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Post by viserys on Jan 7, 2019 11:42:24 GMT
Makes sense (on their side) - After reading this discussion I went to take a look at the area on Google Maps/Earth and realized for the first time that there's a nice garden space of sorts on the building next door (Queen Elizabeth Hall?) - I'm not sure if it IS open to the public, but if it is, I have never known of it before. Why not signpost it better, same with at least the biggest NT balcony, put up the lawn chairs there in the summer months, a little mobile café, and it would all be rather lovely. Similarly, until an American friend went to college in London a few years ago and used the Royal Festival Hall's free wifi sometimes, I had no idea that that place was even open for the public (or where the entrance is)... I'm sure that we all here know about the NT being open to the public because we're theatre nerds, but how many people are even aware that the're a good bookshop and cafe inside that's open to everyone?
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Post by viserys on Jan 7, 2019 10:28:14 GMT
I know, very different climate and all that, but they should take a look at the Esplanade - Theatres on the Bay in Singapore, that managed a very successful mix of free public entertainment, accessibility and performing arts for paying customers. On only two days in Singapore I sort of accidentally caught a very beautiful dance performance and an ear-killingly awful Chinese orchestra performing for free. I wouldn't have wanted to hear more of that Chinese orchestra, but might have booked for a full performance of the dance company if I had been in town longer.
It may be a bit more difficult for a theatre mostly dedicated to drama, but surely the NT could come up with some ideas for free public performances, allow some budding musical performers to do small free concerts, lure parents & children with some short drama workshops for kids, whatever.
And yes, the balconies of the NT are a criminal waste. The ground floor as it is now is at least some progress, but I really don't think the NT looks very inviting to all the people walking past along the river.
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Post by viserys on Jan 6, 2019 16:47:21 GMT
I still have big reservations, too, about the National's publicly-funded resources being used to give commercial producers what amounts to a cut-price out-of-town tryout, and while I'm totally in favour of the Equity exchange arrangement that allows performers from the UK and US to cross the Atlantic with shows like this, it leaves a slightly sour taste to see a production at the National where all five leads are Americans parachuted in under the exchange programme, with British performers relegated to the ensemble. It would leave less of a sour taste if some members of the ensemble were going to be making the transfer to Broadway, but since the only casting announced for Broadway so far is those five leads there's a good chance they won't be. Hm, I can do some extent understand this feeling, but this is not one of those bland commercial Broadway enterprises like Tootsie or Mean Girls, that milks some existing movie. This is a very creative, offbeat strange thing that has divided opinions on here strongly and I don't think any producer would be taking the risk to bring Hadestown into the West End AFTER the Broadway premiere as a second commercial production with an entirely British cast (just like Chavkin's other completely off-the-wall production Comet doesn't seem to be happening). I'd rather see it done at the National like this than not getting it at all (or in five years' time in a very scaled-down production at Southwark). Who knows, seeing how well it's been selling at the National now and has had some time to build up steam, they MIGHT be willing to risk a West End transfer now with a new British cast.
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Post by viserys on Jan 6, 2019 7:01:54 GMT
Am I the only one who's not especially excited about this? I'm very un-excited, too. I might want to see it as I have never seen Hello Dolly live, but I don't care much for Bette Midler and am certainly not ready to pay insane prices. I hope that her alterlate's performances will be cheaper to begin with and/or heavily discounted, then I may go towards the end of the run. Right now I'm not ready yet to return to the Dominion for another show anyway.
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Post by viserys on Jan 3, 2019 12:45:58 GMT
It really had to be THAT popular during the last days? I dayseated from 9.30 and the only seat they had for the evening show was a really bad one at the Dress Circle... 😔 I feel I shouldn't "like" this post, but I still do, because it gladdens me that my beloved Bats go out with a bang in front of full houses and not close with a whimper with many empty rows. Happy to see the fandom's support although with this surge in demand I just wish once more they had at least been allowed to complete a full year. Enjoy the final performances, all of you lucky people who are there!
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Post by viserys on Jan 2, 2019 18:09:24 GMT
There isn't even the danger of people mistakenly booking Barnum expecting to see The Greatest Showman, like many people might book Titanic - the Musical, expecting the movie story of Rose and Jack and Celine's "My heart will go on" because it's basically the same title.
There are also two Phantoms around and while Maury Yeston's isn't half as known/popular/often performed as ALW's, it's still around.
Perhaps Barnum will even benefit from the interest in the story with fans of Showman curious to explore different versions.
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Post by viserys on Dec 29, 2018 22:40:20 GMT
I just know there was no pool. And while the pool/plunge is a fun moment, I don't think the show lives and dies by it.
I'm not sure if they've done the "exploding motorbike" in Toronto, in Oberhausen it's just a projection and again, while it's a fun moment, it's also not strictly necessary as long as you have performers who can rock the joint and sing the stars from the sky.
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Post by viserys on Dec 29, 2018 22:13:42 GMT
Well, let's not forget that Bat had already done a run in Manchester and at the Coliseum before, filled a huge theatre in London and has a massive fanbase (both Meat Loaf fans and now fans of the musical), which none of those other shows had. And if they could scale it down reasonably for the US Tour, why not for an UK Tour?
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Post by viserys on Dec 29, 2018 6:35:07 GMT
Vocally and visually, Barney is the most like Andrew! His voice is so powerful. I hope the show goes out on tour with Barney as Strat and Eve as Raven.
I'd agree, Barney is great and would deserve to lead the tour. Really liked his voice and he's the first since Andrew who really puts some rock star crazy into the performance with so much energy. Glad I got to see him for my final Strat in London.
Now it's over for me, so let's hope the tour does happen as the show deserves to live on.
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Post by viserys on Dec 28, 2018 7:30:52 GMT
But whyyyyyyy? It’s not like you have a job or a life or anything is it? X (And I shall need all the support I can get when faced with a non-Polec performance. I have therapy slots booked for Monday & Tuesday just in case).
Unfortunately I do - and I do need the job to save up for a summer trip to New York in case Bat really happens there with Andrew. I miss the blonde mop more than anything and Adam Pascal syndrome has truly kicked in, feeling meh about Jordan and Simon (liked the latter slightly more, though I mentally called him Stoner Strat). Let's see how I'll feel about Barney today.
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Post by viserys on Dec 28, 2018 7:19:07 GMT
Count me in the camp who loved this. In an insipid Broadway year with biography jukebox musicals and movies uninspiredly slapped onto the stage, Hadestown should and will be cleaning up the Tony Awards.
The folk/jazz music by Anais Mitchell is probably not to everyone's taste, nor is Rachel Chavkin's direction, which repeats her "Comet" theme in turning a well-known classic completely upside down with amazing creativity. But while the music roots this in the depression-era USA, I felt like it was one of those universal stories that could take place anytime anywhere. And while I KNEW the Orpheus legend, while I KNEW what would happen, the last minutes were still incredibly tense, hoping against hope there would be another outcome and I loved how clearly the point was made, how often we, as humans, are our own worst enemies, doubting and worrying instead of having faith (not least in oneself).
The cast was pretty much terrific, too. I don't get the complaints about Reeve Carney being bland - if anything Orpheus should be bland, as the everyday human caught up with the Gods (who by dint of being Gods have a far more forceful personality). I just think that after all this fuss how Orpheus is the greatest singer on Earth and working on a song forever, when that song does come in Act Two, it needs to be much better than it is now, we need to believe in the song being so fantastic, it melts Hades' heart.
I got to try the National Theatre's smart caption glasses for the first time and while they were a bit heavy, they were overall terrific. Much better than regular captioning where your eyes keep darting between the captions on the side of the stage and the performers on stage. Such a wonderful service!
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Post by viserys on Dec 27, 2018 22:39:44 GMT
Can you not just stay for a week or so? Unless you’ve managed to rearrange life around a week on Saturday? 🙄 I wish I could! Alas, tomorrow is my last hooray
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Post by viserys on Dec 27, 2018 18:03:51 GMT
He was on for the matinee and in fine form... Splashed me wet...
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Post by viserys on Dec 26, 2018 13:15:24 GMT
I was pretty clueless about musicals when I came across the vinyl of the Vienna cast recording of Cats in a record shop in 1988. There was something about the logo that didn't let me go and for days I wondered what that record would sound like. So I returned to the shop a few days later to buy it - and a lifelong obsession was born. Such was a magic of a creative beautiful musical poster/logo back then.
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Post by viserys on Dec 24, 2018 15:07:00 GMT
Yea, that's fair I just thought the remark "But I can’t believe those are Austrian hits. I mean really?" was rather strong/cruel, particularly considering the kind of music that's popular in Germany
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Post by viserys on Dec 24, 2018 9:47:22 GMT
I just don't get this kind of bitching about jukebox musicals. If I don't care for a singer/group or don't know the music, I just don't go, even if it's cheap. And if I want to go because of a favorite performer, I familiarize myself with the material and could then still decide if it's worth sitting through for the performer or not. Being German, I don't know many songs by Fendrich, but I know about the "secret national anthem" and about classics like "Weusd a Herz host wie a Bergwerk", which I find about a thousand times better and nicer than the nonsense churned out today by the likes of plastic doll Fischer. That said, I ADORE the Austrian dialect anyway and would probably enjoy the show, but I would never set foot into anything featuring the songs of that wannabe-Elvis slimeball Andreas Gabalier and I would also never ever waste time and money on that "Wahnsinn" musical even when it's here in Cologne because I can't stand Wolfgang Petry's Ballermann schlager crap. Couldn't even finish the cast recording on Spotify, but I acknowledge there's a market for it, I'm just not part of it. Anyway, it's amusing to be discussing German-Austrian schlager nonsense on an English-language forum dedicated to British theatre
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Post by viserys on Dec 23, 2018 17:23:22 GMT
I can't single out a particular show as a disappointment (though I've yet to see Hadestown this upcoming week before the year is over...). The only show I found myself bored with was Tartuffe at the Haymarket, but I still file it away under a positive experience because I got to see Audrey Fleurot live on stage.
My negatives are more of a general kind:
- the astonishing speed with which prices have risen/are rising in the West End,
- the fact that a rather great Broadway season full of creative new work such as Hamilton, Evan Hansen and Comet was followed by an incredibly uninspired season consisting mostly of jukebox musicals and a theme park monkey,
- the fact that Stage Entertainment got their mitts on Bat out of Hell in Germany and turned it into exactly the blazing dumpster fire I had feared,
- and for me personally that Bat didn't run longer than it did in London.
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Post by viserys on Dec 21, 2018 9:48:53 GMT
I think it is perhaps a) a general sense of disappointment with Disney, one of the producers who COULD produce spectacular magic and fail time and again to truly deliver and there are so few shows around today that "dazzle" in that aspect and b) connected to that the extortionate pricing both on Broadway and increasingly in London. If I am expected to fork over close to $200 or £90, I just want a bit more than something half-heartedly slapped together in the hope that people will come anyway because the movie was such a hype. "enjoyed it well enough" just doesn't do it for me at this price.
I thought the movie was nice enough and I think there had been plenty of scope for some magical winter wonderland atmosphere on stage but nothing I've seen and heard of the stage version makes me want to part with the hefty sum demanded for non-premium regular tickets. I'll probably go at some point, but for me it will depend on the casting how excited I'll be getting about this.
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Post by viserys on Dec 20, 2018 20:26:27 GMT
1. Bat out of Hell 2. Eugenius 3. Everybody's talking about Jamie 4. 42nd Street 5. Company
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Post by viserys on Dec 20, 2018 17:35:49 GMT
I'd break his legs before I let him anywhere near the car crash that are Stage Entertainment productions
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Post by viserys on Dec 19, 2018 9:41:57 GMT
Same here, this Renthead now in her 40s almost had a heart attack at the very prospect of being able to see Mr Pascal when I'm in New York in April. Were I there in January, I'd most definitely go. Here's hoping Mr Karl needs another holiday in the last week of April. Ahem.
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Post by viserys on Dec 16, 2018 12:07:05 GMT
A hype based one: Hamilton. Did not enjoy it in London at all to the extent I cancelled a return trip. Which is not the musical's fault- I loved it in NY, but at that point it was over-saturated and I just wasn't into it. A year on and actually I may revisit in 2019, the music and the production is wonderful, but you can have too much of a good thing in the wider white noise sense. This
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Post by viserys on Dec 16, 2018 10:24:41 GMT
I generally love them and would love to see more of them in new musicals. Far too few new musicals have proper choreography anyway and when they do, they don't really work for me, i.e. in Hamilton where the company always looks like they forgot half their clothes backstage before running on stage.
It just seems the one in the recent King and I revival was a misfire, due to it being way too long, the rather botched attempt to recreate classic Thai choreography and the fact that the ballet story doesn't really add to the actual story. Yes, we're meant to see the (preachy) parallels between Uncle Tom's Cabin and the court in Siam, but it doesn't work. Most of the other Rodgers/Hammerstein ballets actually forward the plot, i.e. the dream ballet in Oklahoma! reveals insights into what's going on in Laurey's head and the ballet in Carousel gives Billy a look into his daughter's life. On the Town in Regent's Park and American in Paris were great, too.
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Post by viserys on Dec 15, 2018 7:51:45 GMT
I almost always feel in a different show when I'm seeing shows here in Germany. Most of the shows people here go wild for I either actively detest (Tanz der Vampire) or feel completely indifferent about.
I was worried that I wouldn't get the fuss about Company in London and went in with low expectations, but found myself won over.
So I only nominate Follies here. There were some terrific bits in it, such as Tracie Bennett's "I'm still here" but I just loathed the two leading couples and their story so much, it ruined the evening for me.
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Post by viserys on Dec 14, 2018 9:49:49 GMT
Salt aside, it might fit with the recent report on Broadwayworld where they rumbled about "further exciting news for the future of Bat Out of Hell The Musical to be announced"
Maybe they're not yet ready to go public and she let something slip? Perhaps it will be announced when the show closes in London? Okay, perhaps I'm dreaming but who knows. They also have the US Tour set lying around now and I'm sure the German set will soon become available too...
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Post by viserys on Dec 13, 2018 10:16:48 GMT
The tour is doing a detour to Germany in summer for a week, what a lovely surprise to have them turn up on my doorstep in Cologne! Don't know anyone in the cast, but booked anyway just because it's so nice this is coming over.
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Post by viserys on Dec 13, 2018 7:03:42 GMT
So Germany will be getting it first. At least with this one, I don't care when Stage Entertainment messes it up.
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Post by viserys on Dec 9, 2018 13:22:25 GMT
For me it was the most extraordinary year in London ever. Normally I come over 3-4 times a year for a long weekend and always see different shows. This year it were 8 trips in total (well 7 and one still coming up). Normally I see new stuff on every trip and rarely ever manage a return visit to a show I liked, this time I saw Bat out of Hell 9 times (well 7, and 2 still coming up), including the mad dash to and fro just for Andrew Polec's final performance.
Regrets? Zero.
Also caught several other terrific shows like Eugenius, Jamie, 42nd Street and most recently Company, and I got to hang out with some lovely people from the forum here.
Not sure what next year will be like, but my bank account will certainly appreciate a return to normal.
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Post by viserys on Dec 7, 2018 17:35:47 GMT
Did everyone win this bloody ballot? I feel like such a loser. Bah humbug! I didn't win either
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Post by viserys on Dec 6, 2018 9:39:47 GMT
LOL, I thought let me check my Spam folder and saw a Mail "London Palladium - PRESALE: Get tickets to see Michael Ball..." and was like, HELL NO! - then realized it wasn't for Joseph but for some concert of his. Anyway, I wouldn't book for Joseph until I know who's playing the lead. Am I the only one who thinks it's daft to try and flog this without any name attached yet? It's not like this show hasn't been around on tour for years. Also, I'm broke after forking out for Hugh Jackman, so I half hope it will be some boyband/soap actor type I don't care for
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