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Post by viserys on Dec 31, 2023 9:11:31 GMT
Following a conversation with a friend, the recent “sproutgate" on the Sunset Blvd thread and looking back on my 2023, I would like to hear other people’s opinion on this: To what extent do you think it’s fair to give things a chance when they don’t seem to appeal initially?
To speak about myself: For years I would try to see every new bigger musical in London (definitely West End, sometimes bigger fringe theatres like Menier, Almeida, etc.) and sometimes I left something pleasantly surprised, while in other cases disliked it as much as I had expected.
As I live abroad (Germany) and travelling to London is expensive, I rarely ever returned to see shows I enjoyed a second or even third time. This began to shift five years ago with Bat out of Hell, which I absolutely loved and went to see in London nearly ten times over the stretch of a year. I saw 42nd Street three times because it took me three attempts to see Ashley Day on stage, one of my favourite performers. I also saw Six twice because I had enjoyed the first time (at the Arts Theatre) far more than I had thought and wanted to see it from up closer (at the Vaudeville). After the Covid break, I caught the UK Tour of Bat twice in Birmingham and Eastbourne as well.
More recently I fell absolutely in love with Hadestown and went to New York three times (don’t judge) to see it a total of five times – I did catch other shows on each trip of course, but also missed out on some because it mattered more to me to see my favourite show twice. For 2024, I have already booked Hadestown twice in London (to take separate friends along) and Starlight Express as well (again, mostly because two different people want to see it with me, but I don’t mind at all because it’s one of my all-time favourite musicals).
At the same time I feel myself getting increasingly impatient and dismissive of shows I can’t bring myself to care for. The nadir for me was Dear Evan Hansen, which I was very meh about after hearing the OBC, but thought I’d give it a chance in London – and still hated it. I took things one step further with shows like Mean Girls and Waitress where I found the music utterly boring and forgettable and in the latter case, the story godawful as well. So I didn’t bother seeing them live and don’t feel like I’ve missed anything.
The next step came with some of the new stuff announced in London and to some extent on Broadway. I’m so dog-tired of “blokes in a frock” shows that I just don’t care for Mrs Doubtfire or To Wong Foo at all (and I ignored Tootsie before already, though I did watch Some like it hot on Broadway because I had enjoyed the music). Similarly, I don’t care for trite banal sappy love stories and couldn’t even bring myself to listen to Time Travellers’ Wife (to consider whether I might want to see it) and Notebook is at the very bottom of the new shows on Broadway I’d want to see this year.
BUT: There have also been cases when I had already dismissed a show and then came round to it. When The Bands Visit opened on Broadway I thought it was extremely boring with forgettable music and just not worthy of a big musical. But the Donmar production piqued my interest and I thought I’d give it a go live and absolutely loved it – I began to see it more as a “play with music” than a musical and the show certainly benefitted from the intimacy of a small house.
The same happened with Next to Normal – I had seen it on Broadway, but couldn’t really get on board with it and its very American approach to treatment and when the hype for London got going, I initially dismissed it. But thanks to the casting, I decided to give it a go after all and really liked it so much better than back then – perhaps again to do with a more intimate setting, but I also found that the story spoke far more to me now than it had back then, because it now felt far more personal (without going into details, Dan’s plight in trying to get through to Diana while trying to keep the family together resonated strongly with me).
Lastly, I hated everything Jamie Lloyd touched in recent years with a passion, especially The Seagull, and was very wary of seeing Sunset Boulevard. I only booked because I still had an ATG Voucher from Covid days that was expiring at the end of the year, so I could basically see it for free. And while I don’t think it’s all that amazing as many here seem to think, I AM glad that I have seen it and could witness Nicole Scherzinger’s incredible performance.
So what do others think? Is it worth opening up yourself to shows you are doubtful about in case they are a positive surprise and give you a great experience, like Band’s Visit did for me, or is it better to nope out early when things just don’t appeal topic-wise and/or music-wise? Would you rather revisit a favourite show once more to see new people tackling the roles or just experience the magic of your favourite numbers, or rather see something fresh to widen your horizon? And how do you choose what IS worthy to give it a go and what isn't?
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Post by viserys on Dec 26, 2023 20:11:54 GMT
So my resolution is to not see things I suspect in advance I won’t enjoy, because 9 times out of 10 I am right, and I could’ve put that ticket money towards other productions I probably would enjoy more. I fully agree with that. It's been a resolution I have successfully managed to implement for me in the last 2-3 years, avoiding shows completely, when I found the whole idea boring or offensive or the music I heard bored me. Was the best decision I've made. For years I battled FOMO, now I've made my peace with saying that I'm simply too old for many of the shows aimed at a teenage audience or that I just can't deal with sexist nonsense on stage anymore. I've also found London rather disappointing post-pandemic which, in combination with hotel prices having gone insane, has led me to cut back on my trips. At least it means that my two 2024 trips so far already feel filled with highlights - the two Ghibli shows (Totoro and later Spirited Away), Stranger Things (love the TV show) and both Hadestown and Starlight Express are already booked twice.
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Post by viserys on Dec 26, 2023 15:54:37 GMT
Do you mean the official "New Year Sale" that used to be called Get Into London Theatre? officiallondontheatre.com/sale/Still there, haven't looked if the offers are any good. In recent years it really went downhill, offering only fairly mediocre seats in the back of the stalls and stuff like that. But depending on what shows you are looking for, you may be lucky.
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Post by viserys on Dec 23, 2023 14:41:16 GMT
Merry Christmas everyone and thank you all for all the interesting discussions, information and gossip so valuable to a wannabe-Brit stuck on the wrong side of the Channel! With two all-time favourite shows in London in 2024 I think it's gonna be a great year! And I'll add my voice to those thanking the admin for their great work and keeping the board free from so much of the drama that tears other online places apart
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Post by viserys on Dec 18, 2023 14:21:23 GMT
In no particular order: Standing at the Sky's Edge Marjorie Prime Patriots Dear England The Grand Old Opera House Hotel Honourable mentions to The Brief Life and Mysterious Death ofBoris III, King of Bulgaria and Meetings Are these two plays? I totally read this as "King of Bulgaria and Meetings"
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Post by viserys on Dec 15, 2023 15:40:00 GMT
Ready in half an hour.
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Post by viserys on Dec 15, 2023 9:37:40 GMT
That sounds delicious
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Post by viserys on Dec 15, 2023 8:29:28 GMT
I'm generally a Jamie Lloyd hater myself, I was properly angry at his ridiculous Seagull and had sworn to not ever see a production by him again. But then I read so many comments here along the lines of "I normally don't like Jamie Lloyd, but.... (this was great/amazing/etc)" that I decided to give it a try after all.
So I think it IS fair to say that you might try the sprouts again despite knowing you generally don't like them, because someone might have changed the recipe a little or came up with a different way to prepare them (to stay with the analogy) and then come back and say "nope, still didn't work for me".
What I don't understand is why people who didn't like a certain show a) need to keep repeating how much they disliked it (we get it the first time round) and b) feel the need to back their opinion up by bringing up friends who agreed with them. Whether these friends are real or imaginary doesn't even matter, I just don't know what it's supposed to achieve. A parity of numbers, so it's not my one negative opinion versus ten positive opinions here but rather eleven negative opinions of me and my possibly imaginary friends to outweigh the ten positives?
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Post by viserys on Dec 15, 2023 7:52:32 GMT
Public transport is an absolute shambles and then they are surprised that Germans won't abandon their cars.
I managed to get a ticket for Taylor Swift's concert in Gelsenkirchen (basically next door to Bochum) next summer and wanted to use public transport, but I wouldn't get home until 4-5am and I live one hour away by car. So car it is...
Anyway, glad you had a good time. My American friend who hadn't seen the show before either also loved it, so I sort of envy you all for being able to enjoy this version without thinking of what used to be.
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Post by viserys on Dec 15, 2023 7:37:53 GMT
The best things I’ve seen this year were across the pond on Broadway, but to focus on London here:
1. Next to Normal 2. Sunset Boulevard 3. Groundhog Day 4. Standing at the Sky’s Edge 5. Death Note Concert
Hated with a passion: A Little Life (only seen the cinema screening luckily)
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Post by viserys on Dec 14, 2023 11:29:59 GMT
So it’s exactly the same as buying on your phone Not really, I'd say. You can ask the concierge team for advice before you use the kiosk and they'll be there (hopefully) if you encounter trouble while booking, so you aren't on your own like you are when you book on your phone at home. Foreign tourists who buy at short notice may a) not be aware that TodayTix even exists and b) not have a data package to use their phone in the UK all the time, so the kiosk is a great option for them. Lastly, MAYBE, these kiosks will actually PRINT tickets rather than give you a lame QR code for your phone and as someone who's always collected the old ticket stubs, I'd really like that (in fact I screenshot the stupid digital tickets now and print them... shoot me if you want).
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Post by viserys on Dec 12, 2023 10:20:13 GMT
This doesn't seem as much of an oddball choice as some others.
At least there's a reason (10th anniversary) and I actually liked it when it was at the Adelphi. There was this curious stretch of brand-new homegrown shows that all failed (Mrs Henderson Presents was another one I remember fondly).
I'd just like to know why they feel the need to use the biggest venues for this kind of thing, why not stick with something like Cadogan Hall or better yet, a venue the size of Cadogan Hall more centrally in the West End.
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Post by viserys on Dec 7, 2023 13:34:51 GMT
Oklahoma at Circle in the Square was the only "in the round" experience that worked for me (but I was also half dead with jetlag that evening).
None of the London "in the round" stagings I've seen recently worked for me, whether Allegiance, Guys and Dolls or Little Big Things. It's inevitable that you see performers only from the back from time to time which is highly annoying when you miss important bits that way (like Sky standing with his back to me all the time during "I've never been in love before".
It also takes me out of the experience when I keep seeing the audience on the other side (or every side) and I can't lose myself in whatever world is presented on stage. So unless it's something or someone I'm absolutely dying to see or makes sense in the context of the show I won't book for anything "in the round" or traverse or similar gimmicky anymore.
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Post by viserys on Dec 3, 2023 13:10:26 GMT
No mention of Broadway though, just going home to Hawaii. The girl deserves a holiday!
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Post by viserys on Nov 30, 2023 8:20:31 GMT
The studio obviously were not confident enough in this to make it a two parter, because there is such an obvious split opportunity moment that I legit thought the thing was ending. And then somehow we got another hour. Very relieved this was NOT a two-parter, as it was ONE book. I hate those cynical cash-grabs where a book is split in two just to make it two movies and by the time the second one comes around you have half forgotten the plot of the first and they often feel very bloated. This felt tight as it was all plot and very little stuffing. It wasn't as gripping as the original Hunger Games trilogy with its criticism of the modern media circus, but still very solid fare that stood heads and shoulders over most of today's dross. Surprised to read so little about it here, considering it stars a budding musical star, who gets to sing so many songs, it did feel almost like a musical at time. I couldn't stand Rachel Zegler in West Side Story and don't find her very likeable in anything I've witnessed of her off-screen, so I had been very worried about her here (especially since the original trilogy relied so much on Jennifer Lawrence being fantastic), but she was surprisingly good and engaging, as was Tom Blyth as young Coriolanus. He just kinda lost me in the last part with his new short and very blonde hair, he seemed to have turned into Draco Malfoy. The Hunger Games: Snakes and Songbirds **** from me
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Post by viserys on Nov 25, 2023 6:14:55 GMT
I assume he must be a big star over there LOL. Falco was absolutely massive in the 80s with several hits in Austria and Germany and considered one of the very first white Europeans to use rap and hip hop. He also caused a scandal when the conservative mainstream media in both countries refused to play his song "Jeanny", claiming it was glorifying violence, so of course it sold even better then. He was also one of the few with brilliant lyrics, often mocking society, in a time when most German-language music was banal crap. To top it all off, his private life was rather lurid and topped it all off by dying (far too) early in a car crash just after his 40th birthday to become a legend rather than a fading has-been. Here have been musicals about him before, but the VBW's only big hit in the last years was a similar jukebox musical (with Rainhard Fendrich's music), so I can see why they were desperate for a new hit. Whether it's worth seeing without knowing him? I haven't seen it, but if you can get a decently priced seat I think it's worth it for the music and the man's interesting story, especially since the VBW use English surtitles for their shows, so you can follow along easily.
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Post by viserys on Nov 24, 2023 16:48:39 GMT
I got a mail that my matinee performance has been moved from 2pm to 1pm "to ensure that the technical team has sufficient time to prepare the stage between the matinee and evening shows" - wow, that sounds busy
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Post by viserys on Nov 15, 2023 13:31:57 GMT
While I understand the desire to have this live on, go on tour and/or to Broadway, I can't help thinking it shouldn't be more than this brief "flash in the pan" at the Savoy, one of those "you had to be there" moments that are part of theatre history.
Jamie Lloyd has proven that he can impose his minimalist style successfully on a musical that really didn't seem to be fit for it. ALW has proven that his bloated mega musicals can work in such a minimalist stripped-down version. Nicole Scherzinger has proven that she can carry a musical on her shoulder and be amazing.
Capture it on a cast recording, so it won't be forgotten, but move on. Don't dilute it with a tour that can't recreate the magic or with performers who can't recreate the exact chemistry Scherzinger and Francis have at the Savoy.
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Post by viserys on Nov 11, 2023 7:00:38 GMT
Given how much they've been discounting from Day One, it's a surprise it was allowed to go on as long as it did and it makes sense to cut the last weeks in January, when even much more popular shows are struggling to sell.
I wonder if they got a good deal/discount on the Gillian Lynne because the theatre owners knew they wouldn't be able to bring in a filler before Sky's Edge, so it was still better for them than letting it sit empty.
Personally I much preferred this to Guys & Dolls as I couldn't get on board with the "immersive" staging at all. But yea, G&D is a much better known property, I'm sure many are drawn to it for the novelty factor of this staging and I guess the Bridge Theatre is also smaller, even when you take the standing room into account?
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Post by viserys on Nov 10, 2023 19:19:31 GMT
Are we still going to have the characters FlatTop, The Big Hopper, Rocky I, II & III, The Red Caboose, Volta and the song Freight is Great? Volta is part of Electra's entourage, but yea, still around. The two male components Krupp and Purse have been mashed together into a new character called Killerwatt (no, I'm not kidding). Caboose has been chopped down and changed beyond recognition in Bochum. I assume it will be the same in London. I wonder if they will have Brexit the British train in London? On another note, when I saw the show in Bochum a few weeks ago, Turnov (the Russian train) was not allowed to fly his flag, the performer carried it tightly bound around the stick. I wonder if they might replace him with a train from another nation to avoid all that political stuff. Plenty of countries have got high-speed-trains since.
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Post by viserys on Nov 9, 2023 7:50:53 GMT
What do we think are the chances of a bridge? The Troubadour seems about as stable as a house of cards, so I don't think they could install an extremely heavy bridge in there. And the bridge in Bochum keeps breaking down and is often out of commission for weeks on end, so it seems a lot of trouble and cost for something that isn't really needed. I'd rather see a completely fresh approach to the stage sets.
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Post by viserys on Nov 8, 2023 18:33:26 GMT
Just a whimsical idea but after seeing the seating plan online today I thought wouldn't it be great if the whole block of seats moved right or left mechanically (likes a fairground, but not at that speed) so the audience moved with the trains. That's half what I'm expecting (like an old-fashioned railyard roundhouse). But I don't think it will be possible, because it would mean there'd be tiny "gaps" where the tracks on the platform (that moves) connect to the outer track and that may be dangerous for the skaters.
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Post by viserys on Nov 8, 2023 11:24:23 GMT
How long will Ivano Turco be in the Jamie tour? I think he'd be a perfect Rusty
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Post by viserys on Nov 8, 2023 10:37:38 GMT
I am very lucky in that they hung on just in time for me to still catch it next week!
It's been an absolute bloodbath on Broadway this year, but then very few shows managed to capture the mainstream. Pseudo-feminist nonsense like Bad Cinderella and the Britney Spears thing died a rightful early death and Here Lies Love is just too special both in the way it's conceived and its topic to appeal to the general tourist demographic. Not sure why New York, New York didn't catch on, I personally enjoyed it.
There's a whole glut of new more "traditional" shows opening in the next months, I'm very curious to see which of these will make it. I'm mostly looking forward to "The Outsiders" and "Lempicka", but also "Water for Elephants" may have promise with its circus set-up.
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Post by viserys on Nov 7, 2023 8:07:55 GMT
Let's see if this works
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Post by viserys on Nov 7, 2023 8:05:58 GMT
I can't upload the screenshots either, but it says:
Performances will be on: Wednesday, Thursday, Friday & Saturday at 7:30pm Weekday Matinee Thursday at 2:30pm Sunday at 1:00pm and 5:30pm Saturday Performances between 20th July and 31st August will be at 1:00pm and 5:30pm
It says nothing about "regular" Saturday matinees, so I wonder if they axed that in favour of the Sunday matinee. I did see the other screenshot too that showed two Saturday performances in June, so here's hoping that they just forgot to mention it. I had very much relied on meeting a friend for a Saturday matinee in early July.
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Post by viserys on Nov 7, 2023 6:08:04 GMT
I've seen the screenshots that were shared... surely it can't be true that there won't be Saturday matinees?
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Post by viserys on Oct 27, 2023 15:13:27 GMT
I'm wondering how they, or if they, have updated the 'look' of each train or carriage in terms of the make up, wigs and costumes. Sadly in Bochum all the changes were for the worse, especially for Pearl and Electra who lost all their colour. I do hope we'll get something completely new in London.
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Post by viserys on Oct 27, 2023 10:13:18 GMT
I could get my skates on.
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Post by viserys on Oct 27, 2023 8:59:18 GMT
no, absolutely sick of them. Part of that is a 'me' problem because I can't travel to London at the drop of a hat, but I also find many of them pointless.
They CAN be good to either test the waters and gauge interest in new shows (such as Death Note, which became a surprise success) or to present shows that won't stand a chance to be done commercially (such as the upcoming Diana or older shows that won't be brought back as a regular production like Love Never Dies) but I feel they are scraping the bottom of the barrel now with random mediocre shows from the last decades like this or Bat Boy.
But there clearly seems to be a market for them, so... shrug.
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