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Post by adrianics on May 19, 2022 9:49:24 GMT
What is wrong with people? There was a very loud and very drunk gaggle of women sat across the aisle from me at Play That Goes Wrong in Birmingham on Monday, first act you could just about tune it out but they clearly sunk a few more in the interval and the second act it was unbearable, including constantly heckling the poor actor playing Trevor who was clearly doing everything in his power to not acknowledge them. I would normally say something but they really didn't look like the kind of people who would react well to confrontation and I decided I didn't want the aggro; who wants to end their precious evening out with a drunken yahoo screaming in their face?
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Post by adrianics on May 17, 2022 16:14:44 GMT
Question for Dawnstar : When I saw the show years ago Chris apologised at the beginning for a booking mix-up with Mamma Mia, which is obviously directly across the road. I saw it again last year it was a mix-up with Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Cinderella, which had just started. Do they change that bit often? I assume it’s dropped from the tours? He mentioned those in the audience who were meant to be seeing Waitress at the Hippodrome last night.
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Post by adrianics on May 17, 2022 13:56:13 GMT
Can someone more familiar with the show than me clear something up for me? When I saw the show in the West End, the scene with Chris trying to find the ledger on the chair just featured him screaming "A LEDGER" until he eventually found it. Tonight, a child in the front row yelled "it's under the sofa" and it led to an extended monologue from Chris, yelling about how he expected better from Birmingham and we were the worst audience he'd ever had, and eventually he pretended to restart the show. In the middle was a "this is not a pantomime/oh yes it is/shut up" diatribe very similar to the televised version of Peter Pan Goes Wrong. Now I'm not naive enough to believe this was genuinely improvised, but it strikes me as unlikely that they'd involve a child. Is this something new that they've added to the show? It definitely didn't happen when I saw it on the West End. I've seen similar reactions from a number of Chris actors. I imagine they have both options prepared & what is done at a particular performance depends on what that audience does. If someone audibly calls out that it's under the chaise longue then Chris will rant at the audience, if they just laugh at him then he'll keep yelling "ledger" until he finally pretends to find it. Yeah my wife and I landed on "they prepare two different versions of the scene" after watching, couldn't imagine a child being a plant but like I said he said a lot of stuff very similar to a scene from PPGW. Thanks
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Post by adrianics on May 16, 2022 22:21:38 GMT
Saw the tour in Birmingham tonight. Love this show, and in particular this cast. I saw it on the West End back in 2017 but think I preferred it tonight. Exhilarating watching such a young cast who are so confident, well-drilled and already have such incredible chemistry together. It's truly exhausting to watch and genius at points. The audience were a pack of arseholes, but that's a story for the Bad Behaviour thread if I can ever be bothered. Can someone more familiar with the show than me clear something up for me? When I saw the show in the West End, the scene with Chris trying to find the ledger on the chair just featured him screaming "A LEDGER" until he eventually found it. Tonight, a child in the front row yelled "it's under the sofa" and it led to an extended monologue from Chris, yelling about how he expected better from Birmingham and we were the worst audience he'd ever had, and eventually he pretended to restart the show. In the middle was a "this is not a pantomime/oh yes it is/shut up" diatribe very similar to the televised version of Peter Pan Goes Wrong. Now I'm not naive enough to believe this was genuinely improvised, but it strikes me as unlikely that they'd involve a child. Is this something new that they've added to the show? It definitely didn't happen when I saw it on the West End.
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Post by adrianics on May 11, 2022 9:15:09 GMT
Opening night of Nathan Lane and Lee Evans in The Producers in 2004
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Post by adrianics on May 6, 2022 15:02:05 GMT
lol yes that's the one, we had to change it to "LONES" (L15) as our theatre didn't have rows A-D or seat 1!
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Post by adrianics on May 6, 2022 13:49:54 GMT
I was in an amateur production of Spamalot a few years back and the "holy grail's been found" scene genuinely was improvised, following a set formula we worked on during rehearsal but always different and based on what we got from the audience member pulled up. Opening night the grail wasn't in the right place and the person in the seat headed for the stage before we asked them to!
Then one night, the person in the chair turned out to be a friend of the cast, and whether they knew it was coming or not they immediately started hamming it up, pretending to be nervous etc. Everyone who I spoke to afterwards assumed they were a plant, which was very frustrating.
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Post by adrianics on May 6, 2022 13:44:20 GMT
Ahhh we're seeing it in Birmingham the week before. Amazing news for anyone who can get to Manchester or Newcastle but kind of gutting we're missing out
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Post by adrianics on May 6, 2022 13:41:53 GMT
Imagine sitting there, listening to them specifically asking you to turn your phone off, then thinking "well, that clearly doesn't apply to me"
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Post by adrianics on Apr 25, 2022 9:38:45 GMT
I was so incredibly disappointed when I found out that Michael Ball did the whole "I can't do it when you're standing behind me" thing at every single performance of Hairspray.
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Post by adrianics on Apr 5, 2022 13:01:18 GMT
Read a rumour that theatres are being scouted for a potential West End transfer in 2023. Word on the street is that the title role is going to be one of the most contested leads in quite some time, but I would imagine Plan A would be to drive a dumptruck full of money to Alex Brightman's apartment to try and convince him to transfer as well.
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Post by adrianics on Mar 31, 2022 10:47:46 GMT
It's been pretty chaotic on the ground the last few weeks. More people than I've ever known to at once or in quick succession are either isolating with symptoms, isolating because someone in their household (usually children) has symptoms or has tested positive, or have tested positive themselves.
It's crazy seeing that the messaging from both the government and employers has been that we are to return to usual practices and pretend that everything is normal when I actually think in terms of brute spread of the virus it's worse than it's ever been. A colleague of mine has had to work from home the entirety of this week having been informed on Monday evening that their daughter's class is cancelled for the week due to a positive case. Luckily they're able to work from home but what are families without that option who can't afford childcare supposed to do? How can we pretend that everything is normal when something like that is always a very real possibility?
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Post by adrianics on Mar 16, 2022 10:54:02 GMT
Hell yes. Am a massive Titanic nerd, love this show and adored the production way back in 2013 at the SP. I never got a chance to see the last London revival or tour, so will be first in line!
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Post by adrianics on Mar 16, 2022 8:45:40 GMT
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Post by adrianics on Mar 6, 2022 9:26:47 GMT
"Dr Kirsty Sedgman from Bristol University specialises in audience behaviour, and explains that defining “good” theatre etiquette is tricky: “It’s a really emotive subject, especially after the pandemic, because everyone wants to be together, but they have very different ideas about what that should mean,” she says. “We’re seeing a tension between people who want to have a fun night out, drink a lot and be rowdy, and those who crave that sense of quiet togetherness that [the theatre director] Peter Brook calls the ‘good kind of silence’.”
I don't think the tension between proportionate, reasonable people and selfish, unreasonable people is all that new, to be honest.
I work at a university and love the academic community, but the quotes in that article are cringeworthy. They're actually trying to draw a parallel between being snobby about an audience member's evening wear and objecting to drunken heckling??
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Post by adrianics on Mar 3, 2022 12:47:47 GMT
That specific comment was aimed at poster j rather than you, but yes, the tone of yours and theirs conversation was arrogant.
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Post by adrianics on Mar 3, 2022 11:35:26 GMT
Sounds like my station. Just looking at their phones. I once had a person push right behind me to get through the barrier without a ticket. Went to the TFL guy in the box and asked him why he didn't do anything about it. He told me "it's not my job" and said that I should have challenged him myself if I was unhappy. I asked him what his job was then and he told me "customer service". £34,000 to looknat your phone all day. Sign me up! Yes that's happened to me too. I now walk through the barriers deliberately slowly to stop it happening. Stratford is just as bad - groups of staff members standing around chatting and doing nothing else! It was particularly infuriating during the pandemic seeing how many of them were incapable of complying with their own employer's mask rules. If I saw anything to make me feel they are in any way short changed for the job they do, I might have some sympathy for the strikes, but that just isn't the reality. The proportional response to a negative experience at a tube station is to raise a complaint and give the staff a chance to make the situation better rather than cherrypick it as justification for your unilateral condemnation of a network of literally thousands of employees of dozens of different positions. Claiming that your extraordinarily limited, and shamelessly biased and pre-judged, experience of tube stations is "the reality" is incredibly arrogant. If you, and the others in this thread sharing similar views, are so certain that TFL staff are grossly overpaid and overcompensated compared to the work they actually do, what exactly is stopping you from resigning the post you currently have and taking one of these ultra-cushy jobs in TFL? tfl.taleo.net/careersection/external/jobsearch.ftl?lang=en
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Post by adrianics on Mar 2, 2022 15:15:04 GMT
Negotiations happen constantly behind the scenes without getting anywhere close to strike action, so I don't know what you mean by "consistently shutting down" or "going through this every single time".
Are you able to give some specifics or examples of these "other ways to negotiate" that you believe haven't already been tried?
And without being too obvious, strikes aren't supposed to be "practical" or "fair"; what would the point be if there wasn't inconvenience or disruption?
I know that allowing the passengers to travel for free as strike action is a popular suggestion that happens in other countries (not certain what the consequences for doing so are in those countries), but from what I know this is illegal in the UK so is not an option. I am happy to be corrected by someone who knows more than I do but that's the impression I've gotten from my research.
And what Jon says is true; it's also worth pointing out that RMT also represent other workers besides drivers.
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Post by adrianics on Mar 2, 2022 12:49:28 GMT
I didn't ask "why are you angry", so I'm really not entirely sure why you're listing out the consequences of the strikes, which are apparent, obvious and awful.
So many falsehoods in that post, namely the implication that negotiations have not already happened, "they strike all the time", "they strike against everything" and the apparent belief that it's the tube drivers leading this particular action and I do not have the time or inclination to go through them all. I invite you, as I did Poster J, to do some actual research and reading into this situation.
And there will be nobody more aware of the negative impact of these strikes, and subsequent public opinion and interaction, than the workers themselves. I don't know if you have ever been part of a union or on strike yourself, but all I can do is assure you once again that these decisions are never taken lightly.
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Post by adrianics on Mar 2, 2022 10:00:24 GMT
Didn't even make it in to work today or to class this evening. I'm lucky enough to be able to work from home but I feel for those who aren't, especially those who have actual justifiable concerns about their remuneration and pensions like NHS staff. Not Tube staff. How can you say that TFL staff "don't have actual justifiable concerns" when you previously said that you don't know why this strike is happening and don't care enough to find out? As a union member: Strikes really do not happen for no reason. Every day on strike has huge repercussions, both professionally and personally. Why not do the most rudimental reading and research into why this is happening and base your opinion on that rather than deciding that you don't support the strikers in advance? And I would point out that "others have it worse" is a reason to support the others who have it worse, not condemn those with the power and strength to get better deals. Why not be angry at those who treat and pay nurses badly rather than the tube workers?
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Post by adrianics on Feb 24, 2022 10:34:42 GMT
Absolutely hilarious that the article starts with she only did one thing, then as it goes on she adds more and more things she was doing.
"All I did was tap my thigh. All I did was tap my thigh and sing. All I did was tap my thigh, sing and wave my hands around. All I did was tap my thigh, sing, wave my hands around and conduct a complicated offshore stock trade on my phone during "For Crying Out Loud". All I did was tap my thigh, sing, wave my hands around, conduct a complicated offshore stock trade on my phone during "For Crying Out Loud" and cough directly into the mouth of every person in front, behind and next to me."
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Post by adrianics on Feb 14, 2022 10:21:53 GMT
Robin Williams. A huge childhood figure for me and one of those people who you just thought would be around forever, and as I was going through my own mental health struggles at the time the way he died hit me hard.
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Post by adrianics on Feb 14, 2022 10:15:05 GMT
Hmmm looking for a correlation... There's been discernible rise of incidents of disruptive behaviour in theatre audiences in the last few years. There's also been a lot of new Jukebox shows popping up over the last few years. Rarely if ever does a Pinter get a show-stop due to bad behaviour. Maybe. Perhaps there's a relationship here. Music fans (sorry to tarnish all with the same brush) who don't go to the theatre often, usually go to gigs where getting tanked up is the norm/encouraged. Suddenly there's a show popped up full of songs by an artist they love. They go. Few beers before hand, drinks at the bar, take seats with drinks expecting to be able to do what they do at a gig. I actually think you may have hit the nail on the head. The worst audiences I've ever been a part of, by far, were Jersey Boys and Bat out of Hell. Both times, drunk patrons standing, dancing, singing and trying to film, who seemed confused and affronted when told by FOH that this wasn't allowed. I really don't go to a lot of big gigs but I scored a free ticket to Simply Red in Birmingham and it was a little enlightening, particularly the amount of people who kept getting up mid-song to get more booze.
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Post by adrianics on Feb 12, 2022 9:36:07 GMT
My wildcard for Robobunny is Mika. Pretty much the only performer I can think of who can both sing in falsetto and has a profile just low enough to do the show in the first place.
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Post by adrianics on Feb 9, 2022 8:43:44 GMT
I have never been and never will be a fan of Joel Dommett, but I'm so happy with the exposure this show has given Mo Gilligan, who has always been delightful and hilarious.
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Post by adrianics on Feb 7, 2022 15:53:11 GMT
Mushroom is 100% Charlotte Church. Clearly operatically trained and experienced, and my wife's a huge fan of the Off Menu podcast, on which Church was a guest a few months back and is evidently super into sustainability, foraging, nature reserves and the like.
I'm completely stuck on both Panda and Robobunny. There was a very clear "Year 3000" reference on Robobunny's last VT but it's impossible to imagine any members of Busted being able to sing like that, or any members of the Jonas Brothers agreeing to be on the show.
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Post by adrianics on Feb 6, 2022 12:00:38 GMT
I've been convinced from the beginning that Rockhopper is Michelle Williams from Destiny's Child, mainly because they've referenced trios several times and made many references to Greatest Showman, which stars the actress of the same name. I've never been right with this show before! Feels good
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Post by adrianics on Jan 31, 2022 21:20:04 GMT
I don't think anyone saw Joss Stone coming last year. We were both convinced, along with the rest of the country, that it was Sheridan Smith. I find it so funny how often she's predicted, she's got to do the show someday!
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Post by adrianics on Jan 31, 2022 11:43:29 GMT
I think Traffic Cone is Lee Mead. The last performance sounded a lot like him and there were a couple of potential Joseph references (something about "multicoloured" and performing for royalty, ie Royal Variety Show).
I've been convinced from the beginning that Rockhopper is Michelle Williams from Destiny's Child, mainly because they've referenced trios several times and made many references to Greatest Showman, which stars the actress of the same name.
I thought Robobunny was Marvin Hulme from JLS, but the last performance was so bizarre it's really thrown me.
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Post by adrianics on Dec 24, 2021 12:49:04 GMT
Don't have an awful lot of interest in this show but this is pure class from Jackman
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