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Post by Phantom of London on Jan 6, 2022 15:50:47 GMT
The admission that the show is going back to workshops and not officially opening, is firm conclusive evidence that the creators know the show is in terrible shape. I have always defended Rufus Norris on here when others haven’t, I cannot do it this time round though and frankly he has completely overstepped the mark, his contract should be terminated and the Arts Council should set an example here.
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Post by fiyerorocher on Jan 6, 2022 15:54:21 GMT
As much as I don't want actors, crew, etc. to be out of work, I think it would really be better for everyone if this particular show just faded away and was quickly forgotten about... It would do the potential audiences a favour.
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Post by BurlyBeaR on Jan 6, 2022 16:02:37 GMT
Won't a November return mean this is the show that immediately precedes Standing at the Sky's Edge? That is 'ambitious' scheduling! They’ll probably drop Sky’s Edge because it’s not a RN vanity project. |
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Post by ladidah on Jan 6, 2022 16:44:27 GMT
I'm so sure I got a ticket to this months ago because it looked interesting, but can't find anything on it. Maybe it's a sign  |
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Post by mrnutz on Jan 6, 2022 17:12:59 GMT
Maybe it will die quietly in the next few months, never to return...
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Post by ThereWillBeSun on Jan 6, 2022 17:32:05 GMT
I think there's no saving this one. It just hasn't hit the mark - one of the most disappointing productions I've seen. I think I am more frustrated than anything. HIRE MUSICAL THEATRE WRITERS. Infuriating.
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121 posts
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Hex - NT
Jan 6, 2022 17:43:18 GMT
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Post by MusicalTalk on Jan 6, 2022 17:43:18 GMT
Still waiting for their witches musical….
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Post by Phantom of London on Jan 6, 2022 18:04:19 GMT
Still waiting for their witches musical…. Not a musical though, that was Macbeth and was indeed bordered between awful and terrible. |
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Post by teamyali on Jan 6, 2022 18:18:02 GMT
The admission that the show is going back to workshops and not officially opening, is firm conclusive evidence that the creators know the show is in terrible shape. I have always defended Rufus Norris on here when others haven’t, I cannot do it this time round though and frankly he has completely overstepped the mark, his contract should be terminated and the Arts Council should set an example here. When is RuNo’s tenure going to end? This season has seen him in terrible shape in his tenure - Manor in its flop era and now Hex. Who should be the next AD at the NT? Clint Dyer? Dominic Cooke? Sam Mendes? |
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Post by mrbarnaby on Jan 6, 2022 21:57:46 GMT
I don’t think they would dare attempt to give the job to another white middle aged man, but I’m not sure who else there is. I’m really stumped to think who would do the job well. Perhaps Marianne Elliot?
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544 posts
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Hex - NT
Jan 6, 2022 23:06:56 GMT
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Post by amp09 on Jan 6, 2022 23:06:56 GMT
Caught this tonight on a £10 NT Rush ticket. What a disaster! Completely unlikable characters, music that goes nowhere and no cohesive development of a story. There’s a story in there somewhere and I’m interested to see if they can do anything with it in the next few months.
With lyrics including “In the middle of the face, there’s a nose” and something along the lines of “I’ve eaten your baby” and cleverly created spells cast by Rosalie throughout including “smell of sick” to make someone smell of sick and “sleep when sleepy” to make a baby sleep cleverly written to enchant us… not.
The bad got worse when Queenie decided to eat the babies and so various animals were sent to be slaughtered - utterly bizarre.
To give some balance, I liked the staging, the floating castle was beautiful as were some of the costumes but that’s about it.
It is crying out for someone with an ounce of creativity to wave their magic wand and produce something magical. I would love nothing more than for this to be good but sadly an enchanting evening it is not.
Look forward to returning if it manages to come back only because I’ll be curious to see what they’ve done with it and will go in with very low expectations so might enjoy it…
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Post by ThereWillBeSun on Jan 6, 2022 23:54:22 GMT
Caught this tonight on a £10 NT Rush ticket. What a disaster! Completely unlikable characters, music that goes nowhere and no cohesive development of a story. There’s a story in there somewhere and I’m interested to see if they can do anything with it in the next few months. With lyrics including “In the middle of the face, there’s a nose” and something along the lines of “I’ve eaten your baby” and cleverly created spells cast by Rosalie throughout including “smell of sick” to make someone smell of sick and “sleep when sleepy” to make a baby sleep cleverly written to enchant us… not. The bad got worse when Queenie decided to eat the babies and so various animals were sent to be slaughtered - utterly bizarre. To give some balance, I liked the staging, the floating castle was beautiful as were some of the costumes but that’s about it. It is crying out for someone with an ounce of creativity to wave their magic wand and produce something magical. I would love nothing more than for this to be good but sadly an enchanting evening it is not. Look forward to returning if it manages to come back only because I’ll be curious to see what they’ve done with it and will go in with very low expectations so might enjoy it… You've reminded me of the appalling lyrics.... I found it very strange and also the soundscape for the Queenie - very eerie and it just didn't sit right with me; freaked me a bit. Quite nightmarish and bizarre. |
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Post by mrbarnaby on Jan 7, 2022 0:14:14 GMT
Mark my words- they will bin this show. It won’t be returning.
Very sad for all the cast and crew , but word of mouth is truly dire on this and they simply don’t have the time to overhaul it now.
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Post by luvvie23 on Jan 7, 2022 12:55:25 GMT
I don’t think they would dare attempt to give the job to another white middle aged man, but I’m not sure who else there is. I’m really stumped to think who would do the job well. Perhaps Marianne Elliot? Marianne Elliott would be incredible. But I’m not sure she would be up for being tied to the NT maybe? But it would thrive with M E! |
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Post by theatrefan77 on Jan 7, 2022 13:17:44 GMT
I thought this was a complete disaster. Nice set, but that's about it. Felt sorry for the performers. They tried to save it, they can't. The lyrics are the worst I've heard in a long time. Can't really think how they can make it better, unless they re write the whole book and lyrics. The Olivier was only half full even with the show being papered with lots of complimentary tickets
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Post by Phantom of London on Jan 7, 2022 13:57:13 GMT
Okay the show isn't going to return the National, they seem to say this as part of damage limitation exercise, it would be wholly wrong that the National can draw a line under this and carry on as nothing happened. The Arts Council need to step up and ask very difficult questions, not just of Rufus Norris, we know his dealing in this that he staged a truly awful musical, that he wrote the lyrics and his wife the book, oh yeah he just happens to be the AD. The Arts Council needs to ask how this musical came to be sanctioned.
I would urge the critics to ignore the embargo and buy a ticket and review the show anyway, like the Broadway reviewers did for Spiderman, when the critics lost patience after the producers kept extending the preview period.
There was public money used for this vanity project, no stone should be left unturned, there should be no hiding place
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Post by ladidah on Jan 7, 2022 14:06:45 GMT
I'm not even going to try to find the ticket I booked to this, seems awful.
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Hex - NT
Jan 7, 2022 21:32:56 GMT
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Post by mattnyc on Jan 7, 2022 21:32:56 GMT
I agree with reviewers going anyway. Seems one way for them to be held accountable for staging this mess.
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Post by singingbird on Jan 7, 2022 22:22:25 GMT
I am so intrigued to see this and have just booked for the penultimate night as I suspect it's a now or never situation and this may go down in theatre history. I want to see it for myself!
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Post by G on Jan 7, 2022 23:33:11 GMT
I am so intrigued to see this and have just booked for the penultimate night as I suspect it's a now or never situation and this may go down in theatre history. I want to see it for myself! I had the same attitude when I went today. I wanted to go and see before it closes, whether for good or not. Not a disaster: lots in there is good I felt (especially the cast: whatever went wrong with this is not on them; also set, sound effects). I don't regret going to see it, overall I had a decent experience. That said I have to agree with others that it felt incompetently put together. It could have turned out much better in better hands. I no longer remember any of the songs (one hour after the curtain call). Clear issues with the book have been raised, {Spoiler}like the old man living (servant of?) the ogress who turns out to be a grand-nephew of the palace secretary ('Smith Smith'?). Why did the ogress did not eat him or the servants (were the servants not human)?
Why did the fairy lose her magic in the first place after the hex? (Admittedly that could have been explained and I'm just being thick). Also, as someone who recently started getting into theatre and with very little/superficial understanding of the industry (so happy for someone to put me right): how can it be right that having moved opening night to (potentially) eleven months from now the show will not be able to be reviewed? It was always intended to run until 22 January. Clearly they have had to cancel several performances but surely this was not unique to this show? It must be the case that critics should be able to say what they make of it and what they think the issues were, also considering the nepotism controversy and Manor flop, before almost a full year passes. An outcome of moving opening night is that they avoid potential further mixed/negative press after Manor. Also as a form of accountability for the director and the National Theatre - as it receives public money, critics should be able to opine on how that money is being used. If the show receives negative reviews now it could make space for something else in November. |
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Hex - NT
Jan 8, 2022 10:51:26 GMT
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Post by ruperto on Jan 8, 2022 10:51:26 GMT
So I thought I’d better come on here to defend this show, which I saw last night with my other half. I don’t know if they’ve performed some surgery on it over the last few days, but I really rather enjoyed it, as did my partner (who can be hard to please). The Olivier was almost full, and it got a pretty warm reception at the end - I’d estimate that 30% to 40% of the audience gave it a standing ovation. We were lucky to have all the principal actors on.
TBH, I was a bit worried at the start - the first two or three scenes felt a bit choppy - but then it seemed to settle into a groove. Rosalie Craig sounded fantastic, and I was also really impressed with Kat Ronney (who plays the grown-up Sleeping Beauty character, Rose), the young guy who played Prince Bert, and the woman who plays his mother.
Not all the songs did it for me, but IMHO there are a few rather good ones in there - I think the strongest are Sixteen (sung by Rose), One of These Days (sung by the rival princes), I Know What I Am (sung by the ogress mother) and Prince Bert, which is clearly going for a bit of a Hamilton vibe. The soundtrack is on Spotify - if you want to give one a try, maybe give Sixteen a spin…
It’s striking to look at, and yes, it is a little bizarre and quite dark at times, but I liked it for that.
This probably sounds sacrilegious but I overall much preferred Hex to Spring Awakening at the Almeida, which I saw on Monday. Yes, the two main guys in Spring Awakening were really great, but to me, the production felt more like a staged concert than a fully-fledged musical, and the show itself has not worn the years well - it’s like something that a late 1990s/early 2000s tortured emo kid wrote after gorging on too much depressing 19th century literature. If it transfers to the West End, I can see it meeting the same fate as its predecessor production…
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Post by cavocado on Jan 8, 2022 11:28:37 GMT
Okay the show isn't going to return the National, they seem to say this as part of damage limitation exercise, it would be wholly wrong that the National can draw a line under this and carry on as nothing happened. The Arts Council need to step up and ask very difficult questions, not just of Rufus Norris, we know his dealing in this that he staged a truly awful musical, that he wrote the lyrics and his wife the book, oh yeah he just happens to be the AD. The Arts Council needs to ask how this musical came to be sanctioned. I would urge the critics to ignore the embargo and buy a ticket and review the show anyway, like the Broadway reviewers did for Spiderman, when the critics lost patience after the producers kept extending the preview period. There was public money used for this vanity project, no stone should be left unturned, there should be no hiding place I haven't seen Hex, so can't give my view of the show, but I very much agree regarding accountability when public money is being spent. RN seems like a decent and likeable chap, but clearly has a few blind spots (as do those who should be holding him to account). If you read this scenario in any other industry, it would sound like corrupt use of public funds: Public money is given to an organisation to put on a public event. Director of the organisation employs himself and his wife in key roles. Early reports from members of the public suggest the project has been badly designed/isn't fit for purpose. Director decides to cancel the project before it officially 'opens' and bans professional scrutineers from assessing whether his/his wife's employment was justified and the money well spent. Director and wife retain their financial benefits from the project. The public money cannot be recovered and no one is held accountable. History records it as an unfortunate casualty of the covid crisis which might have been a great success in any other year. Those responsible for spending public money in any area of life should be scrupulous in doing it with fairness, transparency and accountability. In the arts there is a particular history of nepotism and a chumocracy that has functioned to exclude a lot of groups. That is unfair and unethical, and so is having a publicy-funded arts/culture industry that doesn't speak to or for a large chunk of the population. |
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Post by ruperto on Jan 8, 2022 14:11:14 GMT
Yes, lettybetty88, I think you might be right about I Know What I Am - I played it again this morning and it’s a really strong song, isn’t it.
My partner’s favourite was Hello (not the Lionel Ritchie or the Adele one!), sung by Rose, Prince Bert and Fairy, which is a clever little song…
Enjoy Spring Awakening tonight - hopefully you’ll like it more than I did…
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Post by mkb on Jan 9, 2022 12:17:21 GMT
This is going to be a short review. I spent a mind-numbingly dull 150 minutes trying, in vain, to find a single redeeming feature.
From the unbearably annoying fairy, to the nine princes inexplicably clad in gold nappies and yellow female wigs, from wondering why people kept climbing on tables, to then having a table on a table on a table, from the cringe-making lyrics to the bland music, this was hell to endure.
After feeling that Manor was unfairly maligned, I rebooked for Hex, with expectations low. They were met. I don't think any amount of reworking can salvage this.
One star.
Act 1: 19:20-20:30
Act 2: 20:52-21:50
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1,485 posts
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Hex - NT
Jan 9, 2022 12:50:39 GMT
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Post by mkb on Jan 9, 2022 12:50:39 GMT
For balance, I should record that there was wild applause and a few ovations from some in the audience (about two-thirds full) at Saturday night's show.
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