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Post by musicalmarge on Jan 31, 2018 9:43:32 GMT
I say Matt for town Duncan from Blue for the tour. Wait and see.....
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Post by musicalmarge on Jan 31, 2018 9:39:59 GMT
If only Stiles and Drew had been given a chance.... Oh god no that would have been a terrible decision. I enjoy some of the songs but am not a lover of them and it just would have given at lest the production of pinocchio a horrible tone and it wouldjjst not be right for this version. I would rather have fewer songs than it be Stiles and Drewes Pinocchio IMHO. What did you think of Mary Poppins? Anyway any composer to write 8 new songs in my opinion would have made it work more. Either that or remove them all and just have underscoring and the odd song to make it more of a play with music.
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Post by musicalmarge on Jan 30, 2018 19:38:56 GMT
If only Stiles and Drew had been given a chance....
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Post by musicalmarge on Jan 30, 2018 11:26:20 GMT
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Post by musicalmarge on Jan 27, 2018 8:17:29 GMT
Some of the new songs Singles will start dropping next month. There will be a song released every month from 23 Feb: "Monster," (a new Act Two solo for Elsa) "What Do You Know About Love?" (a new duet for Anna and Kristoff) "Dangerous to Dream" (a new interior monologue sung by Elsa) "True Love" (a new Act Two solo for Anna) Source: www.broadwayworld.com/article/Breaking-FROZEN-Fridays-Four-New-Songs-to-Drop-Every-Friday-Beginning-223-20180126I read somewhere else that they are changing about 30% of the show they tested in Denver. Let's hope there's a castle set. If they do not pull something sensational out of the bag for Let It Go - this show is done for. I think it’s clear from 90 percent of people reading from all the sites and reviews that it needs a Defying Gravity moment. The song was written visually for it!
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Post by musicalmarge on Jan 24, 2018 18:19:28 GMT
Am I getting older or are the cast members getting younger? I thought the Javert was played by actors in their 40’s not late 20’s!
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Post by musicalmarge on Jan 22, 2018 12:27:33 GMT
Maybe this shouldn't be in the musicals section then... We need a revival of the musical ASAP!! If they need a big name for Aurora, then Catherine Zeta Jones gets my vote. It doesn’t say if it’s a play or a musical - but NEW version! Strange....
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Post by musicalmarge on Jan 22, 2018 11:33:47 GMT
This is starting at the Menier March 8 - May 5?
Bad avertising as this is NOT the musical.
Grrrrrr
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Post by musicalmarge on Jan 22, 2018 11:14:00 GMT
I just opened my ATG email and spat out my breakfast and had to do a double take when I saw FERN BRITTON was cast in this. SHE’s a broadcaster and presenter NOT an actress. I despair....
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Post by musicalmarge on Jan 22, 2018 10:14:36 GMT
Bernadette is almost 70? Gosh..... everyone is getting so old! She’s always in her late 50’s to me. So glad Charlie is shining...
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Post by musicalmarge on Jan 21, 2018 19:02:59 GMT
Here's a thought - has there ever been a black Rosie or Tanya in the West End Mamma Mia? I can understand why there isn't a black Donna (unless Sophie was black too) but I can see lots of good actresses as either Rosie or Tanya - Andi Osho, Brenda Edwards, Sandra Marvin, Nicola Hughes, Lisa Davina Philip, Claudia Kaurkati etc etc?? Odd though, to have that thought randomly of an evening. I don't understand the thinking behind randomly placing actors of specific ethinicities into a show for tokenism. Good thought! Let’s get a white Nala in Lion King then. Zzzzzzzzz
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Post by musicalmarge on Jan 20, 2018 0:24:39 GMT
Im surprised how little lack of diversity. I know it might not be a huge issue and the target audience will mainly be white but with 6 leading female roles there could’ve been some diversity to show how all women of different ages, race and shape could come together. Someone like Sharon D Clarke or Sandra Marvin Isn’t it based on real women oop north rather than having a token Asian, Afro-carribean, disabled and representative of the LGBTQI+ community? Why should everything be about diversity? Hm...
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Post by musicalmarge on Jan 18, 2018 9:22:45 GMT
Fabulous show. The concert they did last year in New York was sensational - be interested to know more about this production.
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Post by musicalmarge on Jan 17, 2018 23:24:22 GMT
Saw this tonight, it’s a mess. Really energetic cast and some good performances/singing but it has serious identity issues and doesn’t know if it’s a panto, kids show, theatre in education or a musical. For a story that is connected so heavily to the 80’s (including the pre soundtrack in the auditorium) why have iPhones in the show and mention 2002?
The score, script, jokes and book just aren’t good enough or ready and it shouldn’t have made it to public presentation at its current state. As others have said previously the source material just isn’t up to the standard we expect at Southwark and it just came across like a Btec project. (I did a Btec so I can say that!).
Too many group numbers, the casting was a mixed bag and it was also far too long. By far the weakest musical I have seen at Southwark for years sadly which is a shame as in a “Toxic Avenger kinda way” there is a good show there somewhere. 5/10.
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Post by musicalmarge on Jan 17, 2018 23:20:38 GMT
Very interested to see ATG sent me an email today about Moulin Rouge in Boston. Very excited to see what they do with it and wonder if it will be a direct film to stage transfer. Casting looks promising too!
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Post by musicalmarge on Jan 13, 2018 19:36:23 GMT
I'm pretty sure I saw an interview with Julie Taymor where she talked about having discussions about directing a production of Pinocchio but she wanted to explore the original fairy tale but Disney had other ideas so it didn't go anywhere. I think it might have been Show People on Broadway.com. www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/4726134/Disneys-pride-and-joy.html
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Post by musicalmarge on Jan 13, 2018 13:13:38 GMT
Sure. And MAYBE if every show was a completely different show then MAYBE people would like it more but MAYBE they wouldn't. I think that people picked up on it was because every change mentioned was how to stage the Disney movie on stage. MAYBE Yes I’m aware that language and accents are different. I’m also not suggesting they plant the direct film on stage either. Fact is there were many things wrong with the current National production. Jiminiy Cricket created in the 1940’s has also appeared along with Mickey Mouse and his name is a play on the exclamation “Jesus Christ!” He is referenced in dozens of American movies/animations from Snow White to The Wizard of Oz. As such a strong American-centric figure I therefore simply and rationally question would he (and this National Production) have been better in an American accent. Oh and MAYBE remove the random ladders?.....
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Post by musicalmarge on Jan 13, 2018 10:28:09 GMT
American accents for an Italian set show created in the UK? That doesn't make sense on any level. Yes, Disney have done it before but it always grates, Use the actor’s natural accent, that me that makes much more sense than pretending they are American. Do they perform them in, say Germany or Japan, with American accents, anyone know? So essentially musicalmarge would like the Disney movie on stage? Maybe they should have just done a Singalonga Pinocchio in the Olivier instead? If you both read properly I said MAYBE the show would have worked better in American accents. Indeed the show is set in Italy (as Les Mis is set in France, they speak in English and use Cockney accents) and of course the show is a new and creative look at the original material - but my suggestion was that perhaps it would have worked better? Simple.... Perhaps the reviews would have been stronger? Perhaps it would have then transferred and more of a Stiles and Drew type screen to stage type musical but using many of the changes/additions they made? Perhaps Miss Saigon should really be in Vietnamese or Phantom of the Opera in French? Please... it was a simple suggestion.
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Post by musicalmarge on Jan 13, 2018 0:29:22 GMT
Jiminey Cricket was wrong in everyway, not funny, too much talking, no top hat, miscast and why was he played by a woman? And why not played by a cricket either?! Honestly... can they get nothing right? Ha ha zzzzzzzzzz
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Motown
Jan 13, 2018 0:28:23 GMT
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Post by musicalmarge on Jan 13, 2018 0:28:23 GMT
Is Memphis coming back?
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Post by musicalmarge on Jan 12, 2018 10:19:12 GMT
CUBA GOODING?? That’s good no?
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Post by musicalmarge on Jan 12, 2018 9:22:09 GMT
Finally saw this last night -
It needed more songs and didn’t know if it was a play or a musical (imagine Stiles and Drew attached to the project).
The set either looked amazing or too sparse and a big black stage (random ladders for no reason?).
The puppets worked mostly but not having their mouths move was a big mistake. They looked frozen.
Jiminey Cricket was wrong in everyway, not funny, too much talking, no top hat, miscast and why was he played by a woman?
The pleasure-island section in Act 2 was a mess. What was the Scottish girl Krankie doing punching everyone in the face? (The donkey transformation was cool).
Some of the effects and cast were amazing, some wonderful ideas but overall despite the good ending of humans needing pain and the puppet/human reversal - the production was kinda a mess (I can see the similarities to Harry Potter too).
If it had been more Disney/Mackintosh production, maybe in American accents, ten minutes less dialogue in both acts, and generally more of a musical - it might have worked better. 6/10.
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Post by musicalmarge on Jan 11, 2018 6:37:08 GMT
I wonder what Julie Taymor would have done with Frozen? How sad to think that Frozen wouldn’t sweep the awards boards.... (((
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Post by musicalmarge on Jan 10, 2018 7:00:06 GMT
Saw this tonight. So, I thought I was going to love it. It's not my type of theatre at all, really, but Aladdin is my favourite Disney movie, Jafar my favourite Disney character (odd, I know), I love Eurovision (like, I even watch all the National Finals from around Europe) so I was extremely excited to see Jade Ewan and I'm a Disney addict (even have a Disneyland Paris annual pass to prove it!). I hated it. So, Jade Ewan. I feel awful for saying this, actually, but it was genuinely one of the worst vocal performances I've ever seen in my entire life. These Palace Walls was honestly a car crash. during the note at the end, I was cringing and you could hear murmurings in the rows behind me. There was even a delay in the applauses after the song. I thought, maybe, she couldn't hear herself. I was close enough that I could see that her eyes were darting around the stage like crazy and she honestly looked panicked. Sets are great. Genie was great (had the u/s). Carpet was amazing. The writing, however, is just so off. I got the impression that the writers knew it was pretty bad, so it's been propped up by great sets and cheap jokes to get laughs. Great sets???!!!!!
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Post by musicalmarge on Jan 9, 2018 18:41:46 GMT
The worst show I’ve ever seen at the Mernier. The person who cast the Marcus Brigstock thingy in the lead role needs to be shot - he can’t sing or act and was like a dork rather than a showman! He fell off the tightrope three times and has a big bum. Dreadful... Bad staging, a two legged elephant, an over acting ensemble (ok the acrobats and lead woman Laura Pitt-Pulford were good) but the production was badly directed, had restricted sight-lines and the narrative and story that was just lost. What a shame. 4/10 ... you make that sound like a bad thing?! I don’t get why you think the bodies of actors can’t be commented on. It’s all about casting. Body shapes, sizes, height, weight etc are constantly mentioned at the audition panels I’ve sat on and certainly are by agents, creatives and casting directors. It’s the business. Simple. An actors body is part of their brand/casting and there’s nothing insulting about it. Big bum might be harsh to some but the fact is his physicality was wrong for the role as was Marcus as a talent in general.
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Post by musicalmarge on Jan 9, 2018 6:48:44 GMT
I think all will be forgiven if and when Frozen has an ice castle forming during Let It Go. Currently they just have snowflakes forming over the Swarovski curtain that they've borrowed from Dreamgirls. I am praying you are right. I am sure no Disney exec or Broadway creative in 2017/18 would say “hey we saw how Charlie flopped we see how successful Wicked and Harry Potter have been with the stage magic - let’s go for a simple glitter curtain and nothing else for the end of act one?” I am hoping with every atom the stage work and hydraulics are so amazing, expensive and sensational that they just couldn’t do it in Denver. This show has the potential to make billions, without a successful Let It Go - this show will be a flop. We.... shall..... see.....
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Post by musicalmarge on Jan 7, 2018 21:29:28 GMT
I read the article in the Daily Mail and my first response was "Leave it alone!". ALW seems to be meddling more and more with his musicals of late. I really don't see how they are going to be able to pull this off for a film. This kind of plot suits the stage, with it being set in the one location and with the nature of the stories being told. Not only that, but ALW wants to add more songs. He last experimented with changing the "Rum Tug Tugger" song by adding a rap and made osme changes to Grizabella, he's demanded a huge overhaul on Starlight...clearly he's not satisfied with his work and leaving them as they are! I TOTALLY AGREE. Leave Starlight alone and leave CATS alone!!! They ran for over two decades and work brilliantly. Write a new fun show! Not a serious melodrama ALW!
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Post by musicalmarge on Jan 6, 2018 14:33:50 GMT
With Frozen finally starting previews on Broadway next month - do you think they are going to make ANY changes? Surely they can’t just have Elsa finish Act One with a bare stage waving her arms in the air?
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Post by musicalmarge on Jan 1, 2018 10:28:26 GMT
London
Yank Jamie Working
New York
Hello Dolly, War Painf Come From Away
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Big Fish
Dec 31, 2017 6:08:52 GMT
via mobile
Post by musicalmarge on Dec 31, 2017 6:08:52 GMT
Saw the matinee today. Lovely show. Feel you need to see it in entirety for it to fully make sense. In the early stages it may feel a bit bonkers. Plenty of hankies out at the end. Delayed start to the 2nd half. Out of interest do daffodil petals normally fall from above the stage. A few odd petals fell down during the show but nothing of note. Quite a few empty seats despite it being sold out. Yes they do fall in the show .....
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