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Post by Dawnstar on Sept 4, 2021 17:08:07 GMT
Dawnstar If you don’t have any luck on here, then the back of the programme/brochure says more copies are available from www.theatre-shop.com. Can’t see any on there at the minute though, looks like a way of selling off merchandise for closed shows, so maybe try in a few days. Thanks. I should have know a website would exist! But it's the first time I've wanted to buy a programme & have been unable to do so at the theatre. If all else fails, Dawnstar , there's a PDF freesheet that seems to list everyone front and backstage, not just the leads. If I can link to it directly, I don't know how, but it can be downloaded via: www.sadlerswells.com/whats-on/2021/singin-in-the-rain/(About halfway down, under the reviews and star ratings.) Argh, I completely overlooked that! I thought it was something for visually impaired people, as it's just above the image description. Thank you. At least that tells me who the ensemble are, though the lack of headshots doesn't help with identifying who played the small roles such as the male dialect coach & Zelda Zanders. I can't understand why it lists the understudies for the small roles but not the leads! So I'll still be trying to get a programme.
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Post by Dawnstar on Sept 4, 2021 15:25:12 GMT
Any chance anyone is seeing SITR tonight or tomorrow? I was unable to bu a programme when I saw it, as my card wouldn't work. I tweeted Sadler's Wells yesterday to ask if there was any way to buy a programme online but didn't get a reply. I can't even find full cast details online, with Sadler's Wells website only listing the leads. So if anyone is seeing it & might be able to get me a programme please let me know. Of course I'd pay back the P&P.
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Post by Dawnstar on Sept 3, 2021 18:31:17 GMT
The "full cast" seems to only include 1 swing. I'd be very wary of travelling from a distance to see this if they don't cast some more swings as otherwise the risk of cancellation due to cast illness or injury seems rather high.
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Post by Dawnstar on Sept 3, 2021 18:25:36 GMT
Has disciplining your child gone completely out of the window? This is going to make me sound like a child-hating harpie (which I may be but that’s beside the point) but I paid to hear trained actors perform and would rather 6 year old Pandora from Buckinghamshire kept her singing and incessant questions to the privacy of her own home From what I remember when my children were younger, it's always worse at musicals and family shows in August when Kidweek discounted tickets are available. Not to criticise Kidweek, which is a great initiative and gets lots of families visiting theatres who might otherwise not, but how are people to know what is normal theatre behaviour if they haven't been before? Maybe they're behaving as they would at a pop concert, which is logical if you see a musical as a type of concert with characters and narrative? I wonder why theatres don't do behaviour announcements asking people not to chat of join in with the singing as well as 'switch off your phone', or add that to the info sent out with tickets, like the Covid rules?
I've never been to a pop concert but would parents really take 6 year olds to them?!
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Post by Dawnstar on Sept 3, 2021 16:39:58 GMT
I do wish I had sat further back to be able to enjoy the spectacle more, rather than being blasted with water but the tickets were very pricey, even the slips were £60! Adam Cooper is a great dancer and his vocals are strong enough. He's perfect for this role. I hope I am as fit as him at 50. I cannot think of anyone else that could do this role as well as him. Alan Burkitt, maybe? Kevin Clifton has clearly worked very hard since I saw him in Rock of Ages. But there is just something that just doesn't click for me with him. His voice sounds strained throughout I was in the slips & thought they were pretty good value for £60, compared to the top price tickets being £90. Although sold as "restricted view" I didn't miss a thing & I didn't have to worry about being soaked! For me personally it was also worth it purely for not being surrounded by people so I was able to somewhat relax. I thought of Alan Burkitt too. Although that may be partly due to association with Charlotte Gooch as I saw them together in Top Hat half a dozen times & they were my favourite combination out of the various casts in that show. It'll be interesting to see who's in the tour cast. I was under the mistaken impresion that the tour was starting soon & that therefore Adam Cooper & Kevin Clifton wouldn't be able to do it but having looked it up today I see that it's actually not starting until March 2022 so maybe they'll be in it after all. I didn't have a problem with Kevin Clifton vocally. I mean, I definitely wouldn't want to see him in a role such as the Phantom or Valjean but for this sort of thing his voice sounded okay to me. In case anyone's interested, some of my curtain call photos from last night's show: http://instagram.com/p/CTXQUtqoP8q
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Post by Dawnstar on Sept 2, 2021 22:58:22 GMT
Tonight was my first time in an indoor theatre since 14th March 2020. This probably sounds strange but I actually felt safer during the performance than I did outdoors at Regent's Park on Sunday. I was very fortunate that the seat next to mine in the stalls slips remained unsold so the nearest person to me was over a metre away. Even though the seat was sold as restricted view I didn't miss a thing & didn't even find myself needing to lean forward. I really enjoyed the show - well, apart from the Broadway Melody number which reminded me while I fast forward through it when watching the film! Though I did like the lighting design. I loved Charlotte Gooch in Top Hat, I think I saw her something like 10 times, so it was great for me to see her again. It was great to finally see Adam Cooper as Don - a decade after he was off sick when I saw SITR at the Palace! He must have a portrait in the attic as he doean't look anywhere near 50 (though I did wonder if he dyes his hair). Kevin Clifton provided terrific comic relief as Cosmo. Also I'd managed to forget Michael Matus is in the show so that was a very pleasant surprise! Before anyone says why didn't I read the programme, when I tried to buy one my card was declined. Since it worked fine online when I booked my train tickets a few hours earlier, I can only assume it's because I haven't used it in person for nearly 18 months! That'll be another phone call to my bank then, after problems trying to book ROH tickets the other week when it said I needed a security code but no text with it ever turned up. It made interesting entertainment for those who didn't leave their seats at the interval Thanks for the heads-up on this. Usually I head out to the loo at the start of an interval but tonight I stayed to watch all the mopping up operations!
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Post by Dawnstar on Sept 2, 2021 17:21:03 GMT
I really like the SWP - very cosy and atmospheric. While I'd agree under normal circumstances, the last thing I want during a pandemic is to be crammed onto benches being "cosy" with the rest of an audience! So it's fortunate there's no anything I want to see there this season as it's near the bottom of my list of theatres I'd feel safe going to.
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Post by Dawnstar on Sept 1, 2021 11:18:51 GMT
Dawnstar (I have no idea if this tags you) I said I would update you about the seating. I was in the slips, absolutely the best seats, great view and we were so,so lucky that nobody had bought the rest of them, so we had the whole section to ourselves, nobody was near us and we could also stretch out a lot. I love anywhere where you can move the seat to your liking, especially now. I said I'd tell you about the mask situation too, as I know you're worried, and not great news on that part. Thankfully we were so far away from everyone there, but the majority didn't wear them, and a lot of people seemed to be wearing them and then removing them (possible peer pressure/conformity issues with this) even though the announcer did ask people to wear them before the show. I'm sorry it's not great news on that front, I thought I'd be honest so you could decide what to do about going here with all the information. I ended up booking yesterday for Thursday, as the Wednesday performances already had no slips setas left & I was worried if I left it any longer Thursday wouldn't either (don't want to go Friday or Saturday as the train home is likely to be busier those nights). I've booked at the end of the row of 6 seats & at the moment the next seat is empty, though I realise that may not be the case by tomorrow evening.
After seeing the almost entirely unmasked audience at Regent's Park on Sunday my hopes for much of the Sadler's Wells audience mask wearing are low. I can only hope that I'll be far away enough from the bulk of the audience that their germs won't get to me in sufficient quantites to get through my mask.
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Post by Dawnstar on Aug 31, 2021 19:09:32 GMT
I too tend to agree Kathryn - and, if they're not very careful, pricing is going to have a detrimental (possibly disastrous) impact on theatre. It'll become like the opera, well it almost has. £90 cheapest for 'Cabaret' is just pure greed! A few years back I'd have booked for that immediately. No more! I feel that is unfair to opera! At the ROH this coming season ticket prices for popular operas include £12-£250 for Rigoletto & £11-£225 for La Traviata. That is cheaper than Cabaret's £20-£325 at both ends of the price spectrum.
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Post by Dawnstar on Aug 30, 2021 21:30:04 GMT
One issue from my point of view about getting a refund/exchange if the performer you specifically booked to see is of is how far down do you go? I've seen a number of shows over the years because performers I like have been in shows in supporting roles. So if someone who's booked in just order to see a "star" gets a refund if the star is off then what about someone who's booked just to see a performer in a smaller role who's off? Do they get a refund too?
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Post by Dawnstar on Aug 30, 2021 17:57:24 GMT
No, that wasn’t me. The first time I got there early, so decided to walk around the park a bit, which was a mistake because it’s much bigger than I thought. Was maybe a quarter of the way around when I needed to head back but due to the lake I couldn’t just cut across in a straight line, then ended up on the road outside the theatre but couldn’t find the way in. Second time I headed back to where we went in for the first show, in darkness, to find it closed. But I wasn’t alone in that respect. I did see you there actually, I was about three or four rows behind you. I found out how big the park is last year. This time, as I was on my own, I stuck to the gardens near the theatre & the Inner Ring.
I'm sorry I didn't recognise you or I would have said hello (at a distance!). I imagine I was fairly conspicuous, being one of a small minority in face masks & doubtless the only person in gloves!
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Post by Dawnstar on Aug 30, 2021 17:53:50 GMT
Touch wood, that does make sense. The R number in London is still about 1, so each person with it is giving it to one other person, it's far more likely that person is someone they live with day in day out than someone they have fleeting contact with..
I do feel for you, Dawnstar, and I'm rooting for you to be ok. The odds are SO in your favour: With an estimated 1 in 70 having it in London at the moment, at least half those people are likely aware of it and staying home. So, just roughly, even at full capacity at Regent's Park, there might be a mere 8 people there with the virus.
Now, ask yourself, EVEN if you are unlucky enough to sit next to one of those 8 people, are you likely to be the ONE person those 8 people give it to, given you're double vaxxed, you're masked, and it's outside where transmission is so MUCH less because the air doesn't circulate in the same way as indoors?
Or, is the one person each of those 8 people each give it to more likely to be someone that person, unmasked, shares an intimate enclosed room with for hours and hours on end? Maybe someone unvaxxed, and thus 20 times more likely to catch it, as well?
And remember, even in the extremely unlikely event you do get it, double vaxxed people are twenty times more likely to be able to simply brush it off than unvaxxed people of their same age.
Fingers crossed, more people get vaccinated, the r number stays down, and we can continue living relatively normal and fulfilled lives. Touch wood.
It's the fact that I was sitting next to & in front of lots of unmasked people shrieking their heads off that really worries me. I thought the show would be conducted like it was this time last year, where audience members were told only to applaud to vote for suggestions & not to cheer. But no, it was back to the pre-pandmic model with everyone yelling as loudly as they could to vote for suggestions. Then towards the end of the second show the cast encouraged the audience to sing along to a song reprise. So if anyone near me had covid then they wouldn't just be breathing virus out gently but blasting it out.
I'm not worried about me being seriously ill if I do get it. I'm 36 & in reasonable physical health. The problem is that I live with my mother, who is over 70 & has had several major health problems in the last 6 months, including being hospitalised 4 times. Her doctor told her last week that it really would not be good if she got covid.
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Post by Dawnstar on Aug 30, 2021 12:52:28 GMT
For the record, the Regent's Park shows. 6pm a heist movie featuring a spy set in DFS "Live And Let Lie". Cast: Mike, Nancy, Lauren, Henry L, Harry, Susan & Josh. 9pm a paranormal horror pirate movie set on the SMS Message titled "Paranormal Aaaarctivity". Same cast as 6pm.
If anyone's seeing any of the the Suffolk or Cornwall performances I'd appreciate knowing the titles, genres & locations of the shows you see.
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Post by Dawnstar on Aug 30, 2021 12:49:41 GMT
Try not to worry. I have worked in enclosed spaces with other people throughout the pandemic and have been out actively enjoying my life again since restrictions eased. I am tested regularly for work and have never tested positive. Of course, you could be unlucky, but you also might not be. I hope you enjoyed your shows! x It seems to be people who try to be careful that get it severely & those who are out & about that don't. Sod's law. My mother is very much avoiding me today!
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Post by Dawnstar on Aug 30, 2021 12:45:53 GMT
marob You weren't the person on the other end of the phone to a woman standing right in the entrance yelling into her mobile at someone who evidently couldn't find their way there for the 9pm performance were you?!
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Post by Dawnstar on Aug 30, 2021 12:44:17 GMT
When theatre returned it was clear. Stage door is not allowed, but with some going anyway and some performers still taking photos no wonder the lines have been muddied, not that behaviour like this is ever ok. I've been reading for months that stage dooring isn't allowed. I was therefore surprised when standing outside the auditorium at Regent's Park theatre yesterday after the 6pm Mischief Movie Night performance to see two of the cast come out of the auditorium & stand around chatting to & taking photos with fans. Both they & the majority of the fans talking to them were unmasked, & they must have been there for a while because I waited several minutes for the loo queue to clear, went into the loos, & when I came back out they were still there. So you can understand fans perhaps getting a bit confused if some actors are happy to do stage door while others are banned from it.
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Post by Dawnstar on Aug 29, 2021 22:22:42 GMT
lIf I catch covid today I feel it'll be deeply unfair! Unfortunately after sitting through 2 shows with the mostly maskless audiences shrieking their heads off I'm very much afraid that life is going to be unfair.
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Post by Dawnstar on Aug 29, 2021 16:00:35 GMT
After literally weeks of agonizing over whether to go or not, I'm on a train to London to see Mischief Movie Night at Regent's Park. It's the first time I've been to a theatre, or indeed been anywhere other than for walks, for a year. I am, of course, masked & it's 2 months since my 2nd jab. If I catch covid today I feel it'll be deeply unfair!
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Post by Dawnstar on Aug 27, 2021 19:43:04 GMT
I went to the doctor today with heart rhythm problems. Blood test and ECG. While I was there they received instructions that owing to a shortage of suitable bottles no more blood tests can be performed except for things like cancer diagnosis. I've been referred to the cardiologist and I'm hoping that my blood test can slip in before the moratorium, because otherwise the cardiologist is just going to have to guess at the underlying cause. This is the reality of "I don't want any more restrictions; we'll just have to get used to it". Unless you also plan to stop treating Covid-19 patients and shove them all into a barn and let them cough at each other until the dying stops, the high number of patients means other people can't get normal levels of care. Everything is spread too thin. (And all the staff at the practice looked absolutely exhausted.) I'm sorry to hear you're having heart problems. I hope you manage to get the checks required & they can find the cause. My mother suddenly developed severe heart problems in June, requiring hospitalisation twice, & despite a battery of tests they couldn't find a reason. It's terrifying that heart failure can suddenly appear from nowhere.
Quite. I suspect that many, maybe most, people who want to get rid of all restrictions are not currently suffering from health problems & struggling to get treatment.
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Post by Dawnstar on Aug 27, 2021 12:06:44 GMT
How exactly have they worked this? Is Perkins played as a female character or as a trouser role? Have any lines been changed? She's playing a female actress (Denise) playing a male role. No lines have been changed Thanks for your reply. Pre-covid I would have jumped on a train as soon as I heard about this very interesting understudy situation but sadly that's not possible nowadays.
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Post by Dawnstar on Aug 27, 2021 12:03:00 GMT
I got that message when I booked & have seen a number of comments on Twitter from people who also got it. I think everyone's ignoring it & booking anyway.
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Post by Dawnstar on Aug 26, 2021 19:49:07 GMT
There's so many shows I don't want to miss out on and I'm so fed up of just not doing anything. I have Singin tickets for next week, I tried to get tickets where there are less people in the slips, and I've also booked Anything Goes and a few tickets for the ROH ballet season. I'm really worried hearing that people aren't wearing masks, it just doesn't seem fair that people don't want to just wear a small piece of fabric to give everyone freedom. It's as if we're just forgetting it now in the UK, when people are still dying of it. The vulnerable are expendable and not even worth thinking about. Sorry, I'm just kind of annoyed about it..... We seem to have similar theatre tastes: I too am eyeing up the slips at Sadler's Wells & have booked several Royal Ballet tickets. Though it's depressing booking tickets knowing that there's a pretty high chance that I may not be able to use them. My feelings about the whole situation are way beyond annoyance, more like devestation.
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Post by Dawnstar on Aug 26, 2021 19:43:09 GMT
Sally Chang made her debut just two nights ago as the first actress to play Dennis (or Denise). She did fine, but I could tell she needs to settle into the role and let the jokes land. How exactly have they worked this? Is Perkins played as a female character or as a trouser role? Have any lines been changed?
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Post by Dawnstar on Aug 26, 2021 18:43:34 GMT
I mean,the thing is, it's on everyone to help everyone else. So, I am more vulnerable, I've had the two vaccines, and I will wear a mask, but it's not just about what I do for myself because it's about the spread. So what a lot of people are saying is people who are at risk should stay home and never enjoy anything again because people are fed up now. It's creating a two tier society, I know many people who have still not left their house since last March. It's sad that they can no longer enjoy things like going to the theatre anymore or risk their husband who has dialysis catching this and dying. Exactly. This is pretty much the situation I'm currently in. Before covid I'd average seeing a couple of performances a week. Since covid I've been to the theatre once in the last 17 months, when I saw Mischief Movie Night in at the Open Air theatre last August. I am now agonizing over whether I can risk seeing their repeat performance there on Sunday & see Singin' In The Rain before that closes at the end of next week. (I've already written off Anything Goes, which I'd also really like to see, given the reports on this thread.) I'm so desparate to go to the theatre that I feel my life isn't worth living if I can't go. But I live with my mother, who is currently on immunosuppressant medication. So I've got a hopeless clash between my mental health & my mother's physical health. If I knew the rest of the audience would be wearing masks then I'd be more likely to risk theatre attendance.
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Post by Dawnstar on Aug 24, 2021 10:25:59 GMT
I've spent a truly horrendous amount of money on Royal Ballet tickets. Now I have to hope covid rates will be low enough for me to actually attend any of the performances I've booked. I've not booked any opera performances however. Either the directors put me off (Rigoletto, Jenufa, Macbeth) or the casts don't include any singers I'm interested enough in to re-see productions I've already seen (Zauberflote, Traviata). Also is it just me or is it, with the exception of Zauberflote, a really depressing selection of operas?
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