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Post by theatre on Jul 26, 2017 15:11:11 GMT
Well I guess at least no one can complain about under-rehearsed understudies!! 😂
Seriously though the cast 'schedule' for this is virtually non-existent and the sooner they remove the part about Amber doing 7 shows from the website, the better.
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Post by theatre on Jul 23, 2017 22:22:11 GMT
I must say this has restored a lot of my faith in Karen having read her early reviews, heard some dodgy early audios and not enjoying her at WEL. Whilst this is still in my opinion far too riff-heavy (and at points sounds like she's imitating Amber on the OLCR) it is certainly powerful, passionate and most importantly in tune! Maybe I will check her interpretation of Effie out after all.
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Post by theatre on Jul 22, 2017 15:17:27 GMT
I can only comment on Amber in the show. And i only saw her once. I would say her vocals were amazing and flawless and blew everyone away, certainly in the interval that's all anyway was talking about, however i do agree with the comments she could so with putting more emotion into the acting side of the performance, that was something a little bit missing for me. I saw Marisha in The Color Purple concert and emotion wasn't something anyone had to worry about with her, as a performance overall, great, but honestly vocally not for me. I would say if you mixed Marisha and Amber you probably have a perfect performer/Effie. Totally agree, both of them have amazing parts to their performance - together they'd be unstoppable!
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Post by theatre on Jul 22, 2017 13:53:26 GMT
To be fair judging from the performances I've seen from her live and on video she needs to work on her own technique a bit as well. I agree. Yes, Marisha might not have missed, but Amber IMO gave a flawless vocal performance, whereas Marisha's was mostly good at times, but she struggled at points and screams in rage when her voice gives up. It might have worked for some people during And I'm Telling You, but you're not fooling me, sister. The only number in which Marisha is a little rough and ready vocally is And I Am Telling You and I think that's largely an acting choice. Just look at how she sings I Am Changing - her voice has both the power and the delicacy required and it's by far my favourite version of the song. Don't get me wrong, in AIATY when Marisha goes for the high note on 'I know you can' it can sound like a scream and comes across poorly on recording, but for me it only adds to the performance in the room since the note IS there beneath the gruffness. Amber, whilst vocally is absolutely perfect on the notes she sings, doesn't attempt that note very often at all, not even on all TV performances. Whilst there is some emotion in her voice, there's nothing at all in her performance or face to match in AIATY - the only song in the show for me in which her acting stood out as being flat and I felt like she'd burned out a little. Admittedly this was her last show before she's now been off for over a week so maybe I'll catch her again, but a video I saw of this on YouTube was much the same. Just to clarify however I do love Amber's performance in the show - her 'listen' was phenomenal. I do think though to say Marisha's voice 'gives up' at points is a little harsh! Also, it is most definitely possible to 'scream' and growl as Marisha does with perfect vocal technique and not cause any damage to your voice, so technique is definitely not a problem that she has. If she couldn't reach the note with good technique she wouldn't sing it - as a musical theatre actress in such a competitive world (especially approaching the bigger roles as she is now) her voice is her livelihood so she wouldn't deliberately do something she knew she can't sustain. ( < note the Dreamgirls quote 😂)
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Post by theatre on Jul 21, 2017 22:37:43 GMT
Marisha has, by my calculations, done every show for the past week now - looks like Amber is once again more than just a little ill 😬
I don't know much about her training but asking a non-seasoned MT actress to do 7 shows of Effie a week was always too much, especially since Amber herself admitted, on a Glee interview I believe, that she was never a 'belter'. Pop and MT vocal technique is of course very different (we only need to look at the countless pop castings to see this) and the way in which to look after your voice for 8 show weeks plus rehearsals and publicity performances is simply not covered outside of MT vocal training to the same extent. Marisha with all her MT training managed two near month-long runs as Effie when Amber was out over January and Feb/March with no days off, something that Amber and in fact Karen, also a pop singer, could not manage. I think it's important to recognise though that this is no fault of their own- it's all down to their backgrounds.
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Post by theatre on Jul 21, 2017 19:51:41 GMT
Miranda not on tonight, first performance she's missed. I assume illness as no holiday was announced. Was just going to mention this but daniel beat me to it! Don't suppose anyone's in tonight, or knows anyone who is? Would love to hear what they thought.
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Motown
Jul 21, 2017 19:38:48 GMT
via mobile
Post by theatre on Jul 21, 2017 19:38:48 GMT
Oh dear... 😂
And there I was thinking someone somewhere would see sense and Memphis would return to us 😉😂
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Post by theatre on Jul 17, 2017 18:07:06 GMT
Fairly substantial casting adjustment as of today according to the Dreamgirls website... Marisha and Karen have had "alternate" dropped from their title...all three are now just listed as Effie White... As I understand it, Amber's holiday will still be listed but all references to her performing 7 out of 8 shows will be dropped. I don't know if the performances will be split 3-ways, whether Amber will still do the most or if they'll have set days each, but it seems that going forwards the three of them will be equally billed. www.dreamgirlswestend.com/cast-creativeAny idea of a timescale to see the latter part of these changes to be put into action? (I'm sure if you did you would have said but what can I say, I'm an impatient person!)
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Post by theatre on Jul 14, 2017 7:00:48 GMT
Glad you finally got to see Amber! Thank you - so am I! If I hadn't seen her this time I think I would have had to give up!
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Post by theatre on Jul 13, 2017 21:40:53 GMT
Just get back from finally seeing Amber in the role - must be said that I think her and Marisha are on a par! Parts of Amber's performance I preferred like Listen and parts of a Marisha's I preferred like And I Am Telling you. On the whole I'd say Amber is the better vocalist but Marisha is the better actress in this role.
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Post by theatre on Jul 12, 2017 21:39:11 GMT
I went to see Footloose at GLive in Guildford today having seen it at the New Victoria in Woking last year, and it got me thinking... has anyone ever had the venue severely impact their view on a touring show? I always used to be of the school of thought that the show was the show and all that matters is if the stage size is big enough to accommodate the set. After today I have totally changed my mind. When I saw this show with most of the same cast in Woking I was incredibly impressed and thought it was a rather well put-together touring production, and the energy in the room was great. Today, the whole thing just seemed very amateurish to me and I'm pretty sure that it was down to the space (though a more than half empty matinee audience didn't help either). Anyone else found a similar thing?
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Post by theatre on Jul 12, 2017 21:13:21 GMT
I'm not okay with this! Obviously I'm thrilled for Marisha who I adore and for Karen but I do think to do this without a big announcement is a bit sly, especially since people will have booked in advance to see Amber rightully or wrongfully.
I just hope she's on tomorrow evening - It will be my third attempt at seeing her and I may have a minor breakdown if she's not on!
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Post by theatre on Jul 12, 2017 6:45:20 GMT
Question about the Prince Edward production - does anyone know why the production closed reasonably quickly? Was it simply that the demand wasn't there or was it the desire to get it over to the US? It seems strange to me that Les Mis can run for 30 years (admittedly in a much smaller theatre) and the revival of this didn't even make it to two.
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Post by theatre on Jul 10, 2017 19:54:57 GMT
Would the other show be Funny Girl and Sheridan's extended absence? Miss Friedman kept the paying public well in the dark about all that didn't she. She certainly did! Sonia's recent productions seem to have a bit of a curse with this. Let us also not forget that Amber was out from straight after Christmas, but it took at least 2 weeks until any announcement about her pneumonia surfaced!
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Post by theatre on Jul 10, 2017 16:44:37 GMT
Oh gosh I appear to have started something! Not my intention I promise and I just want to resiterate hhat i respect Amber massively and doubt she would pull anything like this herself. My enquiry (which I realise now was not clear at all!) was actually whether it was possible that the show published a shortened holiday knowing that she'd be away for longer to try and avoid a dip in sales/backlash for holidays/looking like she's having more time off as, as we all know, Amber has struggled with being off a lot in the last 8 months. I am pretty sure this has happened with a show before but which one escapes me? Forgive me if I came across as harsh on Ms Riley, who I know of course is not deliberately trying to come up with reasons to miss the show! 😂
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Post by theatre on Jul 9, 2017 11:57:11 GMT
Hmmm.... Amber tweeted yesterday evening that jet lag has got the best of her.... now call me skeptical but surely jet lag doesn't take almost a week to set in? Perhaps Amber wasn't ill at all but still away? Seems suspicious if you ask me!
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Post by theatre on Jul 2, 2017 18:42:50 GMT
Karen was fabulous when I saw her a couple of weeks ago. She killed it. Can't speak for Marisha but that WEL video ain't good. Yes, I know we're not supposed to take that as a representation of her performance but... I think there may be more drama to come... Did you see Marisha's Sunday WEL set? It was like a different person singing, definitely worth a watch if you haven't seen it for her I Am Changing (and her duet with Rachel Tucker). As you said, I know we're not supposed to take WEL as a representation of the actors' performances but for me Karen's One Night Only was weak. Weaker than Marisha's and I am telling you, but I do have a bit of a soft spot for her and have seen her kill it twice in the Savoy (though I will freely admit Marisha wasn't on form at WEL).
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Post by theatre on Jun 29, 2017 19:27:39 GMT
I was more team Glenn Close at the Oliviers, as her acting was exeptional, not to say I didn't enjoy Amber Riley, she sang with great gust. So saw this again yesterday afternoon and the understudy was on, who happens to be Karen Mav, now I am normally very reluctant when people say how good a understudy is and find people post this to really compensate for missing the star and makes them feel better about their loss - but seeing Karen Mav yesterday and I am telling you she was excellent. I thought Karen was dull and a tad pitchy at WEL and didn't seem to have any of the fire that makes the character, I did wonder if that was at least partially down to not doing the show in full in the theatre and just the one song, so I'm glad that she's getting more positive reviews recently in the show.
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Post by theatre on Jun 28, 2017 21:40:05 GMT
I have seen Marisha and Dreamgirls twice and was at WEL on Saturday. Just wanted to say that please don't be put off by Marisha's WEL performance, you really do have to see Marisha live to experience the energy she gives as it adds a whole new dimension that you just don't get on video. Having said that, she does it a lot better in the show than she did at WEL - either she was ill and struggling a bit vocally or was feeding too much off of the live crowd. Don't get me wrong her performance in the show is equally as passionate and intense but vocally is much better. For a better representation, take a listen to the recording on YouTube of Marisha doing AIATY at the Magic Night at the Musicals concert at the Albert Hall, or even her Sunday performance or I Am Changing - she really is a fornce to behold, and it's a shame about the bum notes at West End Live!
As an aside, my third trip to Dreamgirls coming up on 13th - with any luck, miss Amber Riley will not be indisposed this time!
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Post by theatre on Jun 10, 2017 23:11:46 GMT
A little bit gutted about Tyrone, he was one of my favourites in the show and I'm due to go again in a couple of weeks, but I'm sure Joshua will be great.
Also glad to see that this has now finally been officially extended to February! Woo! Too early to assume Marisha will get the gig full time?
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Post by theatre on Jun 6, 2017 20:25:45 GMT
Just noticed this video that has recently surfaced of Karen singing Listen back in December, her second performance apparently. To me, this doesn't sound too good at all - shouty and pitchy particularly at the climax when they sing together. Anyone that's seen her recently - I gather she's improved since this? If this is what she sounded like towards the beginning of the run then I'm not at all surprised that Marisha was brought over! Glad to see her getting morepositive reviews now, though.
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Post by theatre on May 25, 2017 7:00:46 GMT
Interesting that this branding team only appears to be on the social media accounts and not the official website, or physical advertisements but it's early days for that. The website however surprises me - usually if you want to rebrand good practice is to do it all together for consistency. This could therefore be social media only branding to try and draw in the younger crowds, or maybe a mini test for your branding?
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Post by theatre on May 24, 2017 17:34:11 GMT
I can only guess that this is a final attempt at a last boost in ticket sales - perhaps trying to sell the show as less of an old-fashioned musical to draw in new crowds? Don't get me wrong, I love me an old fashioned musical but perhaps they're attempting to cash in on the pre-teen loving Wicked-esque fans? Judging by the offers on TodayTix, and the empty back of stalls when I went last month on a Friday, the sales haven't been as strong as they could have been.
Or maybe, this is a hint at branding for a possible tour? A guy can dream!
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Post by theatre on May 16, 2017 22:16:19 GMT
Overrated - Stephen Schwartz *ducks for cover*
I just don't find any of his songs that memorable or impressive, with the obvious exception of defying gravity (but the cynical part of me wonders if even that's just because of its exposure)
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Post by theatre on May 15, 2017 19:29:17 GMT
Looks as though Lily has been ditched as 1st Cover Deena, Jocasta is on for Deena tonight, and is on for Deena for a week beginning Thursday even though Lily is in the show. You know what, I wondered if this would happen. After seeing Lily when she covered a couple weeks ago make some mistakes whilst Sonya was in the box, such as not being able to tie her gown up and using the wrong arm twice in the dancing, I jokingly said to my friend 'she won't be covering again!' - looks like I was right! Sonya did not look impressed when I looked up!
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Post by theatre on May 14, 2017 16:52:17 GMT
These are the clips of Marisha at the magic of the musicals show. She sounds amazing! I think she will certainly take over from Amber when Amber leaves as they keep getting her to do outings/performances in place of Amber. I think it'd be lovely for her to take over and become very well known in the West End and stay here for years. It's so nice that not many people knew of her before she came over now she is a star!! I totally forgot to post on here that I'd uploaded these to YouTube! Thanks for doing it for me 😂 And I totally agree about Marisha, I'm actually a little bit obsessed having seen her live 3 times now! Dare I say I prefer her version of I Am Changing here to Amber's on the CD 😬😂
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Post by theatre on May 7, 2017 20:20:39 GMT
Just a thought theatre , with this being a public forum, is it worth taking down the link and DM-ing it to people on request? I don't know how radio copyright works, but I wouldn't want you to run into any issues That said, thank you so much for sharing with us all! Hadn't even thought about that! Have done so, thanks!
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Post by theatre on May 7, 2017 19:58:46 GMT
If anyone wants the link audios for this then let me know!
Edit: Link removed, available on request
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Post by theatre on May 7, 2017 19:56:31 GMT
I have a folder in which I'll be adding the audio files from the Magic At The Musicals performances as and when they're saved! If you want the link, let me know by DM!
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Post by theatre on May 7, 2017 18:37:54 GMT
^ Totally agree! I'm recording the Mellow Magic show so I'll have MP3s of Marisha's performances for y'all later
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