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Post by ali973 on Dec 5, 2017 3:33:38 GMT
The Dominion is one fugly place. These depressing brown walls. Yuck. Bathrooms are pretty good though.
Re: Cast list, it's on the website already.
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Post by ali973 on Dec 4, 2017 20:03:12 GMT
Ok I got it.
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Post by ali973 on Dec 4, 2017 18:32:41 GMT
I adore you, but sometimes don't know what you're talking about.
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Post by ali973 on Dec 4, 2017 17:57:41 GMT
I hope this gets extended.
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Post by ali973 on Dec 4, 2017 17:56:50 GMT
Mmmmmmm haven’t seen as Asian Eileen thought the London understudy was Carolyn Mailand, the point in Eileen being white American, is to show he has moved on from Vietnam and trying to expunge that time from his memory. Natalie Chua was the second understudy. Rarely went on, but she did a few times and I got to see her as Ellen on the final matinee. There are two ways of looking at an Asian Ellen: You can either look at it color blindly, but that doesn't quite work in a show that is very much focused on race. However, many people looked at it as though Chris was attracted to someone who reminded him of Kim. It's actually not that unusual for people to be serial daters of a specific type based on race, body type, age, etc. Great line up you've got there. Can't wait to read your thoughts on the Band's Visit. I feel like I'm the only person on this forum who saw it. It's probably going to get most awards come June.
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Post by ali973 on Dec 4, 2017 12:41:57 GMT
I got a ticket for the first preview and sometime mid-May. Wasn't intending to be in London until Monday but I thought..why not.
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Post by ali973 on Dec 4, 2017 11:18:28 GMT
The second understudy in London was Asian. She actually was very good. It's not unusual - though Ellen is usually cast as a white woman there have been Asian Ellens in the past.
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Post by ali973 on Dec 3, 2017 16:42:35 GMT
There are so many reasons why a people haven't said anything.
First of all- we don't know if they did or didn't. As has been reported, top decision makers are knowledgeable of these things, but have fostered a culture that either brushed it off or deliberately protected predators. And that's exactly why people chose not to say something, if at all: decision makers or HR is compliant. Their actions could either cause their own dismissal or end up being blacklisted, shamed or pushed to the side.
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Post by ali973 on Dec 2, 2017 17:51:05 GMT
I've decided to give Marie Christine a spin. It's been a while since I've listened to it cover to cover, though I occasionally listen to "Beautiful" and "Back to Paradise" when my iTunes is on Shuffle.
Wow...What a piece. Dark, atmospheric and complex. I first listened to it back in '99 when the show first came out, I guess I was 16/17 and thought it was pretty tuneless. Twenty years later (yikes!!!), it just sounds so wonderful. Would love it if the Menier or Southwark Playhouse try to tackle this.
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Post by ali973 on Dec 2, 2017 10:40:25 GMT
That's really funny.
Any news on the cast recording?
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Post by ali973 on Dec 2, 2017 8:14:34 GMT
Speaking of references..I have to say I was pretty impressed with myself for understanding all the very British references..except the person that Pretty refers to as "she was like Beyonce a long time ago." Anyone remind me who she refers to?
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Post by ali973 on Dec 2, 2017 5:43:06 GMT
I agree that the Sunset Boulevard line was totally lost on both crowds I sat through.
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Post by ali973 on Dec 2, 2017 5:41:39 GMT
49thand8th yes, there's that but there's another story coming up. Names we actually know far too well.
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Post by ali973 on Dec 1, 2017 19:01:09 GMT
Also, Lea Salonga has been Tweeting about it.
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Post by ali973 on Dec 1, 2017 19:00:44 GMT
A friend of mine knows people in the industry in the States who have told him. The cat is out of the bag and people know who the men are at this point. The story was being verified fully which pushed it until Sunday, but I believe the Monday push is now because there are more people speaking up.
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Post by ali973 on Dec 1, 2017 18:56:57 GMT
^ was just going to post this. So yes, it's a full musical.
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Post by ali973 on Dec 1, 2017 18:42:10 GMT
Buckle up kids...
A New York Times expose on sexual misconduct by Broadway directors (and director/choreographers) is coming out either on Sunday, though there are reports it will be pushed until Monday.
From the list I saw, just about all of them have (or have had) shows playing on Broadway and West End. One of them is English.
It'll be interesting to see how the community responds.
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Chess
Dec 1, 2017 17:32:20 GMT
Post by ali973 on Dec 1, 2017 17:32:20 GMT
^ not denying that, and I am sure they won't be sans Ramin Karimloo who I think has a shot.
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Post by ali973 on Dec 1, 2017 11:57:45 GMT
Besides Karimloo, I doubt any of the three other leads would transfer, despite how amazingly talented they are.
Raul has been in tons of Broadway plays and musicals. Most notably he's been in the revival of Company, Leap of Faith and Taboo (Tony nomination). He's also played the Arbiter in the Actors Fund concert of Chess done in the US some years ago.
Karen Olivo is fantastic. She's been in In the Heights, Tony Award winner for West Side Story as Anita, Tick Tick Boom and recently Angelica in Hamilton in Chicago. I saw her in Hamilton and she is a stunning performer. She is technically retired from "Broadway" and lives in Wisconsin but she does shows in the midwest and occasionally short-term gigs like this Chess concert which will be four days only.
Ruthie Ann Miles..Here Lies Love and King and I revival.
It's a power cast without any doubt, but I also have doubts they'd transfer this as the ENO cast.
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Post by ali973 on Nov 30, 2017 13:42:14 GMT
And you'd have predicted wrong! (well, in Washington anyway! ) lol I actually don't remember if I thought I said Freddie or Anatoly. I tried looking a few pages back but I could't find it.
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Post by ali973 on Nov 30, 2017 7:50:44 GMT
Does CHP work at Leon across the street from Les Mis? No, really. I could swear I was rung up by someone who was either her or looked a lot like her.
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Chess
Nov 29, 2017 21:13:55 GMT
Post by ali973 on Nov 29, 2017 21:13:55 GMT
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Post by ali973 on Nov 26, 2017 22:27:31 GMT
I saw this again on Saturday and took a friend. Audience seemed to even love it more than they did during the preview.
It seemed tighter and more together than it did in previews as well.
I think they've done some cuts already. I think there was a scene when the blonde drag queen talks about a man that just dumped her, and the larger drag queen gets a Grindr ping on her phone. That seems to have been completely yanked off.
Well deserved standing ovation at the end, which I did not hesitate to give, and I'm very stingy with my standing ovations.
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Post by ali973 on Nov 26, 2017 18:26:16 GMT
I doubt Mean Girls will get many Tony awards in 2018.
The Band's Visit will win Best Musical and Score. So will Katrina Link for Best Actress. Best Supporting Actress will probably be Lindsay Mendez from Carousel.
There's no Best Actor role in Mean Girls. At best it might win Best Supporting Actor for the guy who plays Damian.
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Post by ali973 on Nov 24, 2017 22:14:21 GMT
Just saw this today. Totally devastated me. It was wonderful.
Now I'm not one who wants to musicalise everything..but I think this could work beautifully as an intimate, small-scale musical with a tender score by a Jason Robert Brown, a Duncan Sheik or an Adam Guettel.
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Post by ali973 on Nov 24, 2017 8:07:14 GMT
There's a scene where Uncle Burke (Tristan Wymark) who plays a director confesses to Father Damian (Adam Garcia) about how his cheap, trashy films are his sins and how he should be punished for them. Is it weird that I was thinking that this is a metaphor about Ben Kenwright?
I have a love hate relationship with horror movies, and have great interest in dark magic and the occult (though I don't practice), but I find it extremely fascinating. I also love The Exorcist and think it's one of the best horror movies ever made. So when this was announced for the stage, I said, "tickets please!".
I wasn't expecting high art here, but can't say that I was bored. Overall, lighting and set were pretty damn good and atmospheric. Special effects could have been better. Uncle Burke was a bit too cartoonish as the joie de vivre gay with a British accent. Clare Louise Connolly was pretty damn good as Ragan, and very convincing as a 12 year old. Jenny Seagrove read a bit too old to be a mother of a 12 year old, and looked and sounded like she was channelling Elaine Stritch! Was it only me who was like, "ELAINE?"! But I suppose she was fine as the concerned mother. Adam Garcia..what happened? The acting was really below par, dude.
Overall a pretty okay production by Kenwright. I expected worse. Would be interesting to see how a smaller intimate venue like Southwark Playhouse or Menier would handle this.
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Post by ali973 on Nov 24, 2017 7:54:49 GMT
For an Arab it's hard to watch this with neutrality..and i think for European American writers of a commercial play, it's hard to write it with neutrality. But as far as "balanced" pieces, this is as good as it's going to get.
Acting, direction, production..faultless. Extremely well done.
I didn't do any cast research before making it smack on time before the matinee. Surprised/not surprised to see Peter Polycarpou in the cast. He's always been the West End stage's first brown person of choice. Arabic, Jewish, Persian, Greek.musical, comedy, drama..you name it.
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Post by ali973 on Nov 23, 2017 11:46:14 GMT
Yes, I think they would have benefitted from another workshop between Sheffield and London to fully doctor and incubate the show. Same with the preview period- I'm not sure if they used the previews for content/structural reconsideration or if it was just an extended public technical rehearsal.
What they need to do isn't that impossible or radical. Between these last three pages, I think everyone here as given notes that are very clear, practical and doable.
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Post by ali973 on Nov 23, 2017 11:08:14 GMT
I don't specifically disagree with Althea's assessment- sans the bribery and fear of being labeled homophobic. No- it's not expertly put together - that is obvious from the points you have pointed. But just because the form and structure of the show isn't completely polished, it doesn't make it less delightful or entertaining. Isn’t it just a shame that it isn’t better? There are so many things they could have done to fix it in previews and let it develop. My opinion is that the creative team were too close to it and the producers should have brought in an outside source to help them shape the West End incarnation. Yes - all is true. But this is a team that is clearly young, inexperienced and doing this for the first time. They don't have the backing, cash or resources that a Sonia Friedman or Cameron Mackintosh have to doctor a show. But you can tell that to them it's a lot more than just commercial enterprise. In ways that is naive if you have a show on the West End - in other ways, it's completely admirable, and I think their passion and love totally floods the auditorium. I'm not easy to please and I am such a huge cynic and very unforgiving to West End musicals, but this little show, despite its flaws, completely won me over. Can't wait to see it and share with my friend on Saturday evening.
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Post by ali973 on Nov 23, 2017 10:31:17 GMT
I don't specifically disagree with Althea's assessment- sans the bribery and fear of being labeled homophobic.
No- it's not expertly put together - that is obvious from the points you have pointed. But just because the form and structure of the show isn't completely polished, it doesn't make it less delightful or entertaining.
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