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Post by anthony on Oct 24, 2021 19:14:13 GMT
I really enjoyed the matinee today! There are still some things that really irritate me about the changes (lyric changes, primarily!)
The Good: I saw this back in early August, just after it reopened and commented that the cast wasn't great. I've changed my mind - Lucy was amazing this afternoon, as was Rhys. Saori Oda has really grown into the role - she was brilliant today. She's clearly worked a lot on her diction and comedy timing. She was really great today! We had James Gant as the Phantom, who was good - better than Donnelly. Only slight issue with Gant was that AIAOY Reprise was started in the wrong key, which meant he had no where to go as the song progressed, which resulted in quite a strained few moments of singing. His final lair was brilliant, as was his PONR. Lucy and James had a lot of chemistry and worked really well as a pair. The chandelier also seems to have had more detail added to it (which I think was commented earlier)
The Bad: When I saw it in August, I said Greg Castiglioni was the saving point of the cast (and he's brilliant overall! He was delightful in Woman in White!) but today he was awful. I don't know if he's bored and he's trying to make things funny just to get through the show, but it was too much. From oogling the slave master and pretty much every single male cast member in the ensemble during Hannibal, to hiding behind the bed during Il Muto and pulling stupid faces when Carlotta's voice breaks (this never happened before, did it? I've seen Phantom a stupid amount of times and never noticed this? Either way, it was extremely distracting) and him trying to get the attention of the male ensemble during Il Muto to him having his tongue stuck out when he's been hanged in a really comic way. It was just too much, to the point it distracted too much.
I still really hate the set during All I Ask of You. I don't understand why they have went for a comic book depiction of the opera house. It doesn't match any other sets and it's completely out of place. It looks silly.
Overall, it's certainly better than when I saw it in August. The cast have mostly improved significantly, but there is just something missing. It lacks charm... and I'm unsure if it's the actors or the changes.
In regards to the discussion earlier about the doubles during the title song - they use doubles for the first walk across the bridge. The doubles then walk behind the curtain and the actors playing Phantom and Christine come out for remainder.
Still no souvenir brochure.
Also, to the couple eating Butterkist popcorn in row D of the royal circle... I hope you chipped a tooth on it x
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Post by anthony on Oct 24, 2021 14:52:21 GMT
Currently the interval. I’ll post revised thoughts later, but they’ve changed the safety curtain again. Gone is the back faux curtain, now it’s just a black screen. No pictures/drawing. Just a black screen.
We have u/s Phantom.
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Post by anthony on Oct 24, 2021 9:18:00 GMT
Another thing I wasn't happy with was that we bought tickets when they first went up on o2 Priority and had our date changed twice. They were band 4 tickets. The seats LOOKED OK on SeatPlan, but they were restricted view. We paid £69.50 each, but the actual seats sell for £29.50 (£40 loss per ticket) - I didn't even check before hand, only realised once we go to the theatre and noticed how dreadful the seats were. I'm going to email a complaint. TLDR: I bought the tickets during the o2 priority presale pre-Covid and paid £69.50 for each ticket. The seat now sells for £29.50 each and is now advertised as restricted view. For anyone interested in how this turned out, I made a complaint and was told that ticket prices changed... no response to my issue of the seat now being restricted view when it wasn't advertised as such when I bought it. I understand prices can change, but I can't help feeling a little scammed by this! If I'd made the purchase quite recently, I'd probably be more outraged, but because I bought the tickets so long ago, it isn't bothering me too much... but still...
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Post by anthony on Oct 24, 2021 9:14:17 GMT
For anyone interested in the day seats, I got Row C in the Dress Circle.
The seats are OK for £30, but they are the seats that are normally band B, but are on the curve - any other musical would have them as restricted view, but I guess because you get a perfect view of the chandelier, they get away with it...
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Post by anthony on Oct 24, 2021 8:50:18 GMT
Really interesting article thanks. I never got what the white gloves were about in ‘Hamilton’ so that has solved that one. So pleased to hear that Mormon have sharpened up some of its’ more troubling aspects. While I always viewed it as satire, I know my wife simply couldn’t believe that what she was seeing and hearing would ever get onstage. I think if it was going to premier in 2021, it would have never got on stage.
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Post by anthony on Oct 23, 2021 11:35:47 GMT
Has anyone tried day seats through the new system yet? How'd it go?
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Post by anthony on Oct 23, 2021 10:29:53 GMT
Not that I'm making excuses, but I'm assuming working on the Toronto production was intense. If I recall correctly, it wasn't as successful as they hoped it would be, would pump out free tickets to schools to fill seats (and if I remember, there were reports of random people being offered free tickets in shopping centres, etc, to fill the house.) Rather than admit defeat, they resort to stunt casting (if you haven't watched Paul Stanley as Phantom, you should.. it's an experience! There is one version where he is OK vocally and one that is a genuine car crash - both are on YouTube! I don't know how Melissa Dye kept a straight face in them!) The stress must have been immense.
What I find really creepy, though, is the almost God-like status Wilkinson is given in these reports. When talking about risk of injury, it breaks off, just to point out that "Ms. Caine agreed that Mr Wilkinson was excellent in the part of the Phantom," presumably just to appease the company? Weird. The last line of the report is literally saying Wilkinson is amazing and his talent and performance as Phantom is unsurpassed. Creepy.
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Post by anthony on Oct 21, 2021 1:24:50 GMT
The Helsinki non-replica production looks horrific. A trailer is here at the bottom of the page: oopperabaletti.fi/en/repertoire-and-tickets/the-phantom-of-the-opera/Looks like a dreadful amateur production. Anyone lucky enough to be seeing this mess?! Some of the officially released pictures aren't even in focus! Why is Christine wearing bondage gear during PONR?! How is this an official production?!
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Post by anthony on Oct 15, 2021 1:22:44 GMT
Completely agree, never seen this cast bettered and they should have done the Albert Hall show. It was electric. I love JOJ as Valjean but have never taken to his Phantom. Similarly I love Earl Carpenter in Les Mis but not his phantom. See, if you replaced Karimloo with JOJ, that trio would have been total perfection for me. Gina Beck is by far the best Christine the West End has had in recent years (top notch singing AND acting) and she and Simon Bailey had such unbeatable chemistry. The rooftop scene was a treat especially when they were in it. I'm glad the old EPK captures some of their magic. Re resident directors, I don't think Geoff Ferris was particularly bad. The one David Shannon didn't get on with, IIRC, was Laurence bleeding Connor who was obsessed with ruining Music of the Night (and Shannon understandably resisted). Connor got to stage the scene with his weird concept in that ghastly tour, and no-one liked it. Thanks so much to couldileaveyou for the old article - fascinating! Quite controversial, but Karimloo is so overrated. I've always found his voice to be deeply unpleasant, actually. It has a screechy quality to it and just sounds thin and weak. I've never really understood the obsession with him (and at one point, it really was an obsession for many people on social media!)
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Post by anthony on Oct 12, 2021 22:19:09 GMT
Carrie is an established West End performer who has been on stage since she was a child, with multiple well-received principal roles under her belt. I don't think she can be considered 'stunt cast'. And I've certainly never seen her 'boast' about not having formal training. I find it so strange that people immediately attack Carrie for daring to say something about rude and entitled audience members, but when some other performers interrupt shows to shout at people for filming, they're lauded? Why are some people allowed to say something and not others? Especially when the latter scenario disrupts the show for everyone, and all Carrie did was post some tweets - don't want to read them, don't follow her. I'm not saying people filming and distracting actors shouldn't be called out, but the double standard just baffles me. People are calling her out due to her reaction of people being annoyed she wasn't at a performance. If a show boasts their star as their main selling point and that star isn't there, of course it's going to be a kick in the teeth to fans who may have travelled hundreds of miles and spent hundreds of pounds to see their "idol". Ignore those people. There is no need to get into a public spat with them, followed by other West End fan girl favourites chiming in to insult their own fanbases. Hope Fletcher boasts about no formal training every. single. time. she is called out for her sub-par acting abilities. Every time. Without fail. West End Live performance didn't go to plan? "Oh, well I've had no formal training, so... xoxoxo". Tbh, I don't care - stunt casting keeps certain shows alive, so I'm all for it. But let's call a spade a spade. You can't have your cake and eat it. I'd be saying this about any stunt casting that complains that people are angry if they're not performing, not just Hope Fletcher.
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Post by anthony on Oct 12, 2021 21:42:06 GMT
Carrie seems to be on a bit of a Twitter rampage because people tweeted that they were upset that she wasn't performing. Really not a good look for the show in my opinion, and I'm quite dissapointed as I used to love her as a performer. Better left to the social media team to handle... It wasn't really a "rampage"? I don't even like her but I thought her tweet was perfectly reasonable. People's sense of entitlement at times is nauseating. Of course we've all been disappointed when the "name" isn't available. Trips to the theatre are expensive, we have to carve out time and pay for transport and potentially accommodation etc., but tweeting the performer to complain and including the understudy/alternate is just rude and unnecessary. When you sell a show based on a name, when that name then openly boasts about having no formal training, etc etc, they I think people have the right to complain. Let's not beat around the bush here: these actors will use their names to get parts (as with Hope Fletcher, who again, openly boasts about no formal training whenever she is criticised), but then complains the moment people get angry? The solution is surely to stop the stunt casting... Saying that, the person who was angry booked a matinee, so I sort of feel like it serves them right. If you want the best shot at seeing a certain performer, at least book a weekend evening performance...
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Post by anthony on Oct 12, 2021 21:23:37 GMT
Nigel Richard left of his own accord. By his own admittance it wasn't the right role for him. As other ex Phantoms have said, it's not really a role you can put your own take on. He's currently Cogsworth in the B&TB tour. Find this interesting. I'd say most Phantom I've seen have put their own take on the role. Piterman played quite an aggressive Phantom, to the point I could almost imagine him striking Christine. Peter Karrie played Phantom like he was having a mental breakdown - shaking hands and jittering movements and all. I wonder if individual interpretations come down to which actors the Lord likes?
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Post by anthony on Oct 12, 2021 16:27:22 GMT
I see your Nic Greensheilds and your Killian Donnellys and I give you David Shannon. Shannon was my first Raoul and I somewhat remember enjoying his Raoul. I then saw him as Phantom a few years later and honestly... Dreadful. I also have an irrational dislike for John Owen-Jones. I just don't get "it". He also somewhat looks like David Walliams in the mask... Seriously... tell me this is not David Walliams: i.ytimg.com/vi/HETyzlRZhUw/maxresdefault.jpg Shannon comes behind Uwe Kroeger for me. I like Kroeger (although he has destroyed his voice), but I think the problem is that he's quite... short. It almost makes some scenes look a bit comical for him as Phantom, bless him. I agree with Killian as a whole, though. But I'd actually extend it to most of the current class. All left me feeling a bit cold and it didn't seem to "work" for me. In terms of favourite Phantoms, I think Thomas Borchert and Earl Carpenter, although I really enjoyed Piterman's more aggressive Phantom. As a side note, the Phantom birthday speech clearly shows Holly Ann Hill on stage as Christine, but in the clips released of them singing Happy Birthday, they've kicked her off for Lucy St Louis. I assume that Hill performed because of St Louis' injury and they wanted the clip of her as Christine for press reasons?
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Post by anthony on Oct 5, 2021 2:27:25 GMT
So... I actually really liked this. The slaughtering by the UK press is uncalled for. It's really not that bad... I'd argue the opposite, even. Thought I was going to hate it, despite the decent reviews in the US. My jaw has dropped at this post. It really isn't that bad. US critics don't think so, either. I'm too young to remember Diana or, to be honest, even care too much if I'm honest. I'm also a republican. So maybe this is why I don't get this "shameful" angle.
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Post by anthony on Oct 3, 2021 16:42:36 GMT
Worried by the lack of news about Lucy. Really hope she's okay. We've worked together in the past and I dropped her a message (as I'm sure everyone who knows her has) but not delivered. Did today's show go ahead - who went on? Also, stalked a few other cast's Twitter's and whatnot, out of the entire company only one person seems to have even tweeted anything at all (and it didn't mention Lucy). Show went ahead as planned today, it seems (posts on Twitter). Nothing on West End Understudies, so I assume that St John performed today and it was all done as a precaution (hence no statement)? Tbh, are we even sure it was St John?
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Post by anthony on Oct 2, 2021 20:36:36 GMT
So... I actually really liked this. The slaughtering by the UK press is uncalled for. It's really not that bad... I'd argue the opposite, even. Thought I was going to hate it, despite the decent reviews in the US.
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Post by anthony on Oct 1, 2021 22:32:02 GMT
Saw it tonight. Let’s be real; as a musical it is utterly dreadful. HOWEVER, the cast and those special effects!!!!!!
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Post by anthony on Oct 1, 2021 22:31:06 GMT
Unbelievable that it was 5 years ago since the Manchester concert. Back then it was Jackie Burns, Cassidy Janson, Thomas Borchert, Natalie McQueen, Dave Willetts and Wendy Peters. Just booked! I adore Wildhorn (so exceptionally underrated!). I would kill for Borchert to be there again. Saw him years ago in Essen. I imagine he will be; he seems to be Wildhorn’s go to in a Germany (Jekyll and Hyde, Dracula, Count of Monte…)
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Post by anthony on Sept 26, 2021 21:18:20 GMT
There was so much terrible behaviour, though. I've never seen it a show where the behaviour was so shocking. We had a group of 10 - 5 children and 5 mothers. The mothers sat on the row behind the children and the children on our row. They screamed their way through it (not even sing, which would have been bad enough.) Their rendition of Let It Go was particularly memorable. Their parents, during the song, then proceeded to literally yell "GO SUSIE!!!! LOOK AT THEM GO!!!". I had a German couple next to me, who also sang their way through the show... only in German. The German couple also replied to texts throughout and even recorded a portion of the show. I also had an awkward moment with one of the parents of the kids - at the end of the interval, they accidentally came to my row instead of theirs. She joked with me "Oh no, I've accidentally came to the kids row. Glad I'm not here!" to which I responded with "Yeah, I wish I wasn't..." She looked mortified. Oops. I'm glad she was mortified! I honestly think theatre behaviour is getting worse and worse, especially at family shows. Do parents just not shush their children anymore? I honestly just couldn't sit through Frozen for this very reason. I had the same thing at Bedknobs - two little boys behind me who discussed everything on stage at full volume while the Mummies threw back prosecco. They also wolf-whistled and yelled "PHWOAH!" during Anna's on-stage costume change. They also cackled and couldn't stop for about 2 minutes after Barks accidentally asked "Where is Elsa?" instead of "Where is Anna?". At the end, they were literally chanting for Anna to punch Hans. It was just a mess. The usher did nothing - he was too busy catching up with some people he knew in the audience in the row in front of us. To quote him just before the show started, when he should have been holding up the no phone and wear mask signs, "I should be doing something now, but oh well!"
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Post by anthony on Sept 26, 2021 21:16:10 GMT
Another thing I wasn't happy with was that we bought tickets when they first went up on o2 Priority and had our date changed twice. They were band 4 tickets. The seats LOOKED OK on SeatPlan, but they were restricted view. We paid £69.50 each, but the actual seats sell for £29.50 (£40 loss per ticket) - I didn't even check before hand, only realised once we go to the theatre and noticed how dreadful the seats were. I'm going to email a complaint. Which seats? Originally was C21 and 22 in the Grand Circle. We got seats C7 and 8, which are £29.50 on weekdays and seemingly £39.50 on weekends. I should have checked at the time, but I didn't think of checking, to be honest. Just trusted it was correct. The view on Seat Plan doesn't look terrible, but the person who has taken the photos was obviously standing up.
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Post by anthony on Sept 25, 2021 22:24:31 GMT
So the evening performance this evening. I really enjoyed it for what it was. We had the 2nd Understudy Anna, who was amazing. I actually got a bit emotional at the end, as she got an additional bow and a little clap from the rest of the cast. It was really lovely to see. The cast as a whole was great. I had reservations around Ormson, after seeing him in Addams Family a few years ago (guy has the most irritating singing voice known to man, I swear) but he was great - he's either had singing classes, or he was purposefully terrible as Lucas...
There was so much terrible behaviour, though. I've never seen it a show where the behaviour was so shocking. We had a group of 10 - 5 children and 5 mothers. The mothers sat on the row behind the children and the children on our row. They screamed their way through it (not even sing, which would have been bad enough.) Their rendition of Let It Go was particularly memorable. Their parents, during the song, then proceeded to literally yell "GO SUSIE!!!! LOOK AT THEM GO!!!". I had a German couple next to me, who also sang their way through the show... only in German. The German couple also replied to texts throughout and even recorded a portion of the show. I also had an awkward moment with one of the parents of the kids - at the end of the interval, they accidentally came to my row instead of theirs. She joked with me "Oh no, I've accidentally came to the kids row. Glad I'm not here!" to which I responded with "Yeah, I wish I wasn't..." She looked mortified. Oops.
Another thing I wasn't happy with was that we bought tickets when they first went up on o2 Priority and had our date changed twice. They were band 4 tickets. The seats LOOKED OK on SeatPlan, but they were restricted view. We paid £69.50 each, but the actual seats sell for £29.50 (£40 loss per ticket) - I didn't even check before hand, only realised once we go to the theatre and noticed how dreadful the seats were. I'm going to email a complaint.
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Post by anthony on Sept 15, 2021 21:01:05 GMT
Didn't this get pretty decent reviews in its pre-broadway run?
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Post by anthony on Sept 15, 2021 20:56:37 GMT
There were rush tickets still available at 1pm today. Very nearly bought them, really glad I didn't now.
The phrasing makes it sound like it's not Covid related? Otherwise surely they'd just give a return date like all other shows that have had to close?
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Post by anthony on Sept 15, 2021 20:54:08 GMT
Where on earth are £8 seats, on the roof?! it's quite a small theatre. Only stalls and a gallery. The gallery only has 4 rows and the £8 seats are the back two rows on either side of the theatre. Although they're advertised as seats, I believe they're actually standing? I've never been there. But it looks quite intimate.
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Post by anthony on Sept 15, 2021 20:37:19 GMT
Presale tickets went up on TodayTix today.
Picked up a couple of £8 tickets to Merchant of Venice and Hamlet. Merchant is my favourite Shakespeare play, but I've yet to see a good production of it, so if it's good I'll probably buy better tickets at a later date.
I'm not anticipating being able to see anything from the £8 seats...!
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Post by anthony on Sept 12, 2021 0:09:32 GMT
Saw the matinee today unexpectedly - I checked the day tickets site at around 11am and got 2 front row tickets.
It was better than I remembered it. The audience as a whole was OK, but had an annoying family behind me who spent the entire show translating everything that was said from English to Polish.
We had the 4th u/s Simba, who was decent. Sometimes dictation was a huge issue - sometimes I couldn’t understand a word Musafa and adult Simba were saying (they just seemed to shout very quickly to the point the words just merge into sound.) Solid cast overall, though.
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Post by anthony on Aug 31, 2021 22:21:04 GMT
I genuinely really, really enjoyed it - arguably the best thing I've seen since theatres reopened.
Whilst I agree the use of the loud and high pitched scream is overused (in between set/time changes, for seemingly no reason other than to get the audience to jump,) they weren't too bad. The story itself was great, actually. It centres around Jenny, who has just had a baby with her husband Sam. Sam is working away from home and whilst away, Jenny hears footsteps in her baby's room at 2:22am for 4 consecutive nights. Sam believes solely in science; everything can be explained and this comes to a head at a dinner party with their friend Lauren and her new boyfriend Ben when they all decide to stay awake until 2:22am to hear the footsteps for themselves.
I genuinely didn't see the ending coming and I don't think any one in the audience did either - there were audible gasps and chatter as we all became aware at the same time.
It was wonderfully staged and everyone played their part well. I genuinely wouldn't have realised that Allen didn't have acting experience and think a lot of her critique has been because of her name rather than her ability. I wouldn't say it's scary; arguably it's more of a comedy in some places with Jake Wood's Ben getting constant laughs.
Really great. We were in row D in the grand circle (£15 seats, right next to the band C seats - they're currently selling for £50, so might be worth waiting until closer to the date you want to see it)) and they were great. For that price, I honestly can't recommend it enough. I'm tempted to book it again.
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Post by anthony on Aug 31, 2021 8:42:03 GMT
I am quite gutted that I wasn't able to see the original production. Is there a good filmed version of it anywhere? I have heard so much about all of the scenery and the orchestra. It's very sad that the original no longer exists. I mean if you have a look on YouTube there are around 10 different full bootlegs of the show, including the original Sydmonton performance. I won't post the links, but it's clear that RUG don't really care - most have been up for years.
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Post by anthony on Aug 28, 2021 19:24:06 GMT
Caught this the other night, having seen it last at the Haymarket during its last West End outing (which I loved!). What I saw last night was SO far away from what the show used to be. Characters hamming it up, trying desperately to be funny - it was all very amateurish. Jodie Steele gave a masterclass in chewing the scenery, which the fangirls lapped up, leaving the rest of us in the audience somewhat perplexed. Then there was Lauren Ward's impromptu stand up routine in the middle of shine a light, making references to a mans toupee on the front row looking like some kind of animal, and that she'd like him to 'stroke her p**sy'. You could tell she was making it up as she went along, and it simply was not funny. Grotesque in fact and so unprofessional. I can only imagine the creatives have not visited the show for a while, I think they'd be very disappointed. We had the cover on for Veronica, who was very good, she was nervous, but by the time we got to I Say No in the 2nd act, she'd warmed up and really let go. The music in parts felt really slow in parts and there didn't seem to be any sort of cohesion between the cast and the band. For the nature of the piece, the set was fine. It doesn't offend me. I am offended however, that Kenwright seems to have built a carbon copy for the tour and not extended it at all - i saw a photo on Twitter the other day of it in Liverpool Empire, looking like a postage stamp in the middle of the stage. Really REALLY disappointed by this latest production. I have a feeling this is the norm. She made comments like this when I saw it a few weeks ago and in the Heathers Vlog that was uploaded recently, Jordan Luka Gage and Lauren Ward are seen looking through the curtain and deciding which audience member she would ridicule that night. I've seen a bootleg version of the original off-broadway cast, and I have to say that the claims of over the top acting in the London production seem to be somewhat unfounded - in fact, the original version was so much worse with the actors "desperately trying to be funny." I can only assume the original UK production toned it down a lot? I'd argue Christina Bennington and Jodie Steele are tame and calm in comparison to Barrett Wilbert Weed and Jessica Keenan Wynn. I don't think the creatives would care. I mean it's a show that literally glorifies suicide (literally Heather sings about how great being dead is because she's so popular and famous with no follow up) and it uses homophobic slur repeatedly for literally no reason. They're not going to care about a lil' smut.
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Post by anthony on Aug 28, 2021 9:21:03 GMT
Just picked up some cheap seats to this on Tuesday. Oddly cheap, actually - they're right next to band 2 seats and from Seat Plan, there doesn't seem to be anything off about them...
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