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Post by andrew on Sept 26, 2023 19:39:35 GMT
I have to say you guys have made me more excited for this than anything else this year. I rolled my eyes when it was announced and now I'm HYPED.
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Post by andrew on Sept 26, 2023 17:34:26 GMT
I'd go 1 - Evita 2 - JCS 3 - Phantom 4 - Sunset 5 - Cinderella (controversially) 6 - School of Rock 7 - Everything else If you average it out the consensus seems to be a mixture of Evita/Sunset/Phantom at the top three for this board, which I'm cool with. Haha, I loved Cinderella. Was the perfect post lockdown tonic for me. It’s only really controversial on here and BWW. Lots of the GBP loved it and the reception in the theatre was always great. ALW’s best score since Sunset IMHO. I thought the book was a bit rubbish but there were some right bangers in it! I think it's ripe for a re-imagining in 10 years, Leicester Curve etc take note!
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Post by andrew on Sept 26, 2023 8:48:02 GMT
I'd go 1 - Evita 2 - JCS 3 - Phantom 4 - Sunset 5 - Cinderella (controversially) 6 - School of Rock 7 - Everything else
If you average it out the consensus seems to be a mixture of Evita/Sunset/Phantom at the top three for this board, which I'm cool with.
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Post by andrew on Sept 24, 2023 14:09:39 GMT
If this were a film, I 1000000% would agree with what you said about them “glossing over” the hardships of the ICU but for a musical wanting to cover a lot of ground and also not be 3 hours long, I understand that choice. There would have been some fantastic dramatic moments with the family in those scenes and when looking back I do wish we had a few more “heartbreaking” scenes with them but again for the structure and medium here, I understand it. I appreciate that. To be clear, I don't think they needed to include all of the things I was listing about his situation, I just wanted to give examples of how many incredible moments that man has been through and how amazed I was at the lack of much drama that seemed to find it's way into the show, and in the same vein how the score being generally a bit banal is also flabbergasting. I don't know what I missed, everyone seems to be crying buckets in this thread and it just lacked any depth to do that for me. The easy comparisons are similar shows about darker material like Next To Normal or Fun Home where I too was overwhelmingly pulled into the world of the characters. Obviously it's just not a musical for me.
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Post by andrew on Sept 23, 2023 8:32:46 GMT
I rushed to book a (discounted) ticket on account of the glowing reviews that erupted here at the start of the run, I moan a lot about the lack of new British musicals and here's apparently a good one right there in London's glitzy West End! Also a chance to see @sohoplace which I'd ended up not seeing anything in up until now. A bit cramped, it's hard not to think the developer (who needed to build a theatre as part of the development) tried to squeeze it into as small a space as possible. Took forever to exit to the building, even Victorian theatres have ingress/egress than this, although I'm pleased to see comments about how accessible the place is.
I didn't like The Little Big Things all that much. Spoilers follow.
I thought the subject matter was a bold and interesting choice for a musical, taking serious topics has led to far more of my favourite theatre experiences than lighter fare ever has. I appreciate this is a true story (or an adaptation of one) so it feels wrong to criticise it, but the first issue that stood out for me is how utterly lacking in dramatic tension the show is, especially when it's about something so inherently dramatic. The framing device of it being a story told by the older Henry with a lot of interaction with the Henry from before the accident is a great idea, why are all their interactions so devoid of emotion? Why is it not heartbreaking seeing them go through this trauma? The only moment I thought that relationship really sparked was the act one finale. From the first few minutes when the setup becomes clear I thought we'd get this big tear-jerking moment when the two Henry's make peace with each other and older Henry let's him go, which did sort of happen, just without any of the tears. That's a book problem, it's a score problem, it's a directing problem. Maybe it's an acting problem, although in general I liked the two leads. This sort of issue permeates the whole show.
I found it interesting to read some posts here about how the creatives really wanted to focus on the family unit, about the stress they're put under and how they ultimately hold it together. I did think that was an interesting turn and an extremely realistic one. One of the most beautiful moments in the show for me was the youngest brother holding Henry's hand. Another was when the father breaks down. I've got a professional connection to the subject matter and it's such a common and emotive experience for young siblings to suddenly be in this extremely grown-up situation, for the guilt of parents to be overwhelming and destructive. I did not think I got anywhere near enough of this. There were some flatly delivered scenes about some of the stresses of this situation, but as an audience member I never felt like I was invited to care all that much.
Henry spent months in ICU, attached to a ventilator, sedated, unable to move or speak. His family would have seen him in a coma on life support. He had to learn to breathe again, initially through a tube surgically inserted into his neck. He would have had to relearn how to move all the muscles in his body bit by bit. His family sound like they were nearly driven to financial ruin, his father was struggling to work, his siblings blamed themselves for their brother suffering a life changing injury. Henry had to come to terms with all the things that were different in his life, all the things he would now never be able to do, all the things that are now 1000 times harder to do. We never felt any of that. Even the bits we did see like the father and his boat just sort of passed by in a very pedestrian way. Maybe in Henry's true life account these things were not issues, and part of the point of the show is his relentless optimism, but in glossing over these things in favour of showing that optimism you don't even get to really understand how incredible that perspective on life is.
Instead we spend so much time stuck in cliché driven songs. So much talk of Dear Evan Hansen on here, and sure the score shares a pop-rock driven style, loud drum-heavy songs with tight vocal harmonies from a smallish but well-amplified cast. What separates it from DEH is that in the Pasek & Paul show the songs were actually pretty good. You may have felt the subject matter was difficult to relate to and the show lacked much of a point, but Waving Through A Window, For Forever, You Will Be Found etc are all extremely catchy, well structured, and even when they're lyrically weaker still stand head and shoulders above the ChatGPT level writing this gave us. I don't mind when the story halts for a good song that explores and deepens our understanding of the characters, or is fun and enjoyable and uplifting, but instead we just kept stopping for something much more generic. Making it loud and with lots of lighting doesn't hide the lack of substance. I don't have a song list in front of me but I'd say the act 1 closer was OK and the song in act 2 led by the father I enjoyed, the doctors song from Act 1 was very fun too, I think mainly because it was delivered with such ferocious energy. None of these really stand up against other musicals in the same style, none of them comes close to it's West End rivals.
There are lots of good things about the show, the physiotherapist is a great character, the love story is sweet, and I didn't think Henry's (re)discovery of art and colour was done too badly. It's technically proficient, I don't think any of the acting talent was bad, I just thought that they took an extremely engaging subject and somehow made me not care about it. They missed so many opportunities to really explore the tragedies and triumphs in this story, both in the book and in the score, which is criminal. It got rapturous applause and a standing ovation so the rest of the audience clearly got something much better from this than I did. I was so excited to hear a new British musical might be making waves, I am so crushed that it was actually extremely average.
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Post by andrew on Sept 23, 2023 7:25:18 GMT
I found it very gaudy and garish, like it was being made deliberately unpleasant to watch. The harsh lighting, dissonant music, over the top performances. I love both Ferran and Carvel but found the former absolutely pantomime like in the first hour and the latter did the same the whole way through. I note comments about the ball scene needing work, I thought it was a complete mess. Fussy and strange to follow, I never really quite understood what the different lighting cues were meant to signify. I suppose you could summarise it as being a directorial vision I did not get on with in any way.
It's my first time seeing Pygmalion and there is some interesting stuff in there, I found it much less funny than a lot of others in the crowd did but it probably passed the 6-laugh-test. I'd say 2 stars from me.
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Post by andrew on Sept 2, 2023 23:09:16 GMT
I thought it was pretty much perfect. The issue I had with the source material (which I wrote about several pages ago) regarding the message of the show has been directed away by Longhurst. I have no notes. I even liked Jamie Parker’s singing voice, which you guys had me worried about. He fluffed a line but covered it well, and he gave Dan so much depth, my heart broke more than once in act 2 watching him. I mean really there’s so much star quality on stage, the whole thing is so perfectly constructed. I enjoyed hearing a different voice to Alice Ripley in what’s clearly a different take on Diana, especially in the first act I thought Levy was giving the performance of a lifetime.
So yeah, five stars, I’m only seeing this run once and might choose to avoid seeing it in a bigger house to not lose the beautiful memory of intimacy this show gave me tonight.
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Post by andrew on Aug 25, 2023 14:17:03 GMT
Worth noting that a lot of the recent shows have been two loops again, instead of three, due to heat and humidity.
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Post by andrew on Aug 5, 2023 10:00:43 GMT
The remainder of this run is sold out but if anyone has recommendations on how to get a ticket to Thursday's performance (10 August) I would really appreciate it. My boyfriend is moving to the UK that day and I've always thought seeing this play would be the perfect way to kick off his life in England (he's a huge football fan and I am converting him to becoming a huge theatre fan). He's moving a few days earlier than planned so we actually have a chance to see it before it closes. We have one ticket but I need to find another. I am constantly refreshing the NT site hoping to get lucky. Do any of you have tips that could help me be successful - for example, are return tickets more likely to show up at certain times of day? Or a ticket for that night that you're not using? Thanks in advance for any guidance you can give me. So you've missed Friday Rush which was probably your best bet, the Friday before the week you want the ticket they'll put up a handful of seats for cheap. Your remaining options: - Religiously check the NT website, I don't know if a particular time is better than others but the box office opens at 9.30 so between then and the end of the working day, most likely in the 9.30 - 10.30 slot if I had to guess - Turn up on the day of the performance in the morning at the box office looking for a day seat, the numbers of these aren't guaranteed and there will likely be some length of queue for something that's sold out. I think they start selling these at 10am but double check, obviously the earlier you queue the more likely you'll get something - Standby tickets go on sale 60 minutes before the performance again from the box office in person, no guaranteed numbers and again it's first come first served, I've never tried this way so I don't know if you can turn up significantly earlier to queue Good luck!
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Post by andrew on Jul 21, 2023 15:52:42 GMT
I know what everyone means by preferring the lottery, but since the first week it's been on offer I have never won it. Years now of getting that better luck next time email. At least this way I have some degree of agency over it, I can try when I want to go for a rush ticket and stand presumably a better chance than I had otherwise.
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Post by andrew on Jul 17, 2023 17:12:35 GMT
I didn’t realise until this afternoon it was a mask!! Was it general knowledge he was in disguise??? I mean... I thought it was? That's the whole point isn't it??
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Post by andrew on Jul 17, 2023 17:10:52 GMT
In terms of what I love I'd pick musicals, but there are just so many more plays out there to go and see (with the poor state of British musicalmaking at the moment) so inadvertently I end up going to way more of those.
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Post by andrew on Jul 15, 2023 18:12:12 GMT
I found it very impressive that the best stage actor in Britain leading a play about an interesting and true historical event could be quite so underwhelming. I’ve read every review on here again and there’s clearly a group that this completely works for and another where it doesn’t, I’m in the latter camp.
I really disliked the dancing and the constant string quartetting, there were several points where I just wanted a bit of peace and stillness. By the last half hour I was sick of the dissonant violin stuff, I’m able to watch a scene about sadness or the unravelling of a mind without it being musically shoved down my throat. I sat right at the end saying to myself “I hope it doesn’t end with some symbolic bit of movement” and oh dear, that’s exactly what I got. There are moments when both aspects were acceptable but they were rare, and I see it as a failure of direction to have just thrown so much at the stage in a way that, for me, removed intimacy and a focus on actors being allowed to act.
I had a lot of reservations about the cast as well. As I said, I adore Mark Rylance and whilst I agree that this is yet another role where he ends up being quirky and slightly off-key, I still liked it a lot. Jude Owusu and Felix Hayes were also good. Amanda Wilkin is only given one note to perform and does fine with it I suppose. Chrissy Brooke felt like she was being directed to overact as hard as she possibly could, and Pauline McLynn felt like she’d been sent in from a completely different play. It’s absolutely fine to mix comedy in, but she’s giving a pantomime performance next to Mark Rylance and it really jars.
There’s just a great unevenness that sums up the whole experience for me. The first act, which mainly deals with the machinations of his discovery, has a bit of motivation for him, a bit of fun along the way, and a great sense of problem solving and science in action. The second act is a lot slower and less engaging, it never drives you to sympathise with Semmelweis really because he becomes unlikeable, nor his wife because she just sort of appears every few minutes to moan at him. If the idea is to feel the injustice and the weight of all the dead women then I just didn’t feel it. I don’t think it’s in the text, and the director uses his ballet troupe to try and create it, unsuccessfully. The whole thing feels like a simplistic script already too stretched out, subjected to as much busyness on stage as could be crammed in, drowning out what could have been a decent play.
It’s a good idea, poorly executed. Not recommended.
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Post by andrew on Jul 15, 2023 16:57:36 GMT
Wasn’t sure whether to post this in bad behaviour or the famous person thread.
About a minute before the Dr Semellweis curtain someone made their way into the middle of the row and sat next to me. I glanced up and low and behold it’s Mark Shenton. I’ve read many a piece by Mr Shenton and wondered if at the interval I’d strike up a conversation.
Unfortunately there was to be no kind words as he ended up being one of the worst people I’ve ever sat next to at the theatre. His main sin was his rucksack. It felt like every 5 or 10 minutes he would bend over, pull his bag into his lap and start going through its multiple pockets, most of the time to reach food. He spent enough time for 4 different people in the row in front to turn around and look at him as he rustled with what I think was a Twix in act 1, then moved onto something else that was individually wrapped for Act 2. Obviously one has to wash that down, so a separate minute or two of bag wrestling was required to uncover a Pepsi Max, which had to be unscrewed slowly so the fizz went on for 30 seconds.
Now maybe there was a medical reason for this, who knows, I’m sure he wouldn’t have done it deliberately. But midway through the second act he went back in for another bag session after his latest snack and this time pulled out an Apple Watch. He put that on, switched it on, then logged on with his PIN number. I tried to not care about all this, but every time he went for his bag his elbow would end up in my face, in case anyone thinks I wasn’t trying desperately to pay attention to the play and not my neighbours business, and then rest on my leg for a while after.
And as a little finale to the whole show within a show, he GOT UP FROM HIS SEAT during the final critical moments of the play, exited the row (which wasn’t a quick task) and disappeared off. I’m glad to see he found the performance mesmerising, so says his twitter account, I found it hard to be quite so engrossed.
To give him every benefit of the doubt if there are good reasons for the entirety of his behaviour then I would suggest he sit on the edge of a row, although even then I don’t think anyone needs to be snacking their way through a West End play, nor lighting themselves up with their watch. Poor form, bad behaviour.
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Post by andrew on Jul 13, 2023 21:28:25 GMT
I’m not the most tech person around here ( mods alert 😁) but I do find the email tix thing irritating. Sometimes you can’t see the tix on the email and sometimes you get a confirmation and then another email with the tix so do you have to keep both? Then they all lie there in my flagged in no particular order. So scroll scroll as you enter the venue. I often take a screenshot of the ticket and attach it to the event in my phones calendar, so I can easily pull it up on the day. For the NT you can use any email as your ticket, QR code or not. Also they’re still happy to print you a ticket at the box office.
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Post by andrew on Jul 8, 2023 22:16:53 GMT
OK sure but like what an incredibly well executed ending. An iconic ending. It reminded me a little bit of Exit The King, where even if you hated what came before it (as I did with ETK), you couldn’t help by being utterly beguiled by the final few minutes of the play. It was beautiful.
And I liked the rest of it too but, seriously, what a fantastic ending.
Five stars just for the ending.
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Post by andrew on Jun 23, 2023 15:51:09 GMT
If not Lily, whose actress could be more suited to the role? Literally any trained stage-actress.
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Post by andrew on Jun 23, 2023 10:27:23 GMT
Yeah just to make sure everyone complaining about it is aware, you don't need to go through the Friday Rush landing page to get Friday Rush tickets. Just go through the normal What's On menus to the show or even specific performance you want and when you try to click in to buy a ticket a few minutes before 1pm it'll put you into the queue. This incidentally makes it quicker once you're through the queue to get to the one particular performance you wanted to see.
I think Friday Rush has become much more popular in recent years because it's just become more well known. Over time knowledge of that method of booking a ticket goes from very-online theatre goers to average theatre goers and eventually to occasional theatre goers. Whilst they hold certain tickets back from most performances for Friday Rush purposes, they also use it as a way of releasing house seats and/or a portion of the generally unsold seats for less popular shows. If you're trying to get tickets to something popular there will naturally be fewer of these seats and it will be more difficult to achieve.
Anyway, good luck today.
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Post by andrew on Jun 21, 2023 8:01:56 GMT
Do people feel like when there's a technical glitch preventing the play from going on that just cancelling and refunding is a bit of a cop out? I'm thinking of all the lovely readings of plays I've been to, and wondering why the cast can't just come out, maybe with Rufus since he was around reading stage directions, and perform the play for anyone who wants it? Maybe most will rebook but I'd say there are several people in that audience who won't be able to come back, it's such a waste of an evening (or a day, etc).
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Post by andrew on Jun 15, 2023 13:23:55 GMT
Whilst this does look one of the strongest seasons under Norris, the balance is out for me. I know he is more into new writing than existing texts, but this is meaning that the resources of the National are not being brought to so many genres of theatre. Whoever replaces him has to deliver a more balanced programming ethos. Without that, plays that can only realistically be staged by a major subsidised company will not get professional productions ever again. Yes, on a closer look, there are only three revivals out of 12 announced shows: Coriolanus, The House of Bernarda Alba, Dear Octopus. A quick look at the National Theatre Story indicates that in the 90s and 2000s there were usually two-thirds revivals, more or less, and about a third new writing. Whilst I agree that this year's new plays at the NT have been excellent and some of next year's look very good too, I would like more of the classic repertoire to play a role in the next AD's programming. As I've said before the NT, the Royal Court, the Donmar, the Hampstead, the Almeida, the Bridge all seem to be chasing the same playwrights. We're back in the classic question of "what is a national theatre for?", and nobody quite agrees. I quite like the balance, having two or three prestige, big budget classics but the majority of stuff being new. I want a (sort of) subsidised entity to be doing stuff the commercial side struggles with, producing new and daring plays you wouldn't be able to get producers to put money up for. The new AD gets to pick I suppose, maybe the board will want the pendulum to swing back and choose someone very sympathetic to putting on the classics. I note they're still not going back to rep for the larger houses, the concept seems to be completely dead.
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Post by andrew on Jun 15, 2023 11:16:47 GMT
Annie Baker is back!!!
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Post by andrew on Jun 14, 2023 20:24:25 GMT
I'm glad others have found Lily Allen as disappointing as I did, I wondered if I was necessarily harsh on her performance, it's always tempting to hate on a celebrity nudging into acting. I hated 2:22 and she was just one cog in that, in this she's the real centrepiece and she just... lacks. Her whole performance is very flat, you don't really build up any sympathy for her, you don't really care about her, she's not that funny. I wonder what happened behind the scenes that led to her casting, given it was a male in the role previously. Is it that the director had a Covid-related brainwave and suddenly saw Katurian as a female and searched for the perfect vessel for that idea and Lily Allen provided that in an audition? Or is it that when searching about for a new celebrity cast member when Aaron Taylor Johnson dropped out in the reschedule Lily Allen's agent was the most persuasive? She isn't right for the role, her casting was a mistake, and to be honest I think she should find a different avenue for her creative juices than theatre acting. What's the other common factor connecting Lily Allen with Ghost Story 2:22 and The Pillowman? Director Matthew Dunster. I believe it's as simple as that. Ah, didn't spot that. He obviously likes her! Might've preferred Cheryl Cole as Katurian.
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Post by andrew on Jun 14, 2023 12:38:28 GMT
I'm glad others have found Lily Allen as disappointing as I did, I wondered if I was necessarily harsh on her performance, it's always tempting to hate on a celebrity nudging into acting. I hated 2:22 and she was just one cog in that, in this she's the real centrepiece and she just... lacks. Her whole performance is very flat, you don't really build up any sympathy for her, you don't really care about her, she's not that funny.
I wonder what happened behind the scenes that led to her casting, given it was a male in the role previously. Is it that the director had a Covid-related brainwave and suddenly saw Katurian as a female and searched for the perfect vessel for that idea and Lily Allen provided that in an audition? Or is it that when searching about for a new celebrity cast member when Aaron Taylor Johnson dropped out in the reschedule Lily Allen's agent was the most persuasive? She isn't right for the role, her casting was a mistake, and to be honest I think she should find a different avenue for her creative juices than theatre acting.
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Post by andrew on Jun 12, 2023 22:51:39 GMT
Reader, it was a long a night. Three show stops in total, all related to the set automation failing basically every time it needed to be used. They did fix it and got going but with a half hour of pauses in the first act and the temperature it really got in the way of enjoying the thing, and I noticed a lot of people left. Scene 2 which is mildly complex staging-wise went wrong in several ways also.
However, it’s a first preview so as per tradition I have limited scope to complain about about technical difficulties and ought to shut up about them. I think this will be good, Pemberton is great, Allen is less great, it’s a good script and when it’s working I’d imagine it’ll be an enjoyable night of theatre.
I just struggled a bit tonight, as did the crew it seems.
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Post by andrew on May 31, 2023 16:27:16 GMT
Ok, great! Battered into submission. Discussion board no more. Autocratic dominance only. I get it. I do intend to see it in the next few weeks, and will make sure not to share my opinion of it. I hope you don't really feel that way, I thought we were discussing it. I'd love to hear your thoughts in a few weeks and I hope you enjoy the show.
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Post by andrew on May 31, 2023 15:12:05 GMT
I remember someone posted something similar to my sentiment further up but I'll say it again, I don't think a lot of people dislike the show because they're appalled at the content, I think a lot of people don't like it because they just don't think it's a good show. I'm not offended by the subject matter I just think it's weird, unearned and incompletely explored. It's hard for me to imagine in the abstract how people shooting their lovers and having intergenerational relationships and sure why not a bit of child-love as well could be boring, but my god somehow this show does it. It's completely fair to say that the subject matter felt interesting and engaging and an excellent basis for a show if that's your take, but it's disingenuous to suggest that if your negative reaction is partly based on the frankly bizarre plot then you are somehow at fault. There's a strange GBNews-esque idea that seems to float about online about this show that people who rail against the story are part of the woke-brigade and can be dismissed, but if people are like me they're happy to see something provocative and edgy, as long as it's good. And I didn't find this good, sorry. Also a minor take, but I don't read what most shows or films I see are about, I just go. You sometimes like things you didn't think you would, and vice versa. It's still valid to critique them. Do you have an online review site Andrew? You appear to have interpreted an awful lot of things that just aren’t there in my post? My ‘actual’ comments were in relation to both WEW and Mickey Jo’s reviews where they start by enjoying it, then pull back because of the ‘ick’ factor. It is about what it is about. Reviews don’t exist in a vacuum. They filter a show through the life & opinions of the reviewer. That is why here is such a lovely space. Absolutely each reviewer has a different take, this thread is a testament to the variety of opinion you'll get to the same piece of work. I only went because of the overwhelmingly positive reaction to the first few previews, and was pleased when some started to filter in later on that reflected what I got out of it. It just sounded like you were echoing other comments which effectively disregard what I see as valid criticism because the reviewer 'couldn't handle' the subject matter, which really grinds my gears. But thinking about what you've said about the 'ick' factor, I still disagree with you on the validity of criticising it. I'm not sure I would disregard someone's opinion because they found themself alienated from the story because of a plot point in the second act. I think it's fair that if I go to a play about football and I hate football then I probably shouldn't have gone and probably shouldn't complain. But if I go to a musical that examines how love affects our lives, and reading the aspectsoflove.com description just talks vaguely about a sweeping romantic story in France, and they pull out a bit of potential paedophilia, I think it's fair game to say I didn't enjoy that and found it weird and uncomfortable, it ruined the show. That's not my opinion because I already disliked it by that point but in my view that's a sensible opinion to hold and share with others. I haven't seen Mickey Jo's review (and hopefully never will) so if there's more complexity to this issue than I understand it then fair enough.
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Post by andrew on May 30, 2023 20:37:47 GMT
It’s so disappointing to see so many squeamish reviews for this. People need to grow up and do some research before they go rather than being faux shocked at the subject matter. Most of the needlessly ‘enlightened’ on-line reviewers have clutched their pearls at this in their reviews. It’s 34 years old ffs! I remember someone posted something similar to my sentiment further up but I'll say it again, I don't think a lot of people dislike the show because they're appalled at the content, I think a lot of people don't like it because they just don't think it's a good show. I'm not offended by the subject matter I just think it's weird, unearned and incompletely explored. It's hard for me to imagine in the abstract how people shooting their lovers and having intergenerational relationships and sure why not a bit of child-love as well could be boring, but my god somehow this show does it. It's completely fair to say that the subject matter felt interesting and engaging and an excellent basis for a show if that's your take, but it's disingenuous to suggest that if your negative reaction is partly based on the frankly bizarre plot then you are somehow at fault. There's a strange GBNews-esque idea that seems to float about online about this show that people who rail against the story are part of the woke-brigade and can be dismissed, but if people are like me they're happy to see something provocative and edgy, as long as it's good. And I didn't find this good, sorry. Also a minor take, but I don't read what most shows or films I see are about, I just go. You sometimes like things you didn't think you would, and vice versa. It's still valid to critique them.
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Post by andrew on May 29, 2023 21:23:29 GMT
Any idea if they are introducing Rush ticket/Day seats for this? Row A is absent on the layout and B is suspiciously unavailable.. The NT usually still do Friday Rush for their West End transfers so I wouldn't be surprised.
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Post by andrew on May 29, 2023 15:22:24 GMT
However, the bit that muddled me the most was when it got to what I have always thought was the last day that starts with the longer TV report. After that he runs around all day helping people ending up at the banquet. I always assumed that this was one day that he's perfected the timings of over time. The day starts before dawn with Phil waking up (looked online and the event starts at 4am, mad!), sunrise is at 7:25am, then after that he's on the go all the way through to the evening. I'm going to make these times up but it went something like 11, 2, 9, 12 (midday), banquet. I guess the times jumping around mean it's lots of different days and we're just seeing him perfecting each individual moment. I think I would prefer it if it was all just the one day and the time went in order. Where are you getting the times from Dippy? I'm struggling to remember but is the clock at the back on stage for those sections? It seems really heavily implied that the last section is all this one perfect day and that's what makes Rita change her mind about Phil, he proves he is a good man at last and the cycle breaks. I think getting uptight about Phil's hypothetical age is a bit much, I'd advise people who're concerned about this don't look too hard at Doctor Who and The Doctor's various entanglements with people centuries younger than them.
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1,016 posts
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Post by andrew on May 25, 2023 10:40:45 GMT
this show also starts with a lot of men in waistcoats and top hats swinging lanterns.[ What’s the deal with this actually? I thought they would come back to mention it but there was nothing. They're the Gobblers Knob characters, the ones that do the ceremony with the groundhog. Those costumes are roughly what the actual people wear in Punxsutawney. I think the intention is also to evoke some old-timey vibes about the people of the town being born and raised there, talking about the traditions and sayings of the town, and prophesying about the coming of the sun. But there's nothing to come back to, they don't have any more significance than that.
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