209 posts
|
Post by Flim Flam on Jun 8, 2016 22:50:24 GMT
My family have expressed an interest and I think it might make a good outing. Thanks in advance. I think it's more a question of selling your family to see this, rather than taking your family to see this...
|
|
209 posts
|
Post by Flim Flam on Jun 5, 2016 13:14:20 GMT
I was in the Opening Ceremony ( the Industrial Revolution sequence - making those Olympic Rings !) and had to keep the surprise for MONTHS! Well Jell. Definitely the best sequence.
|
|
209 posts
|
Post by Flim Flam on Jun 4, 2016 18:25:34 GMT
Aren't we all glad that the audience respected that and did save the surprise - that moment when the Queen turned up was a genuinely draw-dropping surprise. I was in Victoria Park with a huge international crowd on the night of the opening ceremony, watching it on screens, but seeing the helicopters arrive in the distance. When the Queen appeared on the screens, there was a huge collective gasp, and then you could hear people all around saying 'No, honestly it is the real Queen. Yes, the real actual Queen. No, really, I'm not joking!'
|
|
209 posts
|
Post by Flim Flam on Jun 4, 2016 14:18:22 GMT
Ha ha. Yes, mention of JKR's badge reminded me of that too! I think I have a photo of the screen somewhere.
|
|
209 posts
|
Post by Flim Flam on Jun 3, 2016 14:54:58 GMT
And don't forget the copious Haribo londonmfitz! Its a shame we didn't cross paths- or maybe we did, but didn't realise the Theatreboard connection.
Badges, we need badges!
|
|
209 posts
|
Post by Flim Flam on Jun 3, 2016 9:32:53 GMT
Yes, and I don't think most people booking a ticket would have a clue as to which palace the 'other' is referencing. And too similar sounding, as mentioned, to 'The Other Place'.
I wish I could get a job where I sat around all day making up daft names for things.
|
|
209 posts
|
Post by Flim Flam on Jun 3, 2016 9:19:21 GMT
I do think it's a positive sign that the nature of internships is being scrutinised more closely these days.
A couple of years ago I was trying to help a young relative find a first job and was shocked when I looked at the online job listings. A good proportion of the 'jobs' listed at that time were for unpaid internships. Many were clearly unstructured and, to my eyes at least, seemed to be a blatant attempt by companies to get free help, whilst failing to offer any real training in return. You might have something to add to your C.V. if for instance you have handled the online content for a small startup company, but quite often this help is being requested because they do not have the expertise to do this themselves. You end up training them, instead of the other way around!
If apprenticeships are genuinely structured, with qualifications and classroom time, then within the framework of the current market that can only be a good thing, and a step in the right direction in what is, in my opinion, a very misdirected situation for school leavers.
It used to be the case that, if you were interested in a career in marketing or H.R. for instance, you went and got a junior (paid) job in that sector, saw what the job actually entailed, and then once you had decided that was the career for you, you later took some professional qualifications or a degree in the subject, often at night school. If not, after a few months, you went and tried out another job, or did some temping until you found something you liked. If you were academic you went straight to university and took a degree in a subject like English or Geography, that served as a general recognition of your ability, but was acceptable for a large variety of careers, and less restricting if you decided to swap careers later on. (I am leaving out subjects like medicine from this discussion, as obviously it's a good idea to have some specialist knowledge before you start hacking away at people).
Nowadays,many youngsters jump straight into 3 year degree courses in a subject in which they have no experience, or possibly even aptitude, but have a vague feeling that they might like. The only way you can get prior experience is unpaid internships, which as everyone is mentioning, is really only available with the financial means (or family commitment and help if you are lucky) to allow you to do this. Thus disadvantaging a huge number of young people who cannot afford to do this.
Degree subjects these days can be very specialised, too specialised to allow for easy crossover to other careers if you later decide you do not like your first choice. Now, if you decide to change careers in your 20's after a year or two in your chosen profession (it's happening to someone I know right now) you have to embark on another long academic course to qualify for your new career.
I do think that a combination of the move towards 'degrees for everyone' and the state of the job market, has led to the creation of this 'cart before the horse' situation where many people are wasting time studying for unsuitable qualifications, at great expense, only to then have to throw more money at the situation in order to move towards a career that would genuinely suit them.
Okay, this last point is a personal bugbear of mine, used to work with young people in this situation, and it was always shocking to me to see the casual way in which young, inexperienced people fell into unsuitable degree courses just because it was expected that they go straight to University after school and 'well, I had to study something, and I liked the sound of ..., thought I might like it'.
|
|
209 posts
|
Post by Flim Flam on Jun 2, 2016 17:33:53 GMT
Well after a train wreck of Dick Van Dyke as a cockney, will we get a rapping Bert now? I honestly didn't realise, for (literally) years that Dick Van Dyke was attempting a cockney accent in this. I just thought he was doing some sort of comedy accent. Was quite surprised when I found out...
|
|
209 posts
|
Post by Flim Flam on Jun 1, 2016 18:28:03 GMT
I certainly did, and from close quarters...RF's chest in a t shirt is indeed a thing of beauty.
|
|
209 posts
|
Post by Flim Flam on Jun 1, 2016 18:04:39 GMT
Ryan, all I can say is that Kit Harington must be feeling very disappointed right now.
|
|
209 posts
|
Post by Flim Flam on Jun 1, 2016 17:50:34 GMT
Parsley, you may not believe that the arts offer the possibility of profound experience, but many of us do.
|
|
209 posts
|
Post by Flim Flam on Jun 1, 2016 9:50:47 GMT
I have been doing some volunteering for YMBBT this season. Had not been involved with them before, but went once to see what it was all about and then found it so interesting that I went back 6 or 7 times over the last weeks, to be involved in different scenes.
I am not involved in theatre normally in any way (except as an audience member of course) but I have done a good deal of volunteering for various organisations and events over the years. At the time I got involved with YMBBT I read up on any negative publicity they had received and was careful to keep a weather eye open for any exploitation, with the intention of dropping out if I found any. Never found any, and never dropped out.
Whenever I was there, I chatted to fellow volunteers, and often asked them about their 'day jobs' as I was fascinated to see where they managed to find such a diverse group of people (age, nationality, ethnicity, you name it),many of whom returned show after show. Not a single person I personally spoke with was professionally involved in theatre or was attending drama school. I fully expected the place to be full of young theatrical students, but couldn't find any. There were probably some there, but I never met any. Many of the volunteers had either been involved in past productions or were people who had applied for tickets but were not successful, or indeed were past audience members who had been so overwhelmed by the experience that they had decided to volunteer in order to continue to be involved. Others were professional people, academics, students,retirees, all sorts.
I know that they have a short project beginning now, to make an archive of this past show, with plans etc. I am not involved with this but I was told that it was being run by a very experienced person, so I imagine that anyone who gets involved will learn from being involved in this project. All the sets have now been removed, so there is no manual labour to be done in terms of the sets as far as I know. I cannot comment on these internships, as I have no knowledge of them, but I believe that they only have the building for another 3 months, so it is not an ongoing job in any way. I too, totally dislike the trend of asking for unpaid workers in industries that can well afford to pay interns, so if they are genuinely doing this then I certainly do not support this. I simply have no factual information on this, so cannot really comment until I know more.
My experience of YMBBT was that it had a profound positive effect on many of the audience members and gave a lot to the volunteers also. Personally, I found it fascinating from a psychological viewpoint, why people were involved, how it created the effect on participants etc etc. In fact I was speaking with a psychologist friend about it only yesterday. For me, theatre is partly enjoyment, partly those transcendent moments that you chase, and only find occasionally. There is something of that transcendence to be found in YMBBT I think, and that is what kept me going back.
On a more mundane note, I do agree about the Arts Council grant. I too would question whether that is money best spent on an organisation that has limited (not cheap) tickets, but in a way it might be possible to argue that the large community of volunteers it created also benefitted from this funding. Having been involved I still find that I am on the fence about some aspects of the whole experience, but for me (having seen a lot of charitable money badly spent in other organisations- don't get me onto that subject!) I found that the positives outweighed the negatives in this case. I might change my mind once I am better informed as to the facts, but who knows?
|
|
209 posts
|
Post by Flim Flam on May 28, 2016 8:25:02 GMT
Oh Monkey, I didn't have you pegged as a typical teenage Phantom fan, but it seems you are!
|
|
209 posts
|
Post by Flim Flam on May 25, 2016 18:44:07 GMT
I don't disagree. She was telling her the truth. And truth can sometimes be brutal.
But I also felt that there was an element of 'chickens coming home to roost' there, in which the mother's attitude towards her daughter had contributed to the path the daughter had followed. And having followed the daughter's journey for most of the play, by that point, I felt that the audience were more invested in sympathising with the daughter and so experienced that scene more from the daughter's perspective. But my head was certainly spinning at that point, trying to reconcile those two contradictory stances.
|
|
209 posts
|
Post by Flim Flam on May 25, 2016 18:27:07 GMT
Yes, we were sitting side stalls (quite early on in the run)at the New London, and the sound was very poor at times, even though we were quite close to the stage. I remember commenting on it.
|
|
209 posts
|
Post by Flim Flam on May 25, 2016 18:23:11 GMT
The scene at the end with her mother was so devastating, sheer theatrical ecstasy. It was, wasn't it. I was sitting in the stalls and during a crucial point of her interaction with her mother (trying not to spoil it for Baemax here), two people in separate parts of the auditorium loudly groaned, almost in tandem. Not in a 'bad behaviour' sort of a way, but in genuine shock. As if they (and all of us in fact) were so engaged with her daughter's journey that it wouldn't take much for any of us to get up there on the stage and sort the mother out! Fabulous.
|
|
209 posts
|
Post by Flim Flam on May 25, 2016 13:33:04 GMT
Well, I will certainly miss my £10 Barclay tickets if they do replace it with this under 25 freebie scheme at the Donmar. Hopefully lots of the little darlings will not turn up, and this will scupper the scheme? Could we be that lucky? I am all for encouraging young people to attend the theatre, but not when it actually affects me!
|
|
209 posts
|
Post by Flim Flam on May 21, 2016 17:52:15 GMT
Not everyone is so prescriptive about standing ovations.
Coriolanus. Tom Hiddleston. Donmar Warehouse. Me sitting in the stalls, front row centre, (thank you Barclays Front Row). During the final bows I was grinning and clapping enthusiastically, but did not join in the standing ovation that had started to surround my companion and I. Mainly because I would have had to extract myself from under my bag and coat etc (not much leg room in the front row) and also because I don't give a standing O for every Bond wannabe I see...
At this point Tom, smiling, looked down at me and gave me a cheeky grin, which I returned (well, not the cheeky bit, but you know what I mean).
Now, he might have simply been grateful to see that the audience was not entirely composed on manic, teenage stalkers, or he might have been trying to entice me to stand, by using the full force of his charm. Not sure which, but I managed to resist standing anyway, despite his best efforts.
Mind you, my friend has never been the same since. I really need to be more careful where I take her in future.
|
|
209 posts
|
Post by Flim Flam on May 16, 2016 17:54:10 GMT
I'm with you on that one Foxa. Many years ago a friend and I were inveigled into attending an am dram version of Henry V in which a mutual friend was acting.
It turned out that said friend was playing one of the French court and suddenly lurched onto stage in bright green stripey tights. He was a very tall, very skinny chap (and as I'm writing this I am hoping- not a current member of Theatreboard...).
In this outfit (full doublet and hose and a daft hat of course, none of your trendy skinny jeans) he looked very much like a giant stork. In my defence I would like to mention that my partner in crime started giggling before I did, but that was probably because I mentioned the stork likeness to her. Admittedly we had been to the pub for a swift drink before the start, so no doubt that didn't help. After that it was the full giggling, shoulders shaking, crying, being glared at by others etc, cycle of indignity.
We were sitting right in the middle of the audience, so could not escape until the interval. We did not return...but instead stood out on the pavement howling with laughter. Even worse, we had to hang around until the end, pretend we had seen the whole thing, and then congratulate our friend on his performance. He seemed none the wiser, thankfully.
|
|
209 posts
|
Post by Flim Flam on May 16, 2016 14:06:54 GMT
I also saw this last week (but not the Saturday matinee) and have to agree that the production is in fine shape at the moment. I found it has more life to it than in Chichester and is so much more enjoyable as a consequence.
Apart from missing Jamie Parker (who was in fine voice when I saw this last year) I found the current cast to be better. Personally I much preferred Samantha Spiro,she puts so much feeling and comic detail into the role. Liked the gangsters in general, Gavin Spokes in particular. And (sorry adrianics) Richard Kind was my favourite thing in this; he has excellent comic timing and gets extra points from me just for the way he utilises his very doleful face in every scene!
|
|
209 posts
|
Post by Flim Flam on May 6, 2016 11:16:36 GMT
Yes, £50 (plus fees) to sit on pews, and at the rear of the church, is a bit steep. But, excellent cast and show, and, Alex Parker does create wonderful events.
So, what to do, what to do? Hmm.
|
|
209 posts
|
Post by Flim Flam on May 2, 2016 11:42:13 GMT
Talking about age...
I seem to remember in my distant youth that a friend and I turned up at the National Theatre on one occasion and managed to buy standing tickets for an Ibsen preview (Brand in 1978) at a cost of something like 20p or 40p? I remember that even then we thought it was really cheap!
It was even cheaper than normal as I recall, as prices for standing were reduced by 50% for previews. (Fantastic production by the way).
Any other oldies remember this, or have I created some golden fantasy land in my memories?
|
|
209 posts
|
Post by Flim Flam on May 1, 2016 18:30:54 GMT
How about - Around the World in 80 Days...
|
|
209 posts
|
Post by Flim Flam on May 1, 2016 11:55:10 GMT
Come on now, we all love a bit of immersive theatre. I'll be bringing my cossie.
|
|
209 posts
|
Post by Flim Flam on Apr 28, 2016 20:45:28 GMT
I'll be at Faustus too on Monday. Will be with a friend. So I'll be the one tutting away and pretending I have no knowledge of the sort of people who would behave so inappropriately.
|
|
209 posts
|
Post by Flim Flam on Apr 19, 2016 10:50:34 GMT
|
|
209 posts
|
Post by Flim Flam on Apr 18, 2016 19:36:45 GMT
I also agree, I don't think we will have another Sweeney anytime soon. But when we do, can we have a nice fully-staged version with proper West End actor/singers who can fully do justice to the roles.
Hadley Fraser and Jenna Russell anyone? Pretty please...
|
|
209 posts
|
Post by Flim Flam on Apr 16, 2016 7:48:42 GMT
Front row peeps may well get sprayed with fizzy drink. There's also a fair amount if nudity (yep, including the star) and a lot less Marlowe than I had expected Sounds like a typical Saturday night out down my way
|
|
209 posts
|
Post by Flim Flam on Apr 13, 2016 17:00:06 GMT
That was exactly my first thought too. Have loved him in other things, but didn't see much to his performance in In the Heights at all.
|
|
209 posts
|
Post by Flim Flam on Apr 8, 2016 22:55:43 GMT
I was there tonight too. Up in the gods. Didn't go with any particular expectations, as not a big Glenn Close fan, but have to say that I thoroughly enjoyed this from start to finish. With One Look was worth the ticket price alone. That woman is a class act.
Also thought Michael, Siobhan and Fred were excellent. Have come home really buzzing from this.
|
|