Sylvia - Old Vic

I was at the matinee yesterday and agree largely with firefingers above.  

Kate Prince came on at start and explained they had rehearsed understudies for the parts of Sylvia and Ada, who would both be on book, but then dropped the bombshell that they wouldn't be able to perform right to the end for safety reasons. 

The show itself is a definite work in progress; there are times when I felt it was trying a bit too hard to be the British Hamilton (there's a debate scene that seems very reminiscent of the Cabinet Battle for example) and it feels like it is still trying to carve out its own identity. 

It is an interesting story and I realised that I didn't know much at all about Sylvia herself and how her views and actions differed from those of her family. The book doesn't quite flow together yet though and jumps around a bit - with characters playing multiple roles people might find it difficult to keep up with what's happening. 

The matinee was definitely hindered by sound problems too, the microphones were crackling all the time meaning you couldn't hear all of the lyrics. The lyrics I could hear were quite modern and witty though so I'd hoped the sound issues would be fixed by Act Two, alas not. 

However, there is a lot of potential here and there are some individual moments that really stand out (the end of Act One in particular is quite powerful and well staged). The choreography is tight, the energy from the ensemble is incredible and there are some strong performances. Maria Omakinwa did very well, I marvelled at how she could even keep up with turning the pages when there was so much going on around her. She used the script for a lot of the dialogue but often put it down entirely for the songs. 

The songs themselves vary in style and although there aren't many that particularly linger in the memory they work well in the context of the show. 

The end did come very abruptly and in hindsight I do agree that it was a shame that they couldn't read/sing through the ending, there was clearly at least 20 minutes left and as I won't be able to get back a second time I am disappointed not to end the story.

And yet.... as soon as people realised it was the end, the entire audience rocketed onto their feet in one of the most genuine standing ovations I've ever seen. And despite all the problems with the show, I was quite happy to join in. I am a sucker for an emotional curtain call anyway, but this one went to extremes! The ovation went on for a while and the cast were clearly not expecting that kind of reaction (and although there had been applause and cheers throughout, there was nothing to suggest the audience were going to respond quite that strongly).  There was a genuine appreciation for how much work they had clearly done and their passion and commitment to putting on the show in the circumstances. The cast themselves were faultless and I think the audience reaction was more a recognition of that than any pretence that the show is perfect. 

Whether they have the time to work on the show and iron out the faults in this short run remains to be seen but I certainly wish them well.  There is lots to enjoy here already and the potential is there for something special. As a one off performance, the first preview atmosphere certainly made it unforgettable so I am still glad that I made the trip (but, if someone could eventually post how it ends, I'd appreciate it! :-D) 

What Firefingers and AprilAmy said.

Saw tonight's show, show is still missing the "dangerous to stage" final 15 minutes; and Kate Prince said 4 people were performing their roles in preview for the first time:-

As scheduled, Elliotte Williams-N'Dure played Emmeline Pankhurst (despite being too young for the part, she had an authoritative presence and swagger that made up for that, and almost as much heft in her voice, to carry off the rock and soul belting moments, as Beverley Knight);

Izuka Hoyle covered Williams-N'Dure's usual part of "The General,"

and the good news was that Genesis Lynea got to play her own title role for the first time,

with Maria Omakinwa back in her own role as Ada.

Genesis Lynea's Sylvia is the soft heart of the musical, the yin to the terrorist yang of her more violently uncompromising mother and sister, and Lynea nails compassionate soulfulness.

Some spoilers follow. . .

Since the show remains unfinished, it is impossible to know the principle thrust and meaning of it. The ending could just as easily involve a showdown between Sylvia and her family, as it could involve a showdown between the Suffragettes and Winston Churchill, the principal villain.

That said, Winston Churchill is a weak villain, nowhere near as defined as King George in Hamilton, as Churchill isn't written with enough verve and attitude. By contrast, John Dagleish's Lord Curzon, Tachia Newall's Lord Cromer and another Lord make far better villains, despite being given far less stage time, gleefully singing a dastardly song with the refrain "Men are made better than women."

Other songs that worked well for me was the superb Act 1 finisher, delivered by the entire ensemble, "Be the change that You wanna be," as well as the acapella number, "Stand up Now."

The latter song echoed the opening of the musical which also began in acapella, before slowly phasing in guitar, with finger clicks, and lastly drums. It is the drums that make hearing some lyrics difficult, though not impossible.

There are indeed more song varieties in this than Hamilton, with more rock, especially, and soul and gospel, as well as the obligatory hip hop.

Hip hop definitely worked the best during a rap battle, which was exciting.

Overall, though, this unfinished piece fails to establish any single throughline as compelling enough to energize the whole dramatically, though perhaps such drama comes to sudden fruition in the as-yet unperformed showdown.

I did however see enough to know that a hip hop Suffragette story is genius, and would easily be the apex of Zoonation's story thus far, if done right.

At present, this feels like what it is, promising but unfinished.

In addition to honing the drama, I'd love a final version to make more moments out of fewer songs, rather than feature too many, and cut them short.

One of the reasons I liked the three songs I have mentioned (I'd add a fourth that might be called "Running" as well) is that these songs emanate from dramatic moments, and are fully played out.

Good luck to these guys. It's such a great idea, with at least 4 great songs, that I'd love to see the final product in another run.

It isn't in workshop phase, that's very clear. The show is ready, as far as I can see, but the technical side isn't (any illness is neither here nor there). They could perform it but, for whatever reason (not a long enough gap from the previous production, problems found when in the venue etc.) the technical side isn't ready/safe.

I think that is a very generous view of things.

They knew the parameters of their get-in/tech/dress process.  They knew what they were dealing with.

They failed to come up with a final 15 minutes that was deliverable given the timescale that existed.

Which means they should have come up with an alternative.  At very least, they should perform the final 15 minutes in concert form so that the audience can hear the music and have the narrative resolved.  Just stopping the show is incredibly bad form.  It shows contempt for a paying audience.

I hope they’ve sorted out the ending (or lack thereof) by next Thursday when I see it.

Do we think they simply haven’t rehearsed the ending properly and ‘safety’ is being used as a cover? It seems odd that this hasn’t been sorted before now.

I really fancy this but holding off booking until it is actually a full show. Seems like a bit of a disaster to be honest.

I've been interested in this since it was announced but am still holding off booking due to the "missing ending" issue. There's nothing on the Old Vic website about it but I'm not booking until I know when I may expect to see the full version - or the truncated one if they are forced to settle for that but either way, have the courtesy to tell the paying public, please.

I'm going on press night so I'd hope they have an ending by then!

You see Davidson and the horse incident and I thought it was done pretty badly tbh. Kate said that they couldn’t do the last section as there were lots of boxes that needed pushing around. Which is surprising considering very few things were actually moved in the 2 hours previously. So my feeling is that it’s a lie. There is no reason why they couldn’t have stood on the stage and sung it. The cast were more than happy to come back on and jump around and sing. I also reckon that the audience in the previews (or at least on ‘the first preview’ on Thursday matinee) were mainly friends and family of the cast because I genuinely don’t believe the show deserved the ridiculous level of applause and standing ovation at the end. Sure, they worked hard amidst a few setbacks but they acted like they had all been through serious life altering dramas from the way they gushed.

You do have to wonder what is going on in the producers heads that makes them think it’s ok to do this. Absolutely appalling disrespect to paying customers.

No-one should be 'grateful' to see a partial show.

It is the audiences doing them a favour not the other way round.

They are arrogant to believe otherwise.