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Post by ellie1981 on Mar 18, 2018 21:17:10 GMT
I saw the film once in the first week it opened and wasn’t too impressed, mainly because I thought the songs sounded like Kelly Clarkson rejects from the early 2000s. I am however so happy that a film like this has become so popular. It’s exactly what is needed to kick the film industry up the arse to start making musicals again. Here’s to hoping. Big Hollywood films were in a huge rutt around 10 years ago as it seemed to me that they thought the majority of film audiences had the taste of teenage boys. On that note, whatever happened to a good Romantic Comedy? I love that escapist nonsense. They’re no more nonsensical than Fast & Furious 17 or whatever number they’re on now. There hasn’t been a really great one since Nora Ephron died. I feel all Field of Dreams right now - if you make them, they will come.
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Post by ellie1981 on Mar 18, 2018 18:13:24 GMT
I definitely think ticket limits make sense when it comes to the first week of ticket sales. It makes sure the organised theatre fans who are eagerly awaiting a new production can get their seats and should put off any touts. But then if a production has plenty of seats available after that, just lift the limit. It makes no sense.
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Post by ellie1981 on Mar 17, 2018 19:29:35 GMT
Rush seats on TodayTix for 42nd Street is a great bet. Just a fantastic night out for everyone.
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Post by ellie1981 on Mar 16, 2018 20:54:40 GMT
Any idea when those of us who booked through todaytix last July, will get to see their seat allocation? I did it through there too. Looks pretty safe as generic ‘Zone A’ seating seems to be mid centre rows.
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Post by ellie1981 on Mar 16, 2018 13:16:31 GMT
If seen it four times now and Jamael only got the applause for the two preview performances from those.
So far the only alternates I’ve seen were Waylon Jacobs for King George, Ash Hunter for Laurens/Philip Hamilton and Sifiso Mazibuko as Burr.
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Post by ellie1981 on Mar 15, 2018 21:37:15 GMT
Agreed there. This is the first show since Wicked that has dragged me back time and time again. Both are huge international phenomenons so maybe it’s just my taste being decidedly mainstream. That however is not the case outside of theatre - never seen a Harry Potter film, never been into football, never watched Game of Thrones or Lord of the Rings etc.
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Post by ellie1981 on Mar 15, 2018 20:41:43 GMT
This isn’t much, but it ruined my experience last week at Lady Windermere’s Fan.
I was with two friends in the second row Dress Circle. Directly behind us was the most obnoxious man who just would not stop belly laughing. OK, fine it’s a comedy, but he found absolutely everything hysterical in the loudest possible way, even repeating lines back to himself at top volume. It was like having Brian Blessed with a megaphone sitting on your shoulder. Strangely in the parts of the play where the entire audience was laughing along, his reaction to those lines were significantly delayed. We were expecting an older gentleman of at least mid 50s, but he looked barely 40.
At the start of the second act, my friend politely asked him if he could tone it down. Instead of being surprised, he immediately quipped back “NO! IF TOU DONT LIKE IT YOU CAN SIT SOMEWHERE ELSE”. Never mind we had paid a lot for our seats and the only free ones in the section were right at the back (worth significantly less). It was like he was actively trying to annoy other people and wasn’t in the least bit surprised when he was approached.
Anyway, my mate who is significantly more assertive than I am just got up to tell and usher. As soon as the usher stood monitoring the row, he toned it down, indicating that the noise was not his natural reaction to the play.
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Post by ellie1981 on Mar 12, 2018 14:20:57 GMT
Oh definitely keep them if you have room, or if you have a young family member or friend who would appreciate them, you could donate. I recently inherited a box of Wimbledon Championships programmes dating back to the 1960s until the mid 90s. They’re fascinating to read.
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Post by ellie1981 on Mar 11, 2018 17:01:50 GMT
When people talk about colourblind casting, I wish for once to see a South Asian actor in a role. We have a huge population of South Asians in the country and I just don’t see enough in musical theatre. Only Meera Syal and at a stretch some of the cast of Aladdin have been really prominent anywhere.
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Post by ellie1981 on Mar 8, 2018 16:25:33 GMT
Two lottery wins? That’s just not fair - hmph. Although if it was me I’d certainly be smiling. Congratulations!
I managed to book Box D for the end of September for me and my housemate. She’s having a knee replacement operation this month so I wanted the best legroom possible for her. It will be the first time I’ve actually sat in a box since Alfie at Richmond Theatre in the early 90s.
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Post by ellie1981 on Mar 6, 2018 13:29:46 GMT
I know it’s expected that Hamilton will get a lot of noms, but I’m rather passionate about Obioma Ugoala getting a nod for Best Actor in a Supporting Role. I’m genuinely a bit stunned that he didn’t get the nomination Absolutely. I know it’s the most Hamilton heavy category, but I’d have picked Obioma over Jason Pennycooke.
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Post by ellie1981 on Mar 6, 2018 11:07:55 GMT
I know it’s expected that Hamilton will get a lot of noms, but I’m rather passionate about Obioma Ugoala getting a nod for Best Actor in a Supporting Role.
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Post by ellie1981 on Mar 6, 2018 10:30:06 GMT
What an absolute mess. A lot of our enjoyment was also thwarted by the group of people sat directly behind, who seemed to find the whole thing utterly hilarious, and could not stop whooping and cheering throughout the entire thing. Friends of cast. You can bet your life. Oh absolutely. I usually only expect that with smaller Fringe productions where they clearly struggle to put bums on seats.
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Post by ellie1981 on Mar 5, 2018 23:55:41 GMT
Just finished tonight and on my bus home. I’ll go by the phrase that if you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all. That’s all. You can't leave it at that! Please do share your thoughts on the show. I wasn't keen on it either and seem to be in the minority on this one. Some company would be nice I'm not hugely succinct with these things, but neither is the plot of Pippin I suppose. I was fully prepared for that and going in I was only expecting to enjoy the score. I knew the Original Broadway Cast album and especially the Jackson 5 and Michael Jackson recordings of Corner of the Sky and Morning Glow respectively, but I'd never actually seen the show. What an absolute mess. A lot of our enjoyment was also thwarted by the group of people sat directly behind, who seemed to find the whole thing utterly hilarious, and could not stop whooping and cheering throughout the entire thing. Apparently I missed the part where Pippin murdering his father at the end of Act 1 was supposed to be hysterically funny I felt the cast were really talented, but a lot of them seemed very young. I ended up playing a game of 'spot the Health & Safety hazard' to keep myself interested, of which there were loads including the King running off stage and stumbling, hitting a floor light into our row - the interval was spent with a stagehand using an electric drill by our feet trying to fix it!
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Post by ellie1981 on Mar 5, 2018 22:01:34 GMT
Just finished tonight and on my bus home. I’ll go by the phrase that if you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all. That’s all.
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Post by ellie1981 on Mar 1, 2018 23:46:00 GMT
Not sure what was happening in central London tonight, but everyone and their uncle was out partying. Left work at 5pm and just south of the river was completely dead. Work was dead as anyone who commutes in didn't turn up and all the parents had to leave early to pick up their kids from school. Went to see School of Rock tonight however and it was simply packed with school groups. By the time we got back to Waterloo (later than expected due to the slippery route) it was close to 11pm and it was as if it was rush hour - absolutely heaving with people, drinks in hand. Did I miss something?
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Post by ellie1981 on Feb 28, 2018 20:22:10 GMT
I've long resisted posting here as genuinely I find it a difficult one. I find the Mail abhorrent in it's views, and I seriously think they walk dangerously close to a line of what's legal in our libel and privacy laws at times, as well as those on 'hate speech'. But equally, if they aren't breaking the law, I believe in freedom of speech and freedom of the press so who am I to say they should be outright shut down if I don't agree with them? Alongside that I recognise that the Mail is a key player in theatre marketing. If you look at their weekend supplements they run interviews/features/reviews in those magazines on theatre with equal regularity as say, the Guardian and they give theatre a hell of a lot of air time- something we all cry out for. And they reach 'middle England' (as it were). Again who I am to say that these people shouldn't be allowed to buy, or encouraged to buy theatre tickets? if they're buying tickets that keep the very theatres I love afloat. So while it's a vile hate filled rag of a newspaper, it's readers probably think the Guardian is...well we know what they think that is. So how can I ask for it to be shut down (as long as it stays on the right side of that law). The thing I find with some of these papers is that is how they maintain their readership. A lot of people don't even think about the politics of their paper of choice as they just buy them for their special supplements. No matter how much I protest, my mum buys the weekend editions just for the crosswords. She says that she doesn't care about their political standings and pays no attention to their point of view, although I have on occasion caught her spouting some absolute rubbish she's read in there before I have to stop her. I have known plenty of men who bought The Sun purely for the Football coverage; The Guardian for the Jobs and Property sections etc. It's how they draw you in, and any political leanings tend to subtly seep into your subconscious.
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Post by ellie1981 on Feb 28, 2018 19:34:52 GMT
I may not pay £75 but when I paid £37.50 it was well worth it. Why don't they just re-draw the lottery if they are unclaimed? I expect the weather might have put a few people off this week. Unfortunately I sent my only photo ID (passport) off for renewal a couple of days ago as my next booked tickets are for June, so will have to wait before any further impulse purchases. However, slight result in that my bank recently changed my sort code for some unknown reason so have issued a replacement debit card, so I have a new one to play with
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Post by ellie1981 on Feb 27, 2018 18:19:54 GMT
Gosh - three words spring to mind in no particular order - death milked to ! It’s pretty cheap to stage for a tour and the jukebox element easily brings in the Hen parties. That’s the only reason I can see why this is happening again.
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Post by ellie1981 on Feb 26, 2018 16:55:06 GMT
Just got a message from a friend to say that one of her mates from Germany flew over to see the show at the weekend. They made the very silly mistake of not looking at their booking as they had booked the matinee, but turned up for the evening show.
I’m just far too organised for this ever to happen to me.
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Post by ellie1981 on Feb 24, 2018 0:19:26 GMT
Just back from tonight - my fourth time but this was actually my original booking. I am so pleased, mostly because my two unbearably cynical and critical [but best] friends adored it. They truly adored it and were singing its praises all the way home, having dismissed most of the OCR as "annoying" after one previous listen. You have no idea how difficult it is to get these guys to flip out over something and for us all to agree. Usually when a show ends, they are the first to try to rush out of the door to beat the crowds, but this time they were first on their feet for the standing ovation.
I think I slightly preferred Sifiso Mazibuko as Burr. He gave a very strong performance tonight, however Waylon Jacobs really didn't fit King George, however I think this was his first performance as cover. I'm still yet to hear the so-called fangirl whooping though. Strangely the biggest audience cheer tonight was for the first Cabinet Battle.
Also got a good laugh as was met in the queue outside by an American girl thinking it was for Wicked, so I told her to cross the road and look for the theatre with lots of green!
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Post by ellie1981 on Feb 23, 2018 0:02:33 GMT
i saw this back in August at the Apollo, catching Kerry Fox as Big Mama with script in hand.
The one thing I thought didn’t really work was the setting it in modern day. The whole theme of Brick’s repressed homosexuality just didn’t make as much sense in this time. I suppose in the southern US states its not exactly the same as the big cities, but I still couldn’t believe it quite the same as the original setting.
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Post by ellie1981 on Feb 22, 2018 23:50:59 GMT
Be nice to me people have been a lurker for a while. Now joined. Was at Hamilton on the 3rd feb matinee. I was loving it as was everyone else around me. 3/4 of the way through the first act a woman got up and started walking through the row kicking coats etc out of the way, shortly before she reached me she said at the top of her voice 'I'm not going to watch any more of this cr*p!' At the top of her voice. Kicked my leg as she left despite the fact I was getting up to let her pass. People either side of me we just looked at each other and got back to the performance. Never seen anything like it. I left half way through Chicago at the Adelphi because it really wasn't for me but did it quietly with a couple of 'excuse me' comments on the way. Never seen behaviour like it. Oh dear, what an awful lady, not least for her bad taste in musicals. I was at that exact same matinee but fortunately didn’t witness that.
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Post by ellie1981 on Feb 22, 2018 23:46:53 GMT
I don't know who Lulu is - so not sure people in their 40s and below may know who she is? (I'm 39). Maybe I'm just naiive? LOL Really? Are you British? I’m 36 and grew up with her on TV and the radio. Even though her peak years were the 60s, she was very prominent all the way up to the mid 90s. Anyway, I’m not a fan of her at all. I’ve always got a rather smug vibe from her.
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Post by ellie1981 on Feb 22, 2018 21:16:53 GMT
I only joined this place a couple of months ago, but one thing I do have to say is that I’ve found this little community to be one of the most pleasant and respectful I’ve ever visited.
Maybe I had just been hanging around with horrible people online for the last 20 years.
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