short run. Anyone going tonight at all? Dang, I booked a matinee thinking it would be a long one!
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