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Post by andrew on Aug 14, 2016 21:01:42 GMT
It's probably in the Ts and Cs of your ticket purchase that they can boot you out for any reason though. Not that I think they would.
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Post by andrew on Aug 14, 2016 8:46:07 GMT
To play devils advocate, there's (at least) two issues at play
1) the sets, like everything else, are copyrighted. The designer has produced a piece of art that is theirs to release or not release for publication outside the theatre. If there's a scrim or curtain designed for the show then that too is copyrighted, so if that's on show then you can be barred from photographing it. Whilst of course you're not hoping to make any money from it, they can't know that is the case from everyone, and designers also want to shield their work from being copied ad nauseam by local companies putting on the play years down the line who aren't paying them any money for the design.
2) it creates a policy straight away that says there's no photography allowed in this venue. If someone sees a patron being yelled at for photographing the preset stage then they're not going to whip their phone out mid performance.
I still have and do take photos of stages, but thats part of their reasoning.
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Post by andrew on Aug 11, 2016 12:21:58 GMT
You must be the only person who the 'drink 2l of water a day' thing passed by. It's nonsense, but it got repeated for years by every pseudo-health professional, personal trainer, 'nutritionist', diet guru, and even some doctors and nurses got taken in by it. There isn't an actual target amount of liquid one should drink a day, but dehydration is a serious health problem that's easily fixable by just drinking regularly throughout the day. There's no 'pseudo-science' in how dehydration causes kidney stones, as a prime example. It's not essential obviously to drink continuously during a play, but it would be silly if people thought that staying hydrated wasn't something to aim for.
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Post by andrew on Aug 11, 2016 10:08:08 GMT
The merits of which were discussed some several hundred messages back, can't believe you don't remember... There's still no official news currently on where if anywhere this will go, and we know there have been financial troubles on the Broadway side of things. At the most this might extend for a week in the old vic before there'll need to break it down for the next production. I suppose we can at least be grateful that Warchus is in charge of he Old Vic so that we could see this at all. It looks like it's going to close down for a bit before it rises (again...) somewhere else.
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Post by andrew on Aug 11, 2016 8:02:29 GMT
"Reviews a preview" always puts me on edge. I know we do it all the time but we're not publishing it like we're professional critics passing judgment for mass audiences.
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Post by andrew on Aug 8, 2016 19:55:39 GMT
Also, TKTS isn't that cheap. Even a huge discount of 50% off the normal price can still result in a $80 ticket. In my book that sure beats a $160! I understand why you would fork out more, if there was something I wanted to see I would too, I just didn't feel the need last time I went. The nice thing about Broadway is that a lot more shows allow themselves to be sold at the booths.
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Post by andrew on Aug 8, 2016 19:33:51 GMT
It's a stark difference. All my Broadway viewings were done as TKTS purchases because I couldn't stomach face value prices.
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Post by andrew on Aug 7, 2016 20:55:16 GMT
Just got round to seeing this for the first time thanks to walking past the box office just after 10. Rebel was a bit... odd... and quite broad in her humour but it was fine. A fun production.
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Post by andrew on Aug 7, 2016 10:22:32 GMT
Now I wouldn't mind standing in a line for several hours if you're going to pay me handsomely to do it...
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Post by andrew on Aug 6, 2016 22:13:14 GMT
Fair enough. It's hard enough for me tolerating more than an hour in a day seat line where you can estimate based on numbers if you'll get a ticket or not. Joining the returns line for potentially several hours with no guarantee is a tall order! Good luck with it
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Post by andrew on Aug 6, 2016 22:07:29 GMT
Also in the monkey nest. It's just going to be theatreboard members in those seats every night through the production.
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Post by andrew on Aug 6, 2016 21:58:22 GMT
Wonder if there'll be a DVD version as well? There is, you can buy it from the same page linked for the BluRay
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Post by andrew on Aug 5, 2016 20:20:49 GMT
I guess if you've waited for hours in the queue and you're offered the far side of the back row of the balcony, with the knowledge that a fourth row of the stalls may well come along in two minutes, you might think twice. I've never done it though so maybe I'm wrong.
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Post by andrew on Aug 4, 2016 23:18:24 GMT
Glad I'm not the only ticket-in-photo-album person here. It's so pleasurable to flick through it.
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Post by andrew on Aug 3, 2016 18:55:10 GMT
How does a short haired, orphan, son of a witch and a gryffindor...
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Post by andrew on Aug 3, 2016 12:47:20 GMT
I actually wonder whether the bit with baby Harry would have worked better if it had been silent. You'd still get the effect of seeing that scene but without fully breaking the mood as Nelly was talking about. I absolutely agree, silence would've been better. Although I can't imagine Hagrid would actually have been silent...
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Post by andrew on Aug 2, 2016 22:27:58 GMT
This is exciting, although I think Tarantino wasn't wrong when he said that after a certain age, creatives tend to lose their streak. Maybe Steve will prove us all wrong.
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Post by andrew on Aug 2, 2016 22:24:42 GMT
Kevinuk I'm one of those people. It felt so overwrought. I didn't like the portrayal of Hagrid either which didn't help. Nobody I was with could make out what he said, and it turned what was quite a touching moment straight off with his bumbling around, in my opinion. On top of all that it was completely unnecessary in the context of the rest of the play. But I'm glad you got more out of it than I did!
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Post by andrew on Aug 2, 2016 9:47:25 GMT
And it's all very well saying don't read the script before you see the show or it'll spoil it, but some of us have no idea when or even if we will ever get to see it. Those who have been fortunate enough to go already would do well to remember that. I've been telling everyone I know not to read it and to wait and see it. Because that's genuinely the better way round. Having experienced the show and now reading the script (and people's reactions to the script) it's a no-brained that seeing it all for the first time on stage is orders of magnitude better than reading the stage directions. It's up to you what you do but it's honest advice people are giving, even if it's not the easiest option.
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Post by andrew on Jul 31, 2016 22:29:22 GMT
I was at this last night, and it was interesting. Not really any spoilers below.
Firstly the music somehow wasn't quite what I was expecting. In a lot of ways not much of it stands out, and I'm struggling to remember much of it 24 hours later. There's a lot of jazz and country influences in it with a sprinkling of traditional musical fare mixed in. The lyrics are very sharp and witty, but can be touching when they need to be. There are some terrific pieces which work really well in the moments they're placed in, but there's even fewer memorable songs in this than in Matilda which is a disappointment after you've left the auditorium. As a big Tim Minchin fan I was most excited to hear what new concoctions he'd come up with, and a lot of it is good but I can't shake off the feeling that it didn't live up to what I'd expected. I'm hoping that a repeat viewing at some point in the future will soften me up to their charms, because there were moments of musical beauty within there that I'm forgetting too quickly. And I'd hasten to add that that in the context of the whole show, I don't think the score lets it down.
You can tell that the book has been written by the same writer as the screenplay, there are sections that are almost word-for-word identical to sections of the film. Which is by no means a negative remark, just interesting. It's very well structured, and for anyone familiar with the layout of the story it doesn't ever get tiring or annoying. I do feel a little sorry for some of the actors though who read the same line in the same way half a dozen times per show. Perhaps it was the addition of the music but the story had a lot more resonance and felt like much more of a journey than the film did.
In particular Andy Karl as Phil Connors does a spectacular job. He's an effortless leading man, and in particular he brings across character development really well as his ordeal goes on, with excellent comic timing as an added bonus. Carlyss Peer makes less of an impact, but she was hampered by the fact her character doesn't really get a chance to develop at all. Certain layers of her are peeled back, and she's a strong stage presence nonetheless.
I didn't love the design of the stage borders but the rest of the set was lovely, and as others have pointed out the TV screens on the main curtain are really well utilised. The orchestra and arrangement were great and the sound mixing in row J of the stalls was completely acceptable. It was a little muddy but I didn't hear the problems others have described with losing the lead mic in the mix.
What's nice about Groundhog Day is that it's an original British musical with an entirely new score, a quality, endearing and engaging libretto presented in an accomplished way. This is exactly what we should be doing more of because it's really good. The audience were on their feet within the first line of the ensemble taking their bows. It's not perfect but it completely deserves success, and is much more wanting of a good long run in a medium sized theatre than half of the shows running in it's stead. There's no reason this couldn't or shouldn't go to Broadway when the circumstances are right, but I'm crossing my fingers that it stays in the West End as well.
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Post by andrew on Jul 30, 2016 12:27:51 GMT
When I saw this in November the house was less than half full, I was sure it was a few weeks from closing. So to come this far is a brilliant success for them, and well deserved.
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Post by andrew on Jul 29, 2016 23:33:22 GMT
I think we're lagging badly on big musicals recently but the straight play scene is thriving in my opinion.
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Post by andrew on Jul 29, 2016 14:34:35 GMT
Yeah I'm pleased because this means a DVD for Christmas probably, but I'm not going to pay to see a recording of a show that has just left the West End. Great for those that can't afford/travel to the show. And presumably the hope is that the national press for the cinema screening will keep it fresh in people's minds when it comes time to booking their tour tickets.
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Post by andrew on Jul 29, 2016 11:45:02 GMT
Groundhog Day tomorrow evening! Should be fun.
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Post by andrew on Jul 29, 2016 0:04:34 GMT
What's most impressive about the dementors has to be the costuming, the material flows so gracefully, it's an absolutely brilliant design.
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Post by andrew on Jul 28, 2016 10:37:52 GMT
Gah... a little late to the party on this one and now no front row seats for the entire run (trust me, I've checked). I don't really want to spend big bucks on this but the back row looks very, very far away. Ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-choices...
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Post by andrew on Jul 27, 2016 23:22:16 GMT
Some really fascinating responses above. I started listening to Sondheim when I was around 15, Sweeney Todd was one of the first musicals I was ever exposed to. I don't know exactly what it was I clung onto at that age but several years on he still stands out as the most intelligent creator of musical theatre of his generation. His lyric books and interviews are utterly fascinating in the ways he thinks about music, musicals and how to make a play.
What's always been clear to me though from the likes of A Little Night Music for example is when you're not into it, when you're not engaging with the plot or the characters or the musical style adopted, his stuff can be just awful. I hate that show. I don't understand how anyone who could ever like it.
But some do.
So when people say they don't like Sweeney, or Sunday, or Company, or Into The Woods, I can't blame them. His work isn't designed to be likeable I don't think. I just happen to really engage with a lot of his productions, in a way that's a lot more enduring than when I engage with (for example) Les Miserables. At the most extreme end for me personally, there are chunks of Sunday in the Park with George that speak to my soul, they've informed me as a person, they mean something really true and raw to me - no other piece of theatre has ever done that. But obviously that's really specific to me, of where I was at in life when I saw it, the way it was done, and what sort of music I like.
So I've got no qualms with anyone saying they hate Sondheim, but for me I think he'll always be my favourite composer.
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Post by andrew on Jul 26, 2016 23:49:02 GMT
Flu powder sounds really unpleasant.
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Post by andrew on Jul 26, 2016 10:54:57 GMT
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Post by andrew on Jul 26, 2016 0:45:54 GMT
Interestingly reading the Guardian article there is a backhand comment that Albus and Scorpius were a little more than friends. Whilst I would've been over the moon at a gay romance being flung unexpectedly to the fore of a Harry Potter story I didn't pick up on that at all. Wondering if anyone else feels that the portrayal is that of best friendship only or am I being naive?
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