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Post by Sue on Jun 10, 2016 20:13:27 GMT
I'll be happy if you're happy!
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Post by Sue on Jun 10, 2016 20:08:49 GMT
I'm looking into my crystal ball and I anticipate george22 will soon start posting the following... So guys, what day dya think she'll be back? !!
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Post by Sue on Jun 9, 2016 16:39:23 GMT
Also, I think if she isn't here tonight or Baz doesn't have any news tonight or she isn't back Monday rhen i dont know when she'll be back. And that's just a repeat of what's been said in the last gazillion pages of this thread. Nobody knows when or even if she'll be back but an announcement will be made in due course so we'll all have to wait until then.
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Post by Sue on Jun 8, 2016 20:28:00 GMT
Have there been any more "technical issues" with the set whilst she was away, or is it all miraculously fixed now? You're terrible Muriel... Love love LOVE that film!
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Post by Sue on Jun 4, 2016 7:39:57 GMT
A one off, never to be repeated. Finally released from the hell of Parkinson's disease. Hero.
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Post by Sue on Jun 2, 2016 6:24:50 GMT
Including the BBC, on its news app 21 hours ago! Apparently it will debut on Christmas Day 2018 in the US and will also star Lin-Manuel Miranda. I'm intrigued and will follow this one with much interest.
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Cats
May 11, 2016 20:02:11 GMT
Post by Sue on May 11, 2016 20:02:11 GMT
Jane McDonald on the other hand..... Or Madonna...!
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Post by Sue on May 5, 2016 15:48:46 GMT
Awww caiaphas, I'll trade my disappointment for your beautifully written post! So descriptive and emotional - thank you x P.S. Did you get your admirer's number?! Haha! I am happily married so it didn't even cross my mind. I was quite flattered though, I will admit, until I saw an usher help him to his seat and put his white stick underneath it! I hope you did a little hop, skip and jump to your seat - it's always nice to know you've still got it!
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Post by Sue on May 4, 2016 20:44:39 GMT
Today was my Big Day; I attended the matinee. I knew things were off to a good start when a) the sun was shining, b) I bumped into Michael Xavier in the street (okay, that bit is a fib- I was loitering with intent and struck lucky) and he signed my ticket before the show, and c) I was chatted up by someone by the Gentlemen’s Powder Room (and that hasn’t happened to me since the Palace Theatre balcony tickets went up from 55p to 75p)… But I digress. I have read every post on this resurrection of the show since it started, following every twist and turn, and rather stubbornly held onto the opinion that nothing could beat the original London production which featured a Leading Lady who could sing. But I was wrong to doubt. I found the whole production a sensation! I agree with almost all the positive comments about Glenn Close who, to me, was Norma Desmond, the vulnerable, manipulative, deluded Has Been. Her “singing” suited the role completely, so that by the end, after that wonderful montage of scenes leading up to the shooting, my chest started to swell in that way it does when you know you’re witnessing something magical. Anyone else ever feel that? I thought the other leads were all outstanding. I disagree with some who found Michael Xavier’s Joe a bit lightweight, lacking the snide cynicism. I found his facial expressions conveyed it quite clearly, although perhaps they didn’t come across in such a large venue. Siobhan Dillon- what a voice! Fred Johanson- what a presence! And when the chorus sang, they sang! We had a thread on here a while ago about what makes the perfect musical, and after seeing this again after quite a long break, I reckon this one comes pretty close. It seems to have everything: a story the audience can get immediately with predictable and unpredictable threads; believable yet at the same time exaggerated characters, a lavish score with soaring songs, haunting melodies, repeated themes and hummable recitative, all with clear and witty lyrics. Here we had the perfect cast, a stunning looking set- without perhaps the grandeur of John Napier’s original- and some impressive lighting thrown in… There were some strange direction choices I think: the floating body which didn’t quite work, some scenes were played almost too far to one side, and the Lady’s Paying scene, where I thought I was watching a musical version of Are You being Served? However, I found myself liking the Young Norma, although there was one scene (I can’t remember which now) that was crying out for her but she never appeared… The Unsung Hero Award goes to the Musical Maestro Michael Reed, whose talent I have always admired, and without whom that wonderful orchestra of musicians would not have been half as good. I take my hat off to all of them, especially the violinist on the right who could so easily have taken a little sneaky peek at the other Michael when he whipped his trunks off but she didn’t. She kept her eye on the music and played on. I still have incredibly fond memories of the original London show, but I am so pleased I swallowed my pride and booked for this. I am truly sorry that some of our friends missed their chance to see Glenn (I’m thinking of poor Sue) when they really wanted to. I wasn’t at all bothered about seeing her but I did. And I am glad. Awww caiaphas, I'll trade my disappointment for your beautifully written post! So descriptive and emotional - thank you x P.S. Did you get your admirer's number?!
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Post by Sue on May 2, 2016 15:50:10 GMT
I listen to 'Musical Talk' and 'As Yet Unnamed London Theatre Podcast' - both cover a range of productions in each episod so you can skip a little forward if you get bored!
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Post by Sue on May 1, 2016 6:51:38 GMT
Finally got to see this today, overall a special theatre experience This really is her role.What glenn lacks in the occasional vocal, she more than makes up for in the acting. She inhabits the role like no one else, she becomes norma. There are so many small touches and nuances to her performance. The moment hog eye turns the spotlight on her...her performance almost brought a tear to my eye without her saying a word. I'd much rather have a complete performance like this than powerful vocals for a few songs and ok acting. That's why I think it's an actors role first, the musical theatre actresses who have done this role haven't come close to this.i also think her age worked in her favour, it added to the frailty of the character. And makes the difference between her and joe more significant to modern day audiences, whereas a real 50 year old wouldn't as old now as in the 50s. Plus glenn doesn't look 70 anyway Completely agree. The Hogeye/spotlight moment I saw with Ria Jones passed without that tear-inducing/heart-racing moment. It just felt like a long pause...nothing more than that. That really saddened me, as it should have been so much more than that and clearly it is when Glenn Close is on. Having missed Glenn on the one and only visit I was able to make during this run (sniffle), I will be hoping and wishing for the DVD as Burly said.
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Post by Sue on Apr 30, 2016 17:59:07 GMT
The ONLY flavour Twiglets I like - can't stand marmite so those Worcester sauce ones were yum!
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Post by Sue on Apr 29, 2016 20:38:43 GMT
I vote Chess for the next ENO musical! Get Ria Jones to do it again! And Glenn Close as understudy perhaps?!
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Post by Sue on Apr 28, 2016 19:54:17 GMT
So, I saw Ria in this on Saturday. And she sang the hell out of that glorious score alongside that unctuous orchestra. The theatre was gorgeous and the audience around me were very well behaved with the ex epsilon of one *. But the script screams for the leading lady to act the hell out of Norma and sadly I found this side of her performance lacking. Having watched Glenn Close in various films over the years, it simply reinforced my disappointment that she was too unwell to perform. Four days on I'm still gutted. Sue. I'm so sorry you didn't get to see her Thank you, Burly. I feel like my turban has completely unraveled and is now sitting in a puddle, bedraggled and completely knotted!
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Post by Sue on Apr 27, 2016 21:05:24 GMT
So, I saw Ria in this on Saturday. And she sang the hell out of that glorious score alongside that unctuous orchestra. The theatre was gorgeous and the audience around me were very well behaved with the ex epsilon of one *. But the script screams for the leading lady to act the hell out of Norma and sadly I found this side of her performance lacking. Having watched Glenn Close in various films over the years, it simply reinforced my disappointment that she was too unwell to perform.
Four days on I'm still gutted.
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Post by Sue on Apr 27, 2016 20:51:38 GMT
Can anybody think of any bad celebrity casting? Marti chuffing Pellow. And Jason Donovan.
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Post by Sue on Apr 23, 2016 9:07:15 GMT
Aw thanks honey bunch! x
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Post by Sue on Apr 23, 2016 8:05:44 GMT
That decision is yet to be made - ENO will make an announcement at some point today on Twitter.
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Post by Sue on Apr 23, 2016 7:56:12 GMT
I have only just heard that she is out tonight and the understudy is on. I'm not gonna lie, I would be gutted if this was my only chance to see the show and Glenn wasn't on. I usually don't care about it being an understudy or anything, but this show is being marketed as The Glenn Show, for a very limited run. All the reviews mainly speak about her and not much else. I am so glad I am seeing it at the end of the run and not tonight. I can understand she may be ill and needs rest etc... but I would be truly gutted. Granted it's only Thursday and I'm not due to go until Saturday but...I WILL be beyond truly gutted if she's not on. I booked to see Glenn, as splashed over every advertising feature/article available - just like Imelda in Gypsy although I accept the teenie tiny small print as a week get out clause. If travelling to London from Glos wasn't such a faff for me (dog sitting arrangements, travelling time, fuel and parking cost, etc) then I'd gladly go and see Ria BUT...if Glenn's not going to be on the I won't be going. But over and above all that, I really hope Glenn feels better soon and returns when she's happy to. In summary (which I think it's about time we started doing...summarising), this is a highly expected turn of events which we are all getting caught up in the drama of. Glenn Close seems like a lovely woman from all of the press I've seen and read, who I'm sure is gutted to have let people down. As someone said earlier, would they rather have an appalling Glenn Close vocal or a fantastic u/s one? Let the woman get well and play out the rest of the shows without any drama. Yes there should have been a break in her schedule; be that Weds matinees or Thursday nights at a time of year when people drop like flies with Spring colds and 24 hour vomitty bugs. I still hope to go again (and hope Sue from Glos gets to go tomorrow too!). And relax...... So...I'm going after all! I talked to my other half and bugger it, we've got the parking booked and paid for, the car's full of fuel, our friends have got their day with my dog all planned out and we have fabulous seats to see what sounds like a fabulous show in a fabulous venue and hear what sounds like a fabulius Norma in Ria as well as that orchestra. Don't get me wrong, I'll still be hoping and wishing like mad that Glenn can make it, if she feels well enough and my heart will sink if she can't make it but I'm very much looking forward to going.
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Post by Sue on Apr 21, 2016 20:18:39 GMT
I have only just heard that she is out tonight and the understudy is on. I'm not gonna lie, I would be gutted if this was my only chance to see the show and Glenn wasn't on. I usually don't care about it being an understudy or anything, but this show is being marketed as The Glenn Show, for a very limited run. All the reviews mainly speak about her and not much else. I am so glad I am seeing it at the end of the run and not tonight. I can understand she may be ill and needs rest etc... but I would be truly gutted. Granted it's only Thursday and I'm not due to go until Saturday but...I WILL be beyond truly gutted if she's not on. I booked to see Glenn, as splashed over every advertising feature/article available - just like Imelda in Gypsy although I accept the teenie tiny small print as a week get out clause. If travelling to London from Glos wasn't such a faff for me (dog sitting arrangements, travelling time, fuel and parking cost, etc) then I'd gladly go and see Ria BUT...if Glenn's not going to be on the I won't be going. But over and above all that, I really hope Glenn feels better soon and returns when she's happy to.
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Post by Sue on Apr 21, 2016 12:28:50 GMT
I'm going the day after tomorrow so it's not looking good for me either, as I wanted a mug at the very least. Poop.
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Post by Sue on Apr 20, 2016 19:45:36 GMT
Hostess trolleys all around the world will never be the same again. We'll miss you dearly x
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Post by Sue on Apr 17, 2016 13:18:35 GMT
Sunset Boulevard this Saturday. Finally!
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Post by Sue on Apr 17, 2016 13:13:53 GMT
After seeing this last week I had a very strange dream. It involved ALW putting on a semi-staged Evita at the ENO starring... MADONNA! Bizarre, as the dream focused on my being unable to connect to the ENO website. Not even sure I'd want to see it. BURLY? Burly, where are you? You're up!
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Post by Sue on Apr 17, 2016 8:33:43 GMT
Taxi!
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Post by Sue on Apr 17, 2016 8:17:58 GMT
Maybe it's me but I really think they dropped the ball at the Bristol Hip during the interval that night.
Their rules are very clear - no children allowed under 4 or 5 years old (I forget now) and the baby was clearly under 4 or 5 years old. It had been causing a disturbance in the 1st act and as babies have no control over the noise they make, it would be completely reasonable to expect that the baby would continue to make noise in the 2nd act and therefore continue to disturb those around it.
So just because mum (selfishly and stupidly) chooses to bring her baby along, she gets to stay for the 2nd act and management at the Hip decides not to implement its own rules? And worse, its decision favours one person at the expense of many???
I'm with jeanhunt and d'James here - evict offenders in a suitably rude fashion! And that includes staff, as well as customers because in my situation, staff on the ground had the time and opportunity to resolve this during the interval but failed to do so.
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Post by Sue on Apr 16, 2016 8:19:40 GMT
Seeing this a week today...at last! Centre stalls, row N should give me a really good view as I like to see expressions, eyebrow lifts, subtle smirks, etc. Very excited!
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Post by Sue on Apr 16, 2016 7:44:56 GMT
At a show in Bristol, I had to complain in the interval about a woman that brought her very, very young babe in arms with her. The 1st act was spent listening to the baby gurgling, crying and generally making enough noise to distract those around it. I spent the interval in search of the Duty Manager, as most of the staff were tasked with selling this, that and the other but I eventually found the Deputy Manager and told him. He acknowledged that they should never have been allowed in. At the end of the interval I saw him talking to the woman and I didn't see them take their mid-row stalls seats for the 2nd act so assumed they'd been ejected from the theatre and I settled down to hear and enjoy the 2nd act.
So imagine my dismay when I soon heard a baby crying out and looked up to see the same woman and baby sitting IN THE BOX CLOSEST TO STAGE and slightly overhanging side stalls! So not only did the baby continue to disturb those of us in stalls but it also appeared at times to distract the professionals on stage. I mean, really???
I complained again by email when I got home and to its credit, the theatre's General Manager sent an apologetic and explanatory letter, which went some way to rectifying the matter but to conclude the matter, he also provided me with a generous ticket reduction too. It's just a shame that General Manager wasn't on duty at the time, as I strongly suspect he would have dealt with things very differently.
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Post by Sue on Apr 10, 2016 8:53:16 GMT
My first play was Midsummer Nights Dream at the Barbican in 1986. Janet McTeer was in it and I was completely mesmerised - her ability to own the stage and control the audience has never left me. I saw her again in 1993 at the Queen's theatre, to see Much Ado About Nothing. Mark Rylance was on too apparently but sadly I remember nothing about him !! My first show was Buddy - The Buddy Holly Story at the Victoria Palace in 1989 but the first show I saw that had real impact was Jesus Christ Superstar in 1996 at the Lyceum, mainly because the music was SO loud I thought my ear drums were about to explode. As a 25 year old with many many years of nightclubbing experience, I couldn't believe that any sound could be louder than me being parked up right next to the biggest, baddest speaker in the house all night!
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Post by Sue on Apr 9, 2016 21:45:25 GMT
I hear you, David J.
I saw the understudy Mary, Jennifer Davison in Bristol a few months back and her vocals were much, much better than Zizi's. Her dancing wasn't as good but overall, I much preferred her.
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