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Post by tonyloco on Dec 22, 2017 11:13:28 GMT
Personally, I try to keep my coloratura under control by skilled use of the semi-breve (which means breathing through one nostril) but if the rondo alla turca gets too maestoso then I have no option but to get out the finale ultimo and shake it until the accidentals all drop off, after which I usually get a good night's sleep.
Coming back to Christmas Songs, I can say that in my many adventures as a sing-along pianist it is that little group of well-known Christmas songs that often evoke the best response from the punters at this time of year. I'm not sure exactly how everybody in the world knows 'Rudolf the Red-Nosed Reindeer' but they do, as they also all know 'Jingle Bells' and most of them know 'Winter Wonderland' as well, although some of the lyrics trip them up. Also, 'White Christmas' is a universal favourite and 'Silent Night' also usually goes down well. But I have a very special favourite that not many people know, which is 'The Little Boy that Santa Clause Forgot'. It is not a great song but always brings a tear to my eye. The song came to my attention when my uncle came out of serving in the Australian army in 1946 and he would sing it constantly through the hot Sydney summer. Apart from that I don't have any other songs of special quality to mention, as I don't expect 'All I Want for Christmas is my Two Front Teeth' or 'I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus' count!
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Post by tonyloco on Dec 22, 2017 0:57:51 GMT
I saw Ken Hill's Phantom on tour in 2001. Loved it. It wasn't until eight years later I first saw ALW's version. I remember that the tour's publicity had to make it clear that it wasn't the show that was at Her Majesty's. Yes. The funny thing was that in their strictures about the publicity for the tour of Ken Hill's Phantom, the Really Useful Company demanded that the name 'Weber' be removed from the list of opera composers, wrongly believing that it was a misspelling of 'Webber', presumably being ignorant of the existence of a very famous German composer called Carl Maria von Weber, from whose opera Der Freischutz Ken had used some rather atmospheric music of a quality somewhat superior to anything his Lordship has ever written!
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Post by tonyloco on Dec 22, 2017 0:48:09 GMT
Thanks for your post, tonyloco, that is how I understand the history. Could you please tell us how WestEndProducer tells his version? OK. I'll précis it for the bones rather than the funny bits: "In 1984 after parting with Tim Rice, Andrew Lloyd Webber contacted Cameron Mackintosh to discuss a new musical based on The Phantom of the Opera and they both watched the two movie versions of Phantom (1925 Lon Chaney and 1943 Claud Raines) but realised it would be difficult to turn the story into a musical so put the idea on hold. Not long after, ALW was in New York and found a copy of the Gaston Leroux novel which inspired him to begin developing the show. In 1985 ALW held a private preview of the first act in his house and the finished show opened in the West End in 1986." The WEP's version is taken from the Wikipedia entry for The Phantom of the Opera by Andrew Lloyd Webber with some funny bits added.
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Post by tonyloco on Dec 22, 2017 0:25:29 GMT
I saw that one. There was a reason it closed - it wasn't that great in a big theatre. Far too small-scale, but very well done. Yes, TM, you are right. It was perfect at the Theatre Royal, Stratford East, which holds 460 but too small-scale for the Shaftesbury.
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Post by tonyloco on Dec 21, 2017 17:14:03 GMT
May I change the direction of this thread and return to the show itself: The Phantom of the Opera.
I am enjoying a West End Producer's new book but I was disappointed to find him telling an incorrect version of how Andrew Lloyd Webber hit upon writing Phantom and I thought I would set out the true story here so that readers of this estimable website will know what really happened. I give below an edited version of what currently appears in Wikipedia. I know this is correct because I was the person who advised Ken Hill on the selection of the operatic material that he used in his revised 1984 version of the show.
KEN HILL’S PHANTOM OF THE OPERA
Ken Hill’s Phantom of the Opera was the first musical version of the story by Gaston Leroux and it inspired the award-winning Andrew Lloyd Webber musical.
While rummaging through a used-book shop, theatre director and writer Ken Hill picked up a copy of Gaston Leroux's novel The Phantom of the Opera and eventually produced it as a stage musical. The first performance, at The Duke’s Playhouse in Lancaster, was on 26 July 1976, where it proved to be a hit. It was directed by John Blackmore, designed by Clare Lyth, with musical direction by Gary Yershon. It differed from the later version of Hill’s musical in having a modern musical score by Ian Armit (who also worked with Hill on other productions) in addition to excerpts from the opera Faust by Charles Gounod.
In 1984, Hill revived his musical version of The Phantom of the Opera. This time however, he wanted to add the kind of music that would have been heard at the Paris Opéra (Palais Garnier) in the late 19th century. Consequently, he discarded the modern score by Ian Armit and fitted his original English lyrics to opera arias by Gounod, Offenbach, Verdi, Weber, Mozart, Donizetti, and Boito, thus creating a musical that reflected the era in which the original novel was set. This revised version of The Phantom of the Opera was put on as a joint production by the Newcastle Playhouse and the Theatre Royal Stratford East, and premiered at the Newcastle Playhouse on 3 April 1984, before shortly moving to Stratford East. The Theatre Royal Stratford East was opened in December 1884 and Phantom was presented as part of its centenary year celebrations. When the show got to Stratford East, Sarah Brightman, who later created the role of Christine in the Lloyd Webber version, was asked to perform the role of Christine in the 1984 cast but she turned it down, leaving the part for the opera singer Christina Collier.
Andrew Lloyd Webber, who at the time was married to Brightman, and Cameron Mackintosh attended a performance of Ken Hill’s Phantom of the Opera at the Theatre Royal Stratford East. Prompted by the good reviews, they approached Hill about the possibility of their collaborating on developing a grand scale version of his Phantom in the West End, and offered to produce it. In fact, Hill and Lloyd Webber had worked together earlier on a revival of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat at the Winchester Theatre. Lloyd Webber and his producer, Cameron Mackintosh, had been highly enthusiastic when they broached Hill about his Phantom of the Opera but in the end, Lloyd Webber chose to pursue the musical without Hill.
Productions of Hill's Phantom of the Opera in the USA in St. Louis and San Francisco were so successful that Hill was asked to mount a national tour of the United States. Jonathan Reinis (who later produced Ken Hill’s The Invisible Man in London) formed Phantom Touring Company Inc. who acted as the producers for the tour, along with Electric Factory Concerts. The tour began in 1989, with musical arrangements and designs by the original Newcastle Playhouse team. It performed to packed houses all over America for several years and travelled to approximately 110 cities.
In 1991, Phantom of the Opera returned to the United Kingdom where it embarked on a national tour produced by Stewart Macpherson and then transferred to London’s West End. It opened at the Shaftesbury Theatre on 18 December 1991, with a similar cast to the 1984 production - Peter Straker was The Phantom and Christina Collier was Christine. But despite positive reviews, the West End production did poorly at the box office at the time of IRA bombings, and closed earlier than expected, on 11 April 1992. A West End Cast recording was released.
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Post by tonyloco on Dec 18, 2017 15:36:54 GMT
Changing the current subject, I have just got my cast CD and I am very happy with it. Yes, some of the numbers have been edited, quite skilfully in my opinion, and on my playback equipment the tapping sounds fine. For a show that has very little dialogue it was inevitable that there would not be room on a single CD to accommodate the entire musical score and in this day and age it is unlikely that any record company would want to go beyond a single CD for a show of this nature. As an example of why we should be happy with the current album, just think of Capitol's shameful decision back in 1971 to record only a single LP of the original Broadway cast of Follies because it was thought to be of only limited appeal to the wide public and was not comparable to their other big Broadway cast sellers like Funny Girl or The Music Man.
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Post by tonyloco on Dec 18, 2017 13:56:38 GMT
But hell's bells Susan Sarandon! What a tour de force! She IS Bette Davis. The eyes of course, but the voice from the moment she began to speak was uncanny. Then there was that stance, followed by the loping walk away from camera when she first appeared to everyone as Baby Jane Hudson. Absolutely brilliant. I totally agree. Jessica Lange is 'representing' Joan Crawford quite effectively, but Susan Sarandon indeed really IS Bette Davis. Every detail is frighteningly accurate. Wow!
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Post by tonyloco on Dec 18, 2017 13:39:17 GMT
Thanks to all those members who have already given such sensible and well-judged comments on the Strictly Final. I agree with just about everything that has been said and I was particularly pleased to see that emicardiff went to the loo during Ed Sheeran's number. I know most of the world adores him but I really find him dull and lacking in personality, not to say musical talent. I wish I had his millions but that's about it. Anyway, it was a great relief that the Strictly final fully lived up to expectations and overall was entirely successful, dance-wise at least!
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Post by tonyloco on Dec 17, 2017 12:26:23 GMT
I have just Googled touring dance shows and come up with the following:
Strictly Come Dancing Live The Magic of Hollywood – Pasha and Anya Remembering Fred – Aljaz and Janette Anton and Erin All Night Long – Brendan Cole Vincent and Flavia Born to Win – Giovanni and Rip it Up – Louis, Jay and Natalie has just finished
I dare say there are others as well. And in due course we will see some of the celebrities like Alexandra and Joe appearing in musicals either in the West End or touring following people like Tom Chambers and Danny Mack. What a money-spinner Strictly has turned out to be, and nothing wrong with that!
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Feud
Dec 17, 2017 0:27:07 GMT
Post by tonyloco on Dec 17, 2017 0:27:07 GMT
Greatly enjoyed episodes 1 and 2, just shown back to back on BBC2. Anyone for a Pepsi?
One thing that struck me is that seeing all those Hollywood women smoking looks totally natural and does not jar, as it often does when seen in other contexts.
It is reported that Olivia de Havilland's lawsuit is being fast tracked. It's great that she's bothering...good luck Olivia!
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Post by tonyloco on Dec 16, 2017 16:25:26 GMT
Actually, I'd like Joe to win it but I have to support Debbie on behalf of us oldies!
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Post by tonyloco on Dec 5, 2017 22:42:47 GMT
Thanks again, TallPaul. Wikipedia has a summary of this information. I find it all intriguing, especially as that powerful production in Sydney in 1959, just three years after the first publication, made a huge impression on me and I can still remember it clearly in a general way. I am looking forward to seeing the current production, but only if the last act is fairly complete, which I suspect it will not be!
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Post by tonyloco on Dec 5, 2017 0:08:55 GMT
Good point, oxfordsimon. I think you are probably right.
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Post by tonyloco on Dec 5, 2017 0:03:07 GMT
PS On one of those early evening quiz shows recently a contestant offered up a play by Eugene O’Neill called: “Long Day’s Journey into Space”
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Post by tonyloco on Dec 4, 2017 20:20:54 GMT
Not just Broadway. The reports about James Levine are rocking the opera world big style I don’t know why allegations about James Levine should be rocking the opera world right now since his sexual predilections have been widely known throughout the classical music business for many years, but up till now the powers that be have managed to keep the lid on the situation.
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Post by tonyloco on Dec 4, 2017 19:52:18 GMT
Thanks TallPaul. I didn’t actually know that, so I clearly haven’t been paying attention to my programme notes. That’s very important because I had not appreciated the importance of the superb production I saw in Sydney in July 1959. After the show I walked back to the city centre with Clive James who drew my attention to the significance of the poetry in the last act. I then bought a copy of the play that I still have and see it is the English edition by Jonathan Cape, June 1956, reprinted 1956 and 1958.
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Post by tonyloco on Dec 4, 2017 12:53:37 GMT
Oh dear, I feel well and truly told, Daniel.
What if I say I didn’t love “An American in Paris” or “Half a Sixpence” either but I am delirious about “Bat Out of Hell”?
Am I lost?
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Post by tonyloco on Dec 4, 2017 11:45:38 GMT
Yes, Mr Snow, you are right that this thread is full of Love and I too have my own list of much loved musicals to which I returned numerous times - not huge numbers but probably between five or six and up to maybe fourteen or fifteen and, in no particular order these include| Chitty Chitty Bang Bang Chicago Jerry Springer the Opera Spamalot 42nd Street and had it run longer ‘On the Town’
So I hope I can be forgiven for expressing my lack of love for ‘Wicked’ and echoing Count Orlovsky in saying; ”Chacun à son gout”
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Post by tonyloco on Dec 3, 2017 21:42:49 GMT
Tibidabo has just mentioned ‘show dances’ but how will be able to distinguish show dances from what have effectively been show dances that most contestants have been doing since week one? And may I join the chorus of astonishment that Gemma is still around, and add a separate suggestion that somebody should remind Tess that she is not a judge so she should limit her comments to the couples after they have danced to generalities and not go into a detailed analysis of how they just danced.
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Post by tonyloco on Dec 3, 2017 14:12:10 GMT
Yes, tmesis, I already saw your review of TWIW and am wondering whether to go and see it, having positively hated the original production, as had the rest of the audience to judge by their miserable demeanour as they shuffled out of the theatre at the end. I get you reference to the operatic pretentions but I have to confess to enjoying Les Mis on a good night, although the movie is unspeakably bad.
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Post by tonyloco on Dec 3, 2017 11:34:45 GMT
Les Mis (1) Miss Saigon (1) Phantom (1) Wicked (1) ...I know there's a lot of love for these shows here but, in all cases, for me, that was once too many. Tmesis, your post seems to have shocked the entire TheatreBoard membership so much that they are all speechless. Well, I think your judgement is perhaps a bit harsh but as is often said we are all entitled to our opinions and TB is a place where we can express them. Of those four shows the one with which I heartly agree is “Wicked” and it puzzles me how and why it has attracted such a fanatical following. Personally I find nothing attractive in the music of Stephen Schwarz (Godspell and Pippin) and I thought that by comparison with other West End shows the staging is a let down, especially the flying. Admittedly the second act is an improvement on the first but as a whole I agree that once was enough, although I actually saw Act 1 twice in order to see Act 2 because the Theatremonkey urged me to go back to a second preview after I had walked out on one. Well, I hope I have not lost a lot of new friends after this admission but I feel the need to speak up and reveal my feelings about Wicked after seeing how much attention it receives here on TheatreBoard.
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Post by tonyloco on Dec 2, 2017 21:41:14 GMT
Please can anyone tell me whether this production gives us the complete final act with all the poetry quotations? The last two major productions I saw had almost none of the poetry at all. I can understand the desire of a producer to want to keep running time down to a reasonable commercial length but on the other hand I would love to experience seeing the play that O’Neill actually wrote.
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Post by tonyloco on Dec 1, 2017 11:54:45 GMT
Yes, Yes and YES to what ceebee and Baemax said. I can’t wait to see it again, and I am very hard to please - unless the show is called ‘42nd Street’. But the genius of BAT is a certain Jim Steinman who has given us something rather brilliant! For me it is a good example of how theatre can surprise and delight us in the most unlikely way, even when we are least expecting it!
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Post by tonyloco on Nov 30, 2017 17:46:36 GMT
That’s great! I’m looking forward to seeing another member of TheatreBoard reviewing this panto. When will you be there?
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Post by tonyloco on Nov 30, 2017 12:32:51 GMT
Hi dani, This is the 19th panto Susie McKenna has written for the Hackney Empire for audiences consisting mainly of parties of school children and after a succession of highly succesful shows she has honed her craft to write only what she knows the children will enjoy. The proof of the pudding can be found by attending a matinee and observing the behaviour and response of the children, for whom the show is intended,0 which it seems Ms Marlowe did not do. I am still amazed at her headline actually telling readers not to go and in many years of reading bad reviews, this is a new one on me!
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Post by tonyloco on Nov 30, 2017 0:08:47 GMT
I don’t think Ricciarelli had what could be described as a serious mid-career burn out like Callas and Souliotis, but thanks for the suggestion.
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Post by tonyloco on Nov 29, 2017 23:54:17 GMT
Thanks for the encouragement, Mr Snow, but without a computer I am feeling rather all mouth and no trousers and a letter to the Times is more than I can manage pecking away at my mobile phone. I am off to John Lewis tomorrow on my quest to choose something but I am feeling very nervous about what lies ahead!
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Post by tonyloco on Nov 29, 2017 15:30:43 GMT
Still computerless but I had to take to my iPhone to hurl down curses on Sam Marlowe for a damning two-star review of ‘Cinderella’ at Hackney in the Times. He praises a number of things but then decides it is no good, presumably as an adult show as he makes no mention of how the children in the audience enjoyed it. Maybe there were not many children in on press night. Anyway, as a show aimed at children it is a complete success in my view to judge by the response of the many youngsters there last Friday afternoon and Marlowe is way out of order advising Times readers not to go to see it. I may have to write a letter to the Editor about it. Hrrrumph!!
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Post by tonyloco on Nov 28, 2017 12:25:35 GMT
In a theatre-going life of around 70 years, starting in Sydney aged 11 in about 1948 with the original non-PC version of ‘Annie Get Your Gun’ I have often returned several times or more to musicals for a variety of reasons which I set out recently in a guest article on the theatremonkey’s blog. My current favourite is 42nd Street which I am seeing for the ninth time in a few weeks. For me it is a totally immersive musical experience into which I sink in a trance-like state of total pleasure. This is not how I responded to frequent visits to Spamalot or Jerry Springer the Opera where it was the humour that was foremost in my enjoyment. Anyway, Julian Marsh is right when he says that the two greatest words in the English language are MUSICAL COMEDY and long may we all continue to keep enjoying our visits to them - single or multiple even to the point of mild insanity! Who could ask for anything more?
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Post by tonyloco on Nov 25, 2017 17:30:06 GMT
Apologies for misspelling your name Caiaphas but I am suffering from a dying computer and I find it quite a challenge to deal with TheatreBoard on my phone. Maybe I will get a new computer next week, but will I be able to use it? ?
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