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Post by adrianics on Apr 23, 2023 9:47:43 GMT
Helena Bonham Carter at yesterday's Guys and Dolls matinee. My wife had to ask her to move her chair so we could get to our friends and she was lovely about it!
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334 posts
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Post by adrianics on Apr 23, 2023 9:44:13 GMT
We made a rare trip to London to see yesterday's matinee. It's a huge shame that the programme doesn't have understudy information as we had the understudy Adelaide on, and after a nervy start she truly came out the gate for act 2. I got the impression it was her first performance in the role as she got a big hug from the actor playing Sky during the bows and was held up on the shoulders of the ensemble members during the dancing after the bows. It also struck me as a little weird that the cast board outside just didn't mention Adelaide at all.
I think the greatest compliment I can give this show is that I was expecting the "immersive experience" to be a gimmick, but take that away and this is probably the best production of Guys and Dolls I've ever seen (and I've seen dozens; it's my favourite show). So vibrant, energetic and bright with terrific interpretations of the characters. I in particular cannot give Celinde Schoenmaker as Sarah Brown enough praise; an expert portrayal of one of the great female musical theatre roles, a very nuanced and spectacular performance.
We were stood in the immersive section and had a great time; the show is so well-paced and frantic you barely notice the time passing, I actually liked the movement of the audience and the choreography of the raising platforms was spectacular. The stage crew are utter heroes in this show and I loved that they got their own bow!
All in all, such a fun experience and a fantastic production of one of the all-time greats. 5/5 for me!
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334 posts
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Post by adrianics on Apr 17, 2023 15:17:40 GMT
I still think about how great our planned weekend in Manchester in late March 2020 to see the premiere of Back to the Future would have been, in an alternate world...
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334 posts
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Post by adrianics on Apr 11, 2023 11:44:15 GMT
I saw the tweet this morning that contains footage of the Bodyguard singers and oh my GOD it's even worse than I could have possibly imagined, you can barely even call it "singing", it's just some moron bellowing at the top of her lungs with something vaguely resembling the rhythm, tune and actual lyrics of what the trained performer on stage is trying to sing, at what is supposed to be the emotional climax of the story the company has spent the entire evening trying to convey.
While I guess there's positives to be taken in that this incident following the discussion on This Morning earlier that day has forced this issue into mainstream discussion, I really don't see where we go from here or how the situation can be made any better. My wife and I so rarely go to the theatre these days having been regular attendees back when we lived in London, and the number one reason outside of costs is the behaviour of the audiences. The standard was always low and in fairly steady decline but post-pandemic has taken a Wile E Coyote-esque plummet off the proverbial cliff and is now so much lower than even I, a lifelong pessimist with an exceptionally dim view of human nature, ever thought it could go.
I posted a few months ago about going to see Play That Goes Wrong in Birmingham and having the experience ruined by a group of completely trollied women, who could barely sit upright in the chairs after the interval, who graduated from incessant talking to openly screaming at the poor actor who played Trevor whenever he went on stage. He and the whole company did their level best to ignore the antics but it was clearly throwing off their timing and rhythm. And this was on a Tuesday night, unfathomable to me to get so incredibly drunk on a working night. And what am I, or even the people working at the theatre, supposed to do about it? There were about 8 of them and clearly not the kind of people who would react well to being pulled up, and I just don't consider it worth the risk of physical harm or being pulled into their orbit should things really kick off, and I don't believe any FOH staff in this country is paid nearly enough or given appropriate training.
There is a fundamental sickness at the heart of British society, an ever-increasing subculture that revolves around getting blackout drunk before heading to any kind of social or extracurricular event, and the discomfort of those around you is either not a concern or part of the fun. This toxic combination of not being able to conceive of having a good time without being off your face on alcohol and often drugs and "oh my goodness, what are you like" humour in addition to a general downward slope towards total self-indulgence and entitlement we've all noticed since lockdown means that the 99% of the public who just want to enjoy themselves and make it home in one piece are forced to include dealing with such behaviour in our decision with what to do with our spare time.
Clearly, theatres are not going to spend the extra money to beef up their security or stop serving alocohol to even the most inebriated patrons, so no, not seeing where this can go or what any of us can do. It really breaks my heart.
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334 posts
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Post by adrianics on Mar 28, 2023 10:08:13 GMT
We went to Elton John in Liverpool last week. I know you have to drastically lower your standards when going to arena gigs but my GOD, I just do not understand the logic of paying the amount of money these tickets cost, to see one of the greatest solo musicians who has ever lived in what you know for a fact is the final concert he'll ever perform in your orbit, only to then treat him like a pianist in a cocktail bar and have a casual conversation throughout the entire show.
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334 posts
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Post by adrianics on Mar 22, 2023 20:04:34 GMT
I think muck ups should be BANNED 🙂. Totally self indulgent. 100%. I'd be raging if I'd spent £50+ on a ticket only to find the actors arseing around trying to make each other laugh
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334 posts
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Post by adrianics on Mar 17, 2023 12:09:30 GMT
A different angle to bad behaviour at an amateur production last night. The usher at the theatre pointed us towards what turned out to be the wrong side of the aisle, which we only realised when we were already halfway down the row. Mortifying enough but we were pretty taken aback by the amount of snooty comments we got from the people letting us through. Everybody makes mistakes!
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334 posts
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Post by adrianics on Mar 8, 2023 14:21:02 GMT
Loved the first series mainly for being an excellent showcase for Cecily Strong and Keegan-Michael Key, both of whom are reliably great in everything they ever do. That trailer was fantastic; looks like great fun and what a cast they've put together!
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Post by adrianics on Mar 2, 2023 14:29:13 GMT
I'm in. Been a big fan of Mae Whitman since her days on Arrested Development and Parenthood, and looks like this'll fill the gaping Crazy Ex Girlfriend-shaped hole in my life.
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Post by adrianics on Feb 13, 2023 12:10:02 GMT
When I played Fester back in 2019, we did "was Brexit right for Halloween", which got a great response at the time but might be a little obscure now! I concur with mkb's vardy/colleen suggestion
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334 posts
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Post by adrianics on Feb 8, 2023 11:46:08 GMT
Whatever infinitesimal levels of doubt that Charlie Simpson is Rhino have surely been crushed by the Wedding Crashers/"crashed the wedding" clue and references to puppets (Thunderbirds, which Busted did a song for) on Saturday
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Post by adrianics on Feb 2, 2023 22:08:38 GMT
The ultimate "so bad it's good" film is Troll 2. It defies explanation for anyone unfamiliar with it, but just try and imagine a truly insane and nonsensical premise that's executed with almost ingenious incompetence by an almost entirely amateur cast and a crew that couldn't speak English. It's so frenzied, bizarre and and oddly intense in the way that it's directed, scored and edited with a cast so embarrassingly lacking in basic talent and screen presence yet so achingly sincere that you end up feeling bad for them and the abject screen performances become a huge part of the charm.
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334 posts
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Post by adrianics on Jan 29, 2023 10:27:54 GMT
Absolutely did not see Katherine Ryan coming at all. Not a fan of her normally but she certainly had me fooled!
Richie Sambora is a hell of a shout, feel like a huge hint has been dropped with the glimpse of Jacket Potato playing guitar next week.
We're convinced that Otter is Daisy-May Cooper too. 9 to 5 sounded a lot like her, RADA reference, BAFTA winner, repeats of "it's not real" felt like a reference to This Country which is a mockumentary.
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Post by adrianics on Jan 12, 2023 11:13:54 GMT
Betty Blue Eyes is an absolutely cracking musical. The book is really funny and has fantastic farce set pieces, and the score contains some of Stiles and Drewes' best work (I especially love "The Kind of Man I am").
The show is open for amateur licencing but most companies won't go near it. An amateur company I was a part of back when I lived in London put the show on in 2017 and while the production was spectacular, it flopped so badly that the company nearly folded. I think a huge problem with the show is a lack of recognisability, barely anyone outside of theatrical or literacy circles has heard of "A Private Function" and the plot is rather difficult to explain concisely. There's just next to nothing immediately obvious to entice Joe Public to go and see it, which is a shame because I've yet to meet anyone who's seen it who hasn't enjoyed it.
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334 posts
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Post by adrianics on Jan 4, 2023 12:15:01 GMT
Is this the same incident that happened last week, or has it somehow happened twice at the same show in quick succession?
Wendell Pierce is just pure 100% class, as an actor and human being, and that woman doesn't deserve to occupy the same city as him.
edit: okay, it's the incident from the 28th December; for some reason Now This News only ran it yesterday.
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334 posts
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Post by adrianics on Jan 2, 2023 14:30:50 GMT
Going solely off the voice Jellyfish reminded me of Miquita Oliver. Other than that no idea. Michelle Visage was a popular guess on Twitter for Jellyfish, I don't know anything about her outside of her guest appearances on shows and the "me shell" clue felt way too obvious for Masked Singer.
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334 posts
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Post by adrianics on Jan 1, 2023 22:17:41 GMT
Cat and Mouse are Ade Edmondson and Jennifer Saunders - Picked her voice up a mile away and the spice rack felt like a reference to the Spice Girls, and specifically Viva Forever, which Saunders wrote the book for.
I thought Knitting was Cheryl Tweedy until the "add up to 26" clue, which is 5+6+7+8, which means someone from Steps.
Phoenix had Brian Conley vibes to me.
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334 posts
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Post by adrianics on Dec 7, 2022 7:46:36 GMT
Surprised at how much I liked this. I'm a big fan of Reynolds - think he has a killer screen presence in addition to a fantastic sense of humour that he brings to all of his projects, and both he and Ferrell are great in this. In every other arena I consider Pasek and Paul a pair of hacks who basically write the same song over and over with the proper nouns tipex'd over, but fair play to them they smashed this one; the songs match the humour of the rest of the film, are very tuneful and often genuinely funny, and thank GOD they managed to stop themselves from projecting WOOOOOOOOAH over every lyric.
I wasn't prepared for how much pathos the film gets towards the end either, I have to say; some of the twists on one of the most told stories in our history are genuinely really affecting.
I'd take a star off for how long it is and some of the green-screen effects are shocking. Solid 4/5 for me and I'd imagine it'll be added to our yearly Christmas films rota.
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Post by adrianics on Sept 23, 2022 11:16:32 GMT
Sad news but not hugely unsurprising in this climate. We saw the original production on Christmas Eve 2019 during our holiday to NYC and greatly enjoyed it, but I do think the cast (particularly Alex Brightman) and staging did a huge amount of heavy lifting as a lot of the material doesn't really hold up on its own.
I'd be very interested in this west end transfer that was heavily rumoured last year, I'd love to see who they'd cast as the lead. Maybe someone like Nathan Amzi or Simon Lipkin?
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334 posts
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Post by adrianics on Sept 23, 2022 10:37:24 GMT
"What's Next" from Big Fish. That song during the Other Palace production with Kelsey Grammar is up there with the hardest I've ever cried at anything fictional, along with probably 99% of the audience.
"For Now" from Avenue Q. The show has a huge amount of significance to me having appeared in a couple of stagings over four years alongside people I now count as some of my best friends. The final performance was a month before I moved away from London, and I now find it very hard to listen to.
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Post by adrianics on Sept 21, 2022 12:44:20 GMT
I am appearing in an amateur production of Kinky Boots at the Royal Spa Centre in Leamington Spa from the 18th to 23rd October.
I'm playing the roles of Richard Bailey/Italian Fashion Show Manager alongside several ensemble roles, alongside a very talented principal and ensemble cast.
The show will be performed each night from Tuesday to Saturday as well as an additional matinee on Sunday 23rd October. Tickets are available here: warwickdc.ticketsolve.com/ticketbooth/shows/1173631706/events/428510890
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334 posts
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Post by adrianics on Aug 16, 2022 21:32:12 GMT
Such sad and shocking news, an incredibly talented and by all accounts humble and kind man. Like others was extremely impressed with his performance in Funny Girl, an unforgettable singing and speaking voice and charisma you could see from space
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Post by adrianics on Aug 16, 2022 14:54:39 GMT
There are bus strikes on Friday too. It's rail, tube, bus and overground. Not all bus routes will be affected, but I would check before you attempt to rely on them. Feel like I did know that deep down but forgot, thank you for the correction! From Uxbridge you can also get to Hayes and Harlington, which is on the Elizabeth Line and will get you to Paddington in about 20 minutes.
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Post by adrianics on Aug 16, 2022 12:23:09 GMT
You also have the option of getting a coach from Hillingdon station, which is about 1.5 miles from Uxbridge. Both the X90 and Oxford Tube will get you to central, from where you should be able to get a bus.
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Post by adrianics on Jun 20, 2022 6:32:41 GMT
Bad behaviour definitely existed pre-pandemic but my experience, and a very common one across many from what I can gather, is that's it's gotten immeasurably worse since we came out of lockdown. This country has always had a very unhealthy relationship with alcohol and there now seems to be a more significant proportion of society than ever who apparently cannot have a good time without getting absolutely blackout drunk, which will inevitably lead to bad behaviour in public.
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334 posts
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Post by adrianics on Jun 19, 2022 11:55:55 GMT
No interest in this. I like Hercules just fine but it's far from the best Disney animated film and considering how terrible the other live action remakes have been (Aladdin is only slightly less terrible than The Lion King), no motivation to go out of my way.
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334 posts
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Post by adrianics on Jun 15, 2022 7:40:18 GMT
We went to Magical Classical presents Meat Loaf in Coventry over the weekend. Audience was generally fine (considering it was a gig, you have to let a lot go) until the singer announced that the orchestra was going to do an instrumental version of "Heaven Can Wait".
My god, you would have thought what he said was "talk amongst yourselves while the orchestra, the people you have notionally paid to witness during a cost of living crisis, provide some background music"!
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334 posts
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Post by adrianics on Jun 8, 2022 13:32:46 GMT
The other person is not going to reach out. It's really tough but the only thing that will help this situation is you sitting them down and telling them that they behaved and spoke inappropriately, and that it made you feel upset and uncomfortable. Make sure you give them specific examples and explain why it made you feel the way that you did.
Never forget the old adage about a drunk person's words being a sober person's thoughts; odds are that someone who is narcisstic and gaslighting when they're drunk does the same when they're sober. At least if you confront them honestly, if they keep the same behaviour up without inebriation as an excuse you'll know that they're not worth your time and friendship.
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Post by adrianics on May 21, 2022 8:59:42 GMT
I'm a painfully self-conscious person who stopped wearing a digital watch to the theatre because it would light up, like sph I just have a pre-act 1 and interval drink (red wine and beer). I can't imagine having a loud wrapper I had to fiddle with during the action, I'd probably give myself a panic attack!
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334 posts
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Post by adrianics on May 19, 2022 16:50:20 GMT
It is.
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