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Post by SamB (was badoerfan) on Apr 8, 2024 18:11:32 GMT
I wonder if 'Journeyman' had to be placed where it was to enable the special effects - time to set it up after the interval or something?
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Post by SamB (was badoerfan) on Mar 9, 2024 17:00:31 GMT
This is somehow just the most Charing Cross Theatre thing ever.
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Post by SamB (was badoerfan) on Feb 10, 2024 13:37:15 GMT
Is it unreserved seating, btw? The ticket purchasing system doesn't give any indication.
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Post by SamB (was badoerfan) on Jan 23, 2024 16:50:33 GMT
As an addition to this, it seems that all Rush tickets disappear around 5:45. I was prevaricating the other day, going back and forth between Rush tickets for Hamnet and Back to the Future, when suddenly I went back to one and all the Rush tickets were gone. The same was then true of the other one too. I then checked The Time Traveller's Wife, which always has availability, and they were gone too, so it seems that was a blanket thing at that time.
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Post by SamB (was badoerfan) on Jan 19, 2024 0:52:25 GMT
Saw this tonight and was surprised that there were no comments from the current run.
Anyway, I thought this was pretty good. I laughed a lot (though not as much as the woman in front of me who was in hysterics if an actor so much as took a step on stage) and thought the majority of the songs were pretty good. The first part third was probably the weakest for me. It's before it gets to the story we know, but that shouldn't automatically be an issue - it's just the storytelling there is less interesting, the puppetry is not great and the songs aren't as good as the later ones.
Good performances throughout, though there's definitely some mixing issues - particularly in the very full numbers, the chorus and the band overwhelmed the leads - and some diction issues too among the chorus.
Jack Gray was on for Eric, and he was great! I thought Allie Dart was the real standout in her multiple roles, especially her big song at the start of the second half.
I also wonder if this is longer again than the previous iteration. There's a mention above of it being 'just over two hours', but this is scheduled for 2hrs 35 on the website and 2hrs 40 on the doors - and actually ran longer than that too. It was the best part of 2hrs 50 by the time the final number ended, though part of that was due to a late start due to people not being in the auditorium. I did think it dragged a little, especially in the first half and towards the end, so it could do with being tightened (or un-expanded).
But overall, I thought it was pretty good and would definitely recommend it.
Also, I have to say, don't sit in D9, or indeed most of the other lower single-figure D seats on the side - there's air conditioning right above the seats, which blew cold air on my legs all the way through.
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Post by SamB (was badoerfan) on Dec 17, 2023 11:01:29 GMT
Saw this yesterday on a Rush ticket, great view from Row P. I quite enjoyed it, certainly more than I was expecting based on some of the reviews here. The songs are probably the least strong aspect to it - some of them are really good, but many of them are just filling space and on occasion don't even really feel like they reflect what's happening in the plot, with the finale being a good example of that, with just generic 'love wins' lyrics that could have been from any show. Alexandra Doar on for Clare, who I thought was rather shrill in the first couple of scenes, but after that I really warmed to her and was very much engaged by her and the character.
Like many others, I felt the highlight was Journeyman at the start of act 2, and I was generally very impressed by the effects and the visual design throughout.
Glad I've seen it, it's a good show (if not a great one) - more than anything I just really enjoyed the story as it was told, with decent-ish songs supporting it.
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Post by SamB (was badoerfan) on Dec 10, 2023 21:33:23 GMT
We were there yesterday for the matinee, and I can see from my Google Timeline we left the theatre at 17:10, though I did nip to the loo before leaving.
If you're going to a Saturday matinee, don't try and go to Piccadilly Circus station - it was so crowded yesterday it had been closed.
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Post by SamB (was badoerfan) on Oct 4, 2023 20:01:58 GMT
If you do want to do it on the day, also make sure you have TodayTix and unlock rush tickets for any shows you're interested in. Some shows just have a few rush tickets for each performance, some have quite a lot (selling off unsold inventory). Though as others said, at that time of year it might be tough to get in there quickly enough.
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Post by SamB (was badoerfan) on Aug 9, 2023 20:33:43 GMT
For another approach to parking, when we went we parked up at the Park & Ride at Meadowhall (which is really convenient, just off the M1), and then got the tram in, which takes about 15 minutes, £2 each way. Get off at the 'Cathedral' stop, which is just a couple of minutes walk from the theatre.
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Post by SamB (was badoerfan) on Feb 20, 2023 18:50:28 GMT
I had the same issue, emailed them and got a reply the next day, saying that they'd checked the old system and the PAYG tickets were still there. And for some reason, they are actually 'in' the new system, they just don't show up. Apparently they did a dummy booking, and it fetched the PAYG tickets, so in theory if I try to book, it should use them fine. Do check with them, it seems to be a known issue, and one which is easily resolved.
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Post by SamB (was badoerfan) on Jan 2, 2023 22:12:36 GMT
I'm hoping/assuming they'll do the same Day Seats arrangement with tkts that they did for From Here to Eternity, so waiting until they're available before I buy, but I definitely intend to.
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Post by SamB (was badoerfan) on Dec 14, 2022 0:10:42 GMT
Yes too many story lines, the gay bar story could be indicated clearer so people know what con trick Maggio is setting up, (it's mentioned a couple of times pre scene but not very specifically) I clearly didn't get it, even having seen it! Can you explain what you mean by his con trick?
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Post by SamB (was badoerfan) on Oct 14, 2022 19:53:07 GMT
I did DEH back in the summer, and managed to get 'Rush' tickets at about 11:30am.
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Post by SamB (was badoerfan) on May 6, 2022 21:31:07 GMT
Just got home from this, and definitely agree with it being utterly bizarre, but so so so much fun. Quick question I guess semi related to the fake corpsing/audience deceits thread, but in Act 1 near the beginning Alex trips off the stage and says I'm fine and then slightly later on, she exaggeratedly steps off the stage carefully. I'd like to think this was legit, but can anyone confirm? The stage manager came on before the show tonight and explained that Alex had had a small accident a few days ago, so was playing the role with a crutch - so I'm guessing what you saw wasn't deliberate!
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Post by SamB (was badoerfan) on Apr 14, 2022 11:30:23 GMT
Saw this last night - so good, do go if you can before it finishes at the end of the week.
Highlights for me were Being Alive at the start of the show (with a real wall of sound from Maria, her colleagues and the choir) and Losing My Mind, and I loved hearing Fallin', which I had no idea was from They're Playing Our Song. Great to see performances from the young people too, all of whom should hopefully have big careers ahead of them based on this. And as well as being a fabulous performer, Maria herself is an excellent and engaging storyteller, and very funny, which made the evening zip by.
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Post by SamB (was badoerfan) on Oct 9, 2021 20:37:38 GMT
Is this show being fully sold, or is it being sold socially-distanced? On so many of the dates, the seatplan on TodayTix shows lots of pairs of seats available, separated by other pairs that are unavailable.
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Post by SamB (was badoerfan) on Jun 1, 2020 20:20:37 GMT
Just checked my programme from 18th Sept, 2 days before it opened (£18.50 for the upper circle) and although there is no alternate listed because Monique Wilson stepped in when needed, i think sf is correct, because i also have a programme from a few months later and Jenine Desideiro was playing kim at that performance. I think originally it wasn't planned for Monique Wilson to be the alternate in the way we know it now, as it was originally planned for Salonga to do all the shows. When she burned herself out early, that was pretty much the birth of the 'alternate' at we know it.
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Post by SamB (was badoerfan) on May 15, 2020 16:03:01 GMT
Out today!
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Post by SamB (was badoerfan) on Mar 26, 2020 15:39:52 GMT
I wonder if you could do it without animals at all? I feel like you could make more of Pocahontas talking to Grandmother Willow, or generally to 'the spirits', and maybe do it with projections or something instead.
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Post by SamB (was badoerfan) on Mar 25, 2020 9:37:49 GMT
Thanks both - good to know I haven't been missed, anyway!
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Post by SamB (was badoerfan) on Mar 24, 2020 19:31:03 GMT
I'd love to see it as a musical, but it would need some retooling, and also a really good marketing campaign. It's not that fondly remembered compared to other shows of the era, I fear it would struggle (though it would probably be great, song-wise!).
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Post by SamB (was badoerfan) on Mar 24, 2020 13:42:24 GMT
Has anyone had anything from Encore? I had tickets with them for The Prince of Egypt, for yesterday, and haven't heard anything beyond their initial email saying "As soon as a suspended show is confirmed as cancelled, we will be in touch to book you in for an alternative date or process a refund."
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Post by SamB (was badoerfan) on Mar 23, 2020 12:21:08 GMT
Thanks for sharing all these! I'm always so intrigued by this part of Miss Saigon, it's evident that they've never really quite got a handle on the character of Ellen or her solo.
For me it's also the first version of Now That I've Seen Her - I really like the doubt that it brings into Ellen's voice compared to Her or Me, which I find a bit too combative.
I do like the exposition that Who Says I'm Hurt adds, but it's perhaps a bit late in the musical to learn all this new stuff about Chris - if we're going to hear these lyrics, it needs to be much earlier, somehow linked to I Still Believe or at least around Bui Doi.
Generally this is a character who doesn't really get enough fleshing out and developing in the show. And even when we do get more details in the different versions of these songs, it's more about Chris than it is about Ellen.
And putting aside the lyrics, I think all of these are genuinely really good musical theatre songs. Really stirring melodies. I love all of them.
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Post by SamB (was badoerfan) on Feb 27, 2020 19:56:13 GMT
Doesn't surprise me, I suspect it isn't doing quite as well as they might have expected, as evidenced by the £50 ticket above yours, and the fact there's a whole batch of £35 tickets on TodayTix for dates in March in stalls seats that would normally be premium.
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Post by SamB (was badoerfan) on Feb 24, 2020 20:02:01 GMT
At points I felt like I was in The Truman Show. Everyone in the audience, and I do pretty much mean everyone, knew several groups of people sitting in various places around the theatre. The whole place was constantly waving in a way I have never seen. It was though the entire audience except me was on a huge bus trip. The people in front of me were wavers - they were also pointers, clearly indicating to each other where their friend was on stage. It was only at the end when the choir took their bow and there was a huge cheer from across the dress circle that I realised that they, like many, had a friend in that big choir. Strongly suspect therefore it was either heavily papered to friends and family of the choir, or at least they were offered discount tickets.
There were also a lot of very nicely coiffed and made-up people who had the faint air of celebrity about them, half of whom I felt like I quarter-recognised from somewhere, so I suspect it was also heavily papered across other West End shows that weren't on last night.
Which is a shame in a way, because I really enjoyed last night, I thought it was a good, if flawed show, with excellent performances. Rachel Tucker was amazing, Hannah Waddingham was great, Jai MacDowell was also excellent... and then you had Daniel Boys playing Daniel Boys as usual. The show itself has most of its best songs and best storyline in the first half - I thought it ground to a halt a little in the second half, and then ended rather underwhelmingly; part of that is the choice to make Elizabeth I all opera-y, which means the duet between Grace and Elizabeth doesn't have the impact it could have, but the songs and plot both run out of steam by the end.
Worth it though for the opportunity to see this played and sung live though - suspect we'll never get another one. It clearly can't justify a big theatre and production, based on the sales for this, and I just don't see how it could work as a Southwark Playhouse-style chamber production. The songs are just too big for that to do it any kind of justice at all.
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Post by SamB (was badoerfan) on Feb 21, 2020 21:56:47 GMT
I find it very weird the way she's promoting this concert - considering it's actually a double-headliner with John Barrowman.
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Post by SamB (was badoerfan) on Feb 21, 2020 19:33:34 GMT
Two classics from behind me at a regional tour of a play: i. After we've sat for over an hour watching, the curtains close, lights go up. Voice from behind: Do you think this is the interval? ii. At the end, some earnest discussion between Persons A and B about how the play's title related to its plot (good question, I thought). Then A says "Well, I enjoyed it, whatever it was" One of the women in front of me at Rags (who commented on things to each other all the way through) asked an usher at the interval on her way out "is this the interval?" I assume she meant it in the sense of "...or is it over?" as opposed to "where are all these people going, aren't they going to miss the songs?" but it made me smile all the same.
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Post by SamB (was badoerfan) on Feb 10, 2020 20:04:42 GMT
That upper circle is really disappointing - the rear dress circle has a far better view and is more comfortable for the same price. Oddly, I'd take even the second row balcony over it, too. I sat second row balcony for Sunset Boulevard, and it was fine really, if very distant.
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Post by SamB (was badoerfan) on Feb 7, 2020 22:36:45 GMT
Fantastic news!
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Post by SamB (was badoerfan) on Jan 18, 2020 13:25:43 GMT
Woman behind us at The Girl From the North Country the other evening, immaculately behaved during the show, but during the interval she decided to call all her friends, one by one, and tell them very loudly her opinions on the show. She was very loudly disappointed in all the performances, especially compared to the cast recording.
Obviously, she has the right to have those opinions, and to tell her friends about them, but in the middle of the theatre, during the interval, with other patrons around? That's just rude. She was also keen to name-drop every member of both the current and original cast, clearly just showing off how much she knew to both her friends and most of the dress circle.
The rudeness was compounded by the fact that the conversations were so one-sided (on her side) that I wondered aloud to my partner if she was really on the phone or if she was actually recording a podcast.
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