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Post by Flim Flam on Mar 7, 2017 8:10:47 GMT
Hadn't dropped into this thread for a while. Good grief, it has more drama than anything I've seen at the theatre lately...
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Post by Flim Flam on Feb 25, 2017 19:53:44 GMT
Kenneth_C I am struggling to express how envious of you I am right now. This is (truly) one of my favourite Sondheim shows. Me too. Me too. Have a great time!
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Post by Flim Flam on Dec 29, 2016 19:32:18 GMT
Or feed the boot a few peanuts
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Post by Flim Flam on Dec 23, 2016 16:52:04 GMT
Cancellation notice: The Tim Rice / Abba fan club will no longer be meeting in the London Marriott Hotel's Atrium tonight. Apparently, the hotel manager can't stand Chess nuts boasting in an open foyer.
Okay, Theatremonkey. I know I really shouldn't be encouraging you. But well, it's Christmas etc, so- liking the joke!
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Post by Flim Flam on Dec 19, 2016 8:17:28 GMT
I pat myself on the back at having provided a splendid Christmas to all concerned and go solo to something...having coffee/snacks of my choice and enjoying the sense of freedom! This year it is a cheeky little Friday matinee of All the Angels at Wanamaker theatre on Jan 6th, after hearing good reports on here...not my usual sort of thing but candles and music sound enchanting! I had exactly the same idea, but didn't wait for January. So after a work Christmas lunch last week, sneaked off to a matinee of All the Angels. Thought it was beautiful, gloriously sung, well cast, and just enough story to be interesting, but not enough to overwhelm the music. Came out of the theatre and walked along the sparkling South Bank feeling like Scrooge at the end of A Christmas Carol. Despite the dreadful seating I realise I am starting to become addicted to these choral pieces at the Sam Wanamaker.
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Post by Flim Flam on Dec 16, 2016 19:03:12 GMT
Wishing everyone a very Merry Christmas.To those I have actually met from this site, and all of you whom I feel I know (even though I really don't).
And especially to all of you who have contributed to making this wonderful website, which I visit far too often. It hardly seems credible now that we were worried that this group would not continue. Wishing us all many more years of happy theatregoing and theatreboarding!
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Post by Flim Flam on Dec 8, 2016 22:34:11 GMT
I'm cuddlier than that monkey! And you have a much better collection of dressing-up outfits.
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Post by Flim Flam on Dec 7, 2016 11:48:12 GMT
Yes, I should definitely have done something. But it was one of those situations when I kept thinking the call would end in a minute or two, but then it didn't...
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Post by Flim Flam on Dec 7, 2016 9:49:58 GMT
Okay, so recently I had an hour to kill late afternoon, before I met a friend. Decided to grab a coffee and have a quiet read of a book, seated in the NT foyer near the bookshop. Fine, found a table to myself. Four people having a quiet business meeting opposite me. No problem.
Then a smartly dressed young guy set himself up on the table next to me, with his laptop and headphones. He then proceeded, for a solid 30 minutes, to have a loud skype call, during which he extolled (in great detail I might add) all the details of his company's overseas property investment portfolio to some unwitting prospective customer. Mild glances from me rapidly turned into bone-numbing glares, all of which he totally ignored, as he was deep in his selling spiel. I wouldn't have put up with it, except that I had no idea that the call could possibly go on for that long...
Not sure that this contributes to the discussion, but good to get it off my chest!
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Post by Flim Flam on Dec 1, 2016 15:41:03 GMT
Update: I am now in the official running for the 'Aunty of the Year' Award. Dropped into the Box Office today and got 2 £20 tickets for both performances this Sunday. Now that's what I call a result!
Oh, and best of all. Now I don't have to get up ridiculously early on Sunday morning and queue in the cold for returns. Thank goodness for that!
Thanks for all your advice folks.
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Post by Flim Flam on Dec 1, 2016 15:33:34 GMT
Yes, very Happy Birthday! Where would be without your website- sitting in a terrible,cramped, overpriced, restricted view seat, that's where.
Mind you, am I the only one who is the teeniest bit disappointed to discover that your real name is not actually 'Monkey'?
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Post by Flim Flam on Nov 30, 2016 12:28:18 GMT
Me too!
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Post by Flim Flam on Nov 28, 2016 10:56:13 GMT
Hi folks,
Need some advice please. Not a Potterhead so haven't been following all the chat in this thread.
Sister and niece coming up to London next Sunday (4th December), leaving Monday. Teenage niece would die and think she had gone to heaven if we could get tickets (2) for Sunday.
I know its like hens teeth, but trying to work out the best strategy to try at least. Have been searching the Nimax/ATG sites of course. And will drop into the box office during the week, just in case anything is coming up for Sunday.
But, if that fails, what is the situation with queueing on Sunday? Don't mind getting up early (family huh?)but no desire to spend an entire day sitting on the pavement in London (been there, done that...) How does it work? Do you queue early and then the box office opens at 10am and you get given tickets? Or do you have to queue all day?I know they do not hand out the tickets early because of the touting situation, but not sure how it works.
Sorry if this has all been explained elsewhere, haven't got time at the moment to read it all. Thanks!
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Post by Flim Flam on Nov 28, 2016 10:29:43 GMT
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Post by Flim Flam on Nov 21, 2016 9:58:33 GMT
And Argentinian Gerónimo Rauch doing his Phantom/Jean Valjean a while ago.
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Post by Flim Flam on Nov 17, 2016 18:50:14 GMT
Our younger board members will be bewildered by the latest posts! I was thinking the same thing. We are outing ourselves as old ... or maybe just very knowledgeable about pop history!
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209 posts
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Post by Flim Flam on Nov 16, 2016 12:55:06 GMT
Or does the childcatcher just round them up...
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Post by Flim Flam on Nov 12, 2016 9:00:18 GMT
Er, yes, we are all going to cry....
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Post by Flim Flam on Nov 5, 2016 15:18:54 GMT
Sorry to hear this. What a horrible experience.
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Post by Flim Flam on Nov 2, 2016 9:05:30 GMT
Full of admiration for all you people with your spreadsheets. I am quite organised in my working life, but when it comes to my theatre going, it's my hobby and I can't be bothered to track things this diligently. I do use an online calendar and organise my advance bookings carefully, but my main aide-memoire for shows I have seen is a large box full of my used ticket stubs, flyers, cast lists and programmes. Mainly ticket stubs, as I only occasionally buy programmes these days. Love a good old rummage through this box, reminding me of what I have seen. And as for cost, the last thing I want to be reminded of is how much I have spent per year on theatre!
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Post by Flim Flam on Nov 1, 2016 17:25:06 GMT
So envious.....
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Post by Flim Flam on Nov 1, 2016 11:48:44 GMT
If we are going to be haunting places, then I am going to dress up as Shakespeare (who said ghosts don't get to play dress-up, in fact gender-blind dress-up in this case) and quietly appear on stage at any Shakespeare productions whose interpretation I disagree with. Just quietly tutting and shaking my head in the background. If it gets really boring I might suddenly yell out ' I am really Francis Bacon you know', just to stir things up a bit. I am sure Shakespeare would approve. In fact he might even get in on the act. Which would be great, as it would make eternity much more interesting if we could have the occasional chat.
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Post by Flim Flam on Oct 31, 2016 11:30:45 GMT
I saw it a number of years ago. It was during one of those Open House London weekends. They did an Ally Pally tour, that included a brief visit to the theatre (as well as to a gallery in another part of the building, which contained piles of old televisions, cameras and associated broadcasting equipment that had been collected for a failed TV museum project).
We only stood at the rear of the circle, overlooking the cavernous auditorium, which looked very neglected, with lots of dust, rubble and crumbling plaster. They said it was too dangerous to go further into the space. They mentioned plans to restore it and that various Hampstead luvvies were involved in a campaign for this. I also recall the guide mentioning that in those days anybody with the money could build a theatre, without an architect, planning constraints etc and consequently theatres like this often had terrible sightlines, strange acoustics etc. I didn't think he was selling the concept very well, especially as it looked a lot better space than some of the West End theatres I have attended.
I saw this on TV last week, with mention of the intact machinery. Would love to go on a more comprehensive tour.
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Post by Flim Flam on Oct 26, 2016 17:00:37 GMT
Eddie Redmayne
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Post by Flim Flam on Oct 24, 2016 18:49:29 GMT
I hated this too I'm afraid. I was thankful for the unnecessary interval and took the opportunity to escape. Didn't help that I was sitting in the terrible side seats in the gallery, a useful reminder never to book them. Crazy they spent so long refurbishing the theatre and ended up with a huge bunch of seats that can literally see half the stage. (I know they are sold as restricted view but even so!) Yes, I totally agree about the Gallery, which was where I was seated for The Flick. When you sat down properly in your seat (not leaning far forwards) you literally lost half of the stage. As a lot of the action took place on that side of the stage it was impossible to tell what was happening. In fact if the people next to me had leant forwards at all I would not have seen anything. I actually remonstrated with one of the staff in the interval (something I would never normally do as of course you expect a poorer quality view for a lower price) and she admitted that it was a problem, particularly with that production, and moved me downstairs. I got the impression that I was not the first person to have complained. I don't mind a bit of restricted view (I don't actually remember those seats being advertised as restricted view, although I may just have missed the warning), bu t this was extraordinary. What were they thinking? Or maybe they don't venture up there themselves. The only other place as bad as this is the upstairs of the Sam Wanamaker, and I have sworn a sacred oath to myself never to go upstairs there again.
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Post by Flim Flam on Oct 20, 2016 21:29:53 GMT
Hi Recused, you're not a fan of The Good Wife are you? They were always recusing themselves on that show.
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Post by Flim Flam on Oct 18, 2016 17:31:00 GMT
Ah yes. I saw a production in a small studio theatre a few years ago. Won't say where to spare the innocent.
The first Act started with about 14 in the audience. Interesting subject matter but a very mixed bunch amongst the actors and a very ropey production. Cast consisted of an older actor, a young couple and a one or two other youngsters, who danced about a bit at times and moved the (very limited) scenery. The older actor wasn't bad, the young female was okayish, until she began to sing at one point...but her boyfriend, well I started to look in the cast list to see who he was related to. Wooden doesn't begin to describe his acting style. Declamatory, yes that's it. Arm in the air and everything.
Decided to stay to see Act 2 as I was meeting a friend nearby afterwards (it was a matinee). But only about 5 people came back. Oh dear. It wasn't as if it was very dark in the room and we were only a few feet away from them, nowhere to hide. The older actor looked more and more disgusted as the show went on, with a sort of 'oh God, what has my career come to' expression at times. The worst moment was the bows at the end. 5 people clapping in a half-hearted manner really does not sound good...
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Post by Flim Flam on Oct 16, 2016 12:46:58 GMT
Love those stories. I liked Bob Peck on stage in the very few roles I saw him in. I recall his Caliban as being very grungy indeed, with lots of wild hair. Not sure if they were dreadlocks though. Thought he was excellent in that role.
I also liked Patrick Stewart in Henry IV at the Barbican. I remember getting goosebumps at his 'uneasy lies the head that wears the crown' speech.
Mind you, thought Anthony Hopkins was awful in Antony and Cleopatra on the stage. I remember him being interviewed on t.v. at the time. The interviewer asked him if he understood all the lines he had to speak in the role. He said he didn't, but that he just shouted the bits he didn't understand. I thought that really summed up his performance.
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Post by Flim Flam on Oct 12, 2016 13:30:08 GMT
Maybe the person who helped me got the sack for letting customers have cheap tickets...
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Post by Flim Flam on Oct 12, 2016 9:36:04 GMT
Sorry if this has been asked & answered already, but does anyone know if you can get day seats for Les Mis? We're looking to go in the next couple of weeks but really need to get tickets on the day/day before. If they do day seats, can you just turn up when the box office opens or are they not sold throughout the day? I was also going to pop to the Tkts booth if I can get out of work & the theatre doesn't do day seats. Thanks very much for any further information. Not recently, but about 3 years ago I went to see Le Mis with a friend, at the last minute. We went to have a look at Tkts in Leicester Square, which had seats for sale at about £30 if I recall. We then went to the Les Mis box office (at about 5.30pm ) and asked if they had any cheapish seats available. I actually mentioned to the box office staff member that we had looked at Tkts but thought we would ask them directly before booking. He then got us 2 tickets at about £25 each, good stalls seats if I remember, not restricted view or anything. As he said 'saves us the commission'. So, we may just have been lucky on that day, but I always think it's worth asking at the box office first, even if the theatre doesn't specifically mention day seats on their site.
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