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Post by hitmewithurbethshot on Mar 21, 2017 17:17:29 GMT
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372 posts
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Post by hitmewithurbethshot on Mar 13, 2017 16:51:45 GMT
She's 47. Theyd have to write a part for Effie's granny. sorry didn't know she was 47 - she looks younger but black people age rlly well.. Still not too old for Rachel though Tom has a point, Beverley is 43 (and looks like she's in her 30s, but nonetheless) and could play a convincing Rachel.
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372 posts
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Evita
Feb 25, 2017 22:45:53 GMT
Post by hitmewithurbethshot on Feb 25, 2017 22:45:53 GMT
I'm sure Argentina and the rest of South America will love being grouped all together as one in the same. It surprises me that someone who claims to be so liberal comes out with so many sweeping comments I recall Mexico being in North America, not South.
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Post by hitmewithurbethshot on Jan 31, 2017 18:01:20 GMT
Is there any audio of KRJ's last Wicked Witch of the East? I'm curious. When it's done right, it's one of my favorite moments of the show. Found this Nessarose comparison video: My faves are definitely Eden Espinosa (0:24), Shoshana Bean (0:52), Jenna Leigh Green (1:57), Marcie Dodd (4:34) and Deedee Magno Hall (8:56). Yes, I've spent the last 30 minutes listening to this song. Again. And again. this is my video
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Post by hitmewithurbethshot on Jan 25, 2017 21:19:59 GMT
So annoyed I can't audition for this, it's a role I could feasibly play but I'm 5'4''!
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372 posts
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Post by hitmewithurbethshot on Jan 20, 2017 1:16:03 GMT
Even the child model who's paid to look like she's enjoying the doll doesn't seem all that enthused
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372 posts
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Post by hitmewithurbethshot on Jan 19, 2017 0:12:51 GMT
Saw this in Dartford tonight, Carolyn and Jacqui alone are worth the ticket price. Sadly a set issue ruined an otherwise tender moment of Unchained Melody between Molly and Sam: the door wouldn't close so it was hanging slightly ajar on the chain, Jacqui tried to fix it mid-song then she and Carolyn resorted to leaning on it until just before Carl kicked it open, though it did mean he didn't have much of a job to break in
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372 posts
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Post by hitmewithurbethshot on Jan 13, 2017 22:35:21 GMT
Just come back from the 2nd performance of the tour at Bromley. I must say it's very well cast, especially GianMarco - certainly a sight for sore eyes (and ears!) after Marti Pellow the last time round, with fantastic charisma. Also he spends Money Kept Rolling In in a tank top which earned no complaints from me Emma acts it very well, singing-wise Rainbow High is a highlight but she sang the very belty parts of A New Argentina an octave down which was a bit disappointing. Sadly for me no-one can come close to Hannah Grover from the tour a few years back. Oscar Balmaseda as Magaldi made a big impression in a small role - very appropriately hammy and up-himself. For those who are interested, the understudies are: Eva - Kellie Gnauck Che - Matias Stegmann (an actual Argentinian according to his bio) Peron - George Arvidson Magaldi - Dominic Adam Griffin Mistress - Jude Neill
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372 posts
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Evita
Dec 23, 2016 22:33:14 GMT
Post by hitmewithurbethshot on Dec 23, 2016 22:33:14 GMT
I looked on the Kenwright website, Natalie is alternate Eva with Sarah O'Connor as the Mistress and Oscar Balmaseda as Magaldi.
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372 posts
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Post by hitmewithurbethshot on Dec 23, 2016 20:38:59 GMT
According to the official twitter Michelle Pentecost is the new alternate Alice/Mad Hatter.
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372 posts
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Post by hitmewithurbethshot on Dec 16, 2016 23:31:44 GMT
I was there tonight, and witnessed what may be a theatre first! (At least for me) : Lowri Walton (Marilyn) was taken ill after act 1, so Meg Matthews (Sasha) had to step in after having previously played the role at ArtsEd.
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372 posts
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Post by hitmewithurbethshot on Dec 3, 2016 23:07:40 GMT
Saw the matinee today with Joanna as Deloris, very enjoyable show and Joanna has an INCREDIBLE voice but I found her acting very OTT and cartoonish.
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372 posts
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Post by hitmewithurbethshot on Nov 27, 2016 23:20:26 GMT
Someone quite close to me has worked with her and says she's very snooty :/
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372 posts
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Post by hitmewithurbethshot on Nov 15, 2016 0:17:31 GMT
Thanks for the review Ali. Just wondering if there is any news yet on the London cast change? I wonder if this cast will transfer into the West End? If bloody Carrie comes back to London as Eponine bringing her whinging little fans I might scream
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Post by hitmewithurbethshot on Nov 4, 2016 0:23:48 GMT
Also I adore the music from Aida but likewise the show is a bit meh. I feel the same way. The score is classic Elton John (in a good way) but the story is iffy at best. It's the same problem I have with Pocahontas, the white guy (or Egyptian played by a white guy) has no issue oppressing/enslaving an entire race until he meets one he wants to bone. Ugh
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Post by hitmewithurbethshot on Nov 3, 2016 0:13:44 GMT
Someone behind me singing along to A Whole New World at Aladdin this evening. I hope me turning around and glaring at them twice got the message across
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372 posts
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Post by hitmewithurbethshot on Nov 3, 2016 0:08:27 GMT
Damnit, booked my ticket for tomorrow's matinee too early, could have saved myself 80% on my ticket price!
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372 posts
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Post by hitmewithurbethshot on Nov 2, 2016 0:26:28 GMT
Do we know who the other understudies are? Durone Stokes is u/s CC (thanks Stage School!) but that's all I'm aware of.
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372 posts
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Post by hitmewithurbethshot on Nov 1, 2016 8:41:56 GMT
After a lot of strategic pausing I think it looks most like Candace Furbert from the ensemble. Maybe she's u/s Effie?
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372 posts
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Post by hitmewithurbethshot on Oct 30, 2016 22:17:33 GMT
Seems to have happened less than half an hour before the performance started, is that allowed?
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372 posts
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Post by hitmewithurbethshot on Oct 29, 2016 23:01:35 GMT
How long does the show last? Planning on seeing the Thursday matinee if I can get to work afterwards on time (work is in Clapham at 5pm, so anything finishing on or after 4:30pm is a no-go)
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372 posts
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Post by hitmewithurbethshot on Oct 23, 2016 22:32:52 GMT
Understandable really, it's just doctoring a soundboard recording and it means they don't have to pay extra for studio time
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372 posts
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Post by hitmewithurbethshot on Oct 16, 2016 23:27:46 GMT
It doesn't matter what the price was when you pre-order on Amazon, the amount you pay is in/decreased to what it is when the item's released.
I noticed a few continuity errors too, American Dream clearly used a lot of footage shot for the EPK because Jon Jon's mic disappears between shots. When I recognised a lot of ensemble members from after the 2015 cast change too it was quite jarring to see how little (bar the finale) was actually from the 25th anniversary shots and how much was pickup shots done this year, the entire Dreamland sequence for one used the new cast, and Sangwoong Jo who was Thuy at the time makes a cameo in the Dreamland bar in Thuy's usual ensemble track.
All in all very enjoyable, but I wish they hadn't cut down What a Waste so much, it's the funniest song with so much going on onstage.
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372 posts
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Post by hitmewithurbethshot on Oct 11, 2016 7:18:29 GMT
Carrie does this once in a while, publicly overreact to some minor criticism so her legions of fans can massage her ego for her. When I looked I only found 2 twitter users reacting negatively to her singing the song, but now she has thousands of twees going "omg we u Carrie best singer ever you should def play Eliza"
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372 posts
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Post by hitmewithurbethshot on Oct 10, 2016 22:39:10 GMT
Who was the 4th Phantom in the title song? I recognised JOJ, Ben & Gardar
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372 posts
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Post by hitmewithurbethshot on Oct 7, 2016 22:22:56 GMT
A student ticket to see Miss Saigon at my local cinema is £18, which is more than I paid (£13.50) for my ticket to see the actual performance they filmed!
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372 posts
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Post by hitmewithurbethshot on Oct 6, 2016 23:36:20 GMT
Saw the show on Tuesday (2nd time seeing it if you count once on Broadway) so here are some long-winded thoughts on it:
Casting was top-notch. I'd seen Dean, Jade and Nathan previously in other shows (Here Lies Love and In the Heights) and enjoyed their performances and they did well here too. Dean and Jade did very well on the comedy (especially considering their characters aren't much beyond pretty faces), Dean going high pitched when he's forced to lie or improvise, and Jade doing a great "crazy woman" act when she's caught stealing in the marketplace. I'm going to join the masses here and say this is rightfully Trevor's show, he must be downing espresso shots backstage to have so much energy! The only real flaw with the genie (which is more of a writing issue) is that he's so fast and wisecracking half the time you can't tell what he's saying and jokes get lost. The stage genie goes about as fast as the movie genie, but the movie had the luxury of being able to animate along to the speech: lip movements could be exaggerated and the genie could shift into different shapes and characters e.g. when he's saying he can't bring people back from the dead he makes himself look like a zombie; basically even if you missed what he was saying you could still understand what he meant.
I'm glad the Sultan character has been changed to a dignified, well-intentioned ruler whose flaw is trusting people too easily, rather than the 4 foot buffoon from the film. The show would be unbearable with that much buffoonery.
Jafar is more or less the same as the film, deliciously evil but stopping just short of pantomimey. Iago however hasn't translated to stage well, where genies could stray away from Robin Williams' portrayal Stage Iago is essentially Gilbert Gottfried 2.0, but even more annoying with less reason for being so. In the film I got the impression that only Jafar could understand Iago so he had free reign to be as loud and tactless as he liked, so here he's acting the same but now he's just a rude man (maybe the loudness is supposed to be a Napoleon complex?).
While I'm on the subject of useless characters, Aladdin's 3 friends have next to no plot relevance or characterisation, which is what you'd expect when you try to make 3 walking, talking humans take the place of 1 tiny speechless monkey from the film. They're indistinguishable and interchangeable except for maybe Babkak, who only stands out by being "the fat one" and OH DEAR GOD THE FAT JOKES. It wouldn't annoy me so much if there weren't so many of them and they weren't all assigned to Babkak, since they're more general food jokes (like "I feel awful" "did someone say falafel?") and could play into the fact they're all easily distracted and have difficulty focussing on the task in hand. Instead when Babkak mentions food every scene you just feel like the writers are telling you HAHA THE FAT ONE IS IN PRISON/A FIGHT/A ROBBERY AND HES THINKING ABOUT FOOD.
Finally (and I'll stop ranting soon I promise) the stakes and character development are noticeably lacking in comparison to the film, which we must note is about half an hour shorter than the stage show. The final sequence where Jafar has the lamp and goes power-crazy before Aladdin defeats him is a 10 minute (if that) anti-climax in the show. The film had tension, Al was tied up and thrown in the sea, Jasmine was buried by sand in a giant hourglass and there were several moments where the main characters could have died. On stage you have... Jasmine in handcuffs. The wedding scene just has about 3 beats of Jafar: I wish for evil thing! Genie: here is evil thing Everyone else: oh no! One after the other with barely enough time to process one before the next comes along. The script in general is under par, you can see a lot of gags coming a mile off especially from Iago and The Three Scimiteers (came up with that myself 😄).
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Post by hitmewithurbethshot on Oct 3, 2016 21:58:38 GMT
IIRC if there's an extra matinee that week both double-show days will have a standby on for each show (so Rachel/Suzie do 7 that week & Alice/Carina do 2)
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Post by hitmewithurbethshot on Sept 23, 2016 11:25:49 GMT
With Cammack's new understudy policy I don't think we'll ever know
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372 posts
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Post by hitmewithurbethshot on Sept 22, 2016 1:57:53 GMT
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