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Post by kathryn on Aug 27, 2023 9:41:44 GMT
Elton? He’s re-writing the score! Blimey. Pleasantly surprised by that It’s not like Elton is new at this - he know that musicals need to be re-written and re-worked. It’s happened with his other shows and as a veteran live performer he is fully aware that you need an audience to see something to know if it has worked. It’s one of the reasons that he only did one show with Bernie Taupin - Bernie hated the re-writing process on Lestat. Couldn’t stand it.
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Post by kathryn on Aug 27, 2023 9:35:00 GMT
trading on a back catalogue that he could barely sing was just not for me. Yes there was a massive amount of nostalgia and yes they are magnificent compositions, but as a performance I did not enjoy it. You’d rather be only perform new music? That would definitely make you the minority. 😉 Of course he doesn’t sound like he did when he was 20 to 25 years old. It’s been 50 years - no-one’s voice is the same in their mid-70s as their md-20s. They are ‘magnificent compositions’ performed by the original artist at the end of his touring career. If you can’t appreciate how he has adapted and reinterpreted them at this point in his live career then you won’t enjoy it. But most people can. And his piano playing is still fabulous. Anyway, back to Prada…
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Post by kathryn on Aug 25, 2023 11:38:01 GMT
If it's really Hannah Waddingham (and let's face it, she'd be great as Miranda) I'm sure she would choose her role for a comeback on stage very carefully while her career is at an all-time high thanks to Ted Lasso and the ESC. Elton John has been very hit and miss with his musicals, he's written great stuff like Aida, Billy Elliot and Tammy Faye, but also the complete car crash that was Lestat (although his songs were the least of that show's problems). He's stopped touring now, so he has time to focus on actually working on his musicals now (and it seems to have gone quiet around Tammy Faye?). After that hideous outing At Glastonbury we can all be thankful for that. Let’s hope he sticks to it! I think you’re in the minority about Glastonbury! I saw rave reviews everywhere else!
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Post by kathryn on Aug 25, 2023 11:24:13 GMT
Like I said, some people have become paranoid, and some people will misread even the most obvious information when they’re not paying proper attention to it. Particularly when they’ve been enjoying some pre-show ‘refreshments’. Of course that happens.
But it’s usually quickly cleared up once someone speaks, moves, is viewed from a different angle, etc.
There’s a whole bunch of cues that we as a species use. Confusion usually happens when people are over-relying on one or two of them.
Not to also get into all the impairments people can have in their cognitive abilities and visual acuity that will naturally affect this. Nothing human is perfect.
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Post by kathryn on Aug 24, 2023 19:57:08 GMT
We can discuss the many cues that we take from spending time with others that denote to us, in whatever manner, their biological sex, but regardless of its perceived accuracy, it is not entirely foolproof. There will always be a woman who is tall or deep-voiced or broad-shouldered who may be stopped and questioned by someone who is not as able as they think to identify a trans woman. It’s a very rare woman who is tall and deep voiced and broad shouldered and has very narrow hips and male-type brow ridge and jawbone and a male-sized skull and an adam’s apple and bony wrist joints and large hands and no breasts. And then, once she walked a few steps forward, she’d also need to be walking with a male-style gait. Men and women have different biomechanics and move differently. Of course it’s possible that someone will be Mis-sexed - some people in theatres can’t even read their seat numbers correctly, after all. But it’s because everyone is so hyper aware now that it’s a possibility. Which is entirely the fault of the activists who decided to push this particular boundary for making people paranoid.
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Post by kathryn on Aug 23, 2023 16:41:42 GMT
Well, interesting to see how little impact this ended up having! It came and went with barely a whimper.
I’ve not seen the stage show so can’t comment on the differences, but on the strength of this I don’t think I’ll ever bother.
The fundamental problem with it is how arbitrary it is. ‘The boys’ could be any boyband; they have no distinct identity and are not meant to be Take That. So there’s no particular reason for Take That’s music to be featured in the story. The songs themselves are sprinkled in with a vague notion of plot and character development but not nearly enough for it to feel like a book musical. It’s all oddly flat.
I did like that scene in the kitchen, showing the character escaping her home life in her boyband fantasy. That was the closed it came to justifying it being a Take That musical rather than anything else, though.
Also, if you’re going to do a cameo, I want to see all 5 of them! It’s not a proper ‘Oh, there they are!!’ moment without Jason and Robbie.
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Post by kathryn on Aug 23, 2023 15:17:10 GMT
I fear you may be overestimating your ability to "spot" trans people, unless there's some kind of secret handshake all the biological females know. My question is though, say you have a trans woman who has lived happily as a woman for 30 years. Has had surgery, hormones, is as feminine as any other woman you'd walk past in the street, just as an example. Would you be ok with her using the female toilets? Identifying sex accurately is one of those things that biological women *are* better at than biological men. It appears to be related to evolutionary pressure because women are at far greater risk of violence from men than other women, and devote far more resources to partner selection because their biological investment in producing offspring is much higher. From a reproductive point of view women would waste a lot more time and effort if they couldn’t easily identify males and be at a higher risk of not surviving long enough to have children. And that goes back to way, way before we had social signifiers of gender like clothes. Personally I’ve never had a problem with trans women who were clearly invested in passing as women using the ladies loo. Their investment in passing always included a desire not to draw attention to the fact that they are not biologically female. Unfortunately that is not the only type of ‘trans’ out there any more and being given permission to use single-sex spaces. We used to call the other type ‘cross-dressers’ or ‘transvestites’, and recognise that for those men the motivation involved sexual arousal to some extent. Those men typically didn’t make a true effort at passing; drawing attention to themselves is part of what excites them. They tend to be obvious from their manner of dress. There’s actually research that shows this link between exhibitionism and cross-dressing. I feel very uncomfortable with sharing single sex facilities with a male who is likely to be getting off on being seen there. I have no desire to be drafted into someone else’s fetish.
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Post by kathryn on Aug 23, 2023 14:50:40 GMT
They'd have to be very short, with small hands, small feet, narrow shoulders, wide hips, a lot of facial bone surgery - Asian 'ladyboys' might do but not Europeans.
That's simply not true. There are plenty of cisgender women who are tall, have large hands, large feet, or broad shoulders etc, and plenty of cisgender men who don't. No one has a magical built-in radar that accurately tells you who is trans and who isn't. Evolution has primed us to be extremely good at distinguishing between the sexes. Because it’s obviously beneficial for the survival of the species to know that. Interestingly research shows that women are better at it than men, though. Most women in most cases can do so at a glance, in real life. There’s a thousand different cues we use without conscious thought. Male and female body configurations are so different, even things like how we breathe are different (it’s to do with rib cage and diaphragm shape and size).
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Post by kathryn on Jul 28, 2023 11:49:38 GMT
Kate and William always take school holidays of engagements. .
It’ll be interesting to see what happens when the kids are no longer at school - I’m a bit sceptical that they’ll actually do more, having established this routine.
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Post by kathryn on Jul 27, 2023 22:04:36 GMT
As a non-football fan who has often been bemused by the expectations places on the England team (even *I* know that most star players in the top leagues are not English, and neither are most top managers - why on earth would anyone expect our National team to be the best in the world?!) I really enjoyed this play.
Was particularly impressed by how they developed the character of Harry Kane throughout the play, from what my football-loving friend assured me was a caricature to a fully-rounded person.
James Graham has never let me down. No matter whether I am interested in the topic of a play or not, he always makes it compelling.
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Post by kathryn on Jul 27, 2023 12:43:05 GMT
The suggestion in Spare regarding ‘Royal engagements’ is that some members of the family are gaming the system to make it look like they are doing more than they actually are.
Which makes me wonder about Princess Anne! Is she actually the hardest-working Royal or is she (Olympian that she is) just the best at figuring out how to work with the rules to win a competition?
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Post by kathryn on May 29, 2023 18:14:37 GMT
I can get behind the plot for the sake of entertainment, but that means he would be around 70 odd hitting on a young woman. Does he not physically or literally age then? (Soz I’ve never seen the movie). I personally don’t read the show literally. Although the central premise of a guy being stuck in the same day for decades is terrifying (and ridiculous of course) - I read the show primarily as the metaphor about being mentally stuck and how we can all benefit from stopping for a moment / actually being mindful rather than living life by going through the motions. It’s a lifetime of lessons condensed into a single day, and whilst the single day premise is great for entertainment purposes - I do find myself seeing it as a lifetime In the real world. For that reason this show hits me emotionally…incredibly hard. Yes, it’s a metaphor. Phil’s not the only one in the show who is stuck and learns how to move on. Rita moves on from her ideas about men and romance, too. And then there’s the way the minor characters move on because of Phil changing their lives in small ways.
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Post by kathryn on May 28, 2023 12:27:39 GMT
The programme says 10,000 days - so 27 years. That seems ridiculous? You’ve only just realised that the concept is ridiculous? 😁
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Post by kathryn on May 28, 2023 12:26:59 GMT
Saw it last night, didn't see any merchandise but all I was after was a programme. I've not managed to write anything about it yet but I loved it as much as last time. There is no merchandise. Only the programme I’m never going to get a cuddly Groundhog! Saw it last night. Still utterly joyous and I left the theatre with a warm happy glow in my heart. And that‘a all I need say, really. All the little staging tweaks are insignificant compared to that feeling you get when you love a show. So good to have it back!
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Post by kathryn on May 26, 2023 19:29:48 GMT
What’s the merchandise situation like? Do they have cuddly Groundhogs?
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Post by kathryn on May 24, 2023 15:18:41 GMT
Take That have been touring (and recording) successfully as a trio for getting on to a decade now. They don’t charge 3/5ths of the ticket price! Given the circumstances- an unexpected death and bereavement - and the fact that presumably the people buying the tickets are fans, and actually like the band members (who obviously need the money - they were notoriously ripped off in their heyday) it would be pretty churlish of them to demand a refund. anthony40 if you don’t know and don’t care why Hannah does not feel up to participating, you can’t be an actual S Club fan, and those £200 tickets were definitely not intended for you.
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Post by kathryn on May 23, 2023 17:31:55 GMT
Ah, that might in fact be a Tim Minchin running gag reference they’ve added. He has a whole song about how much he loves cheese, called ‘Cheese’, full of terribly cheesy puns.
He calls back to his love of cheese in lots of other songs, too.
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Post by kathryn on Apr 12, 2023 12:27:20 GMT
I’d imagine it’s very rewarding to meet your ‘fans’ and the people who have afforded these people the celebrity and success they have. That would rather depend on the fan, and what they are doing, doesn’t it? Just because someone is a fan does not, alas, always mean that they behave in a reasonable manner. Plenty of stalkers out there. You just never know what is going on with a famous person when they don’t stop to sign autographs.
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Post by kathryn on Apr 3, 2023 14:01:59 GMT
Was really glad that Katie Brayben won for Tammy Faye.
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Post by kathryn on Mar 19, 2023 22:07:14 GMT
Sounds like a bunch of luvvies being over sensitive combined with desperate showbiz media fluff reporting. She might have a very good reason for not wanting to be in touch, he might be a right plonker. Who knows, and more importantly who cares? She might even have had a change of phone number and simply not realised that she was missing calls. sh*t like that happens all the time to normal people.
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Post by kathryn on Mar 19, 2023 22:02:23 GMT
I enjoyed this a lot yesterday from the pit. Thought Richard Anderson was very good a Sky and of course Daniel Mays as Nathan. It’s very well done, though not earth-shatteringly original. Andrew Richardson, but enjoy the switch-up D’oh! Brain fart…
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Post by kathryn on Mar 19, 2023 16:35:19 GMT
I enjoyed this a lot yesterday from the pit. Thought Richard Anderson was very good a Sky and of course Daniel Mays as Nathan.
It’s very well done, though not earth-shatteringly original.
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Post by kathryn on Mar 17, 2023 21:57:38 GMT
I love the design. I still have my little stuffed Groundhog they sold on Broadway. I really wanted one of them but they has sold out by the time I went!! I hope they do them at the Old Vic this time.
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Post by kathryn on Mar 17, 2023 16:54:54 GMT
Mute button will be heavily used for me then. Out of curiosity how did her TV career/domination start? She is an excellent TV presenter - it’s a much harder job than it looks. She has done extraordinarily well for herself over the years working her way up from junket interviews for This Morning (thankless task those, because the guests have spent all day in a hotel room answering the same questions in a series of 3-minute slots) to main presenter. You do not last as long as she has - and progress as steadily as she has - without being very good at your job. She was on Big Brother in 2002. She has had a 20+ year career in TV. Very few people manage that!
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Post by kathryn on Mar 17, 2023 16:52:04 GMT
How incredibly disappointing …. I’ve just read that the ubiquitous, untalented, annoying nonentity that is Alison Hammond is replacing Matt. Why ? Who does she know to get so many tv jobs with no talent ? She’ll add nothing. I won’t be watching, and I enjoy this programme. And I don’t care if everyone wants a go at me, I’m unbelievably disappointed. Them’s fighting words!! The lovely Alison is a joy to watch - her interview with Harrison Ford and Ryan Gosling is TV gold, and her laugh can brighten any day.
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Post by kathryn on Jan 20, 2023 16:51:16 GMT
Yes. And the idea that she walked around Palaces turning lights off. There’s a deep weirdness inherent in financial the set-up- only the monarch and the Prince of Wales have dedicated sources of independent income. They decide what everyone else gets - either from the Sovereign Grant or from the proceeds of their Duchies. ‘Working Royals’ are not permitted to earn their own money - except then you have Princess Anne, who The Queen purchased a ‘private’ estate for en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gatcombe_Parkand where commercial events are held. So Anne does have a private source of income to at least partly pay for the maintenance of her lifestyle and that of her family, which was gifted to her by The Queen. Andrew is notoriously without known independent income, and yet somehow could afford to pay £7.5 million to renovate Royal Lodge and buy its 75 year lease en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_LodgeNot to mention the Swiss Chalet and the infamous pay-off. Edward also paid a very substantial amount from ‘private funds’ for his lease on Bagshot Park. Some of these private funds were surely inherited money - but as Royal wills are not made public no-one actually knows who inherited what. We do now know that Harry didn’t inherit from his mother until he turned 30. It must have been quite a surprise to The Queen that such a fuss was made about Frogmore Cottage, considering the family’s history of arranging accommodation for its spares.
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Post by kathryn on Jan 20, 2023 15:55:54 GMT
On the other hand, sometimes people who are struggling financially quite like finding out that rich people can be miserable despite their wealth.
And it’s not like they were super-wealthy when they lived in Nott Cot. I’m pretty sure most people *were* surprised to hear that a Prince lived in a cottage and not a Palace, and shopped at discount retailers in the sales. It’s just not what people expect.
Royal finances are deeply weird.
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Post by kathryn on Jan 18, 2023 9:04:20 GMT
Latecomer The book supply chain lectures I had to sit through during my Publishing MA all came flooding back…. 😄 It’s just funny to see people’s cognitive dissonance produce such half-formed incoherent ramblings. It’s like they just can’t face the fact that they’ve been wrong. The funnier thing is watching all the major British newspapers doing the same thing - it’s like children pouting and throwing tantrums because they haven’t got their own way. Especially as the obsessive coverage has been amazing free publicity. The book itself isn’t nearly as sensational as the press has made it out to be because the tone is so much more reflective and measured. The tabloids have surely persuaded people to read it who wouldn’t have normally.
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Post by kathryn on Jan 17, 2023 21:39:28 GMT
If you note the number of people who will only use self-service cash checkouts in supermarkets (esp Aldi and Lidl), you can start to understand there is much more to it than the century.
It does seem to be half price both in the shops and online (hardback £14), so the difference is postage cost, the hope it will eventually arrive, plus willingness/ability to use debit cards in general, and in particular online. What a weird comment. All major new releases like this are sold at half price on release by the major retailers. That’s totally standard practice. You can blame Amazon for it. Amazon also has free delivery options.
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Post by kathryn on Jan 17, 2023 19:45:16 GMT
Print book sales figures are not self-reported, they are collected from retailers by Nielsen BookData. They are an independent company - publishers have to pay them to get access to their data, which they use for market research and sales forecasts. The publishing industry needs that data to be accurate to be able to know what is selling well and what is not, to forecast sales in a way that allows them to manage the supply chain efficiently. Print books are sold to retailers on a sale-or-return basis and Returns are a nightmare for publishers - you’ve ended up paying to produce books and to store them in a warehouse and to transport them to and from retailers, and then you end up having to pay to pulp them when they don’t sell. Nielsen’s entire business model is based on the accuracy and timeliness of their data. So whatever you think of Random Penguin’s report of the ebook and audiobook sales, Neilsen’s Print sales data *is* accurate. www.theguardian.com/books/2023/jan/17/prince-harry-spare-is-fastest-selling-non-fiction-bookOf course Randon Penguin have no need and no incentive to overreport ebook and audiobook sales. Royalties are paid based on reported sales, and closely audited. Inflating sales figures would mean having to pay out more money.
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