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Post by theoracle on Mar 8, 2023 12:41:23 GMT
A star-studded company will appear on stage at the London Palladium in a West End Gala charity concert of a new musical, AT LAST, IT’S SUMMER by Clive Richard Davis. Directed by Ian Talbot, and with choreography from Jordan Langford, At Last It’s Summer will be staged at the London Palladium on Sunday 16 April at 7.30pm, with all ticket sales in aid of Parkinson’s UK. Louise Dearman will star as ‘Lady Serina Stanwick, Rob Houchen as ‘Count Orilov’, Joanna Riding as ‘Countess Orilov’, Gary Wilmot as ‘Mr Wellbeloved’, Gerard Carey as ‘Gerald’, Steve Fortune as ‘Sir Garfield Sykes’, Kelly Mathieson as ‘Lady Alice Stanwick’, Shannon Rewcroft as ‘Francesca’, and with Alan Titchmarsh as the Narrator. Larry Blank orchestrates a sumptuous score and will lead a 35-piece orchestra, alongside Jack Bennett as Musical Director. Casting is by Richard Johnston.
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Post by angie on Mar 12, 2023 20:54:46 GMT
Interesting, anyone know anything more about this? If the concert is successful could it go on tour or even the West End or is it wishful thinking on my part😁
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Post by FrontrowverPaul on Mar 27, 2023 12:31:38 GMT
There's an offer for this via London Theatre Direct Spring Spectacular with decent reductions.
I just booked two centre stalls seats in Row N for £35 each which were £72.70 if purchased through LW Theatres.
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Post by kyvai on Mar 29, 2023 4:14:42 GMT
Intriguing! Just booked. Alan Titchmarsh?!?
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Post by anxiousoctopus on Mar 29, 2023 9:17:56 GMT
Just popped in to say I’ve misread the title as ‘Last Of The Summer Wine’ at least three times now 😂
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Post by TallPaul on Mar 29, 2023 9:49:42 GMT
Just popped in to say I’ve misread the title as ‘Last Of The Summer Wine’ at least three times now 😂 Glad it's not just me! We've had Only Fools and Horses: The Musical, so it's only a matter of time.
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Post by BurlyBeaR on Mar 29, 2023 9:55:38 GMT
“West End Gala charity concert of a new musical, AT LAST, IT’S SUMMER by Clive Richard Davis”
Has anyone ever heard of this before? And who is Clive Richard Davis?
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Post by theoracle on Apr 7, 2023 10:11:30 GMT
A bunch of offers now live for this - London Theatre Direct and TodayTix and other places too I’m sure. Pretty excited for a 35 piece orchestra with this cast and all for a good cause. Also just had a listen to this Rob Houchen interview which was really interesting. Touched on the upcoming show but also his history as a producer and director on Children of Eden as well as thoughts on audience etiquette as well as bits of his personal life too: open.spotify.com/episode/4JYboRrmDqT1aHyfmLkVMY?si=1lvsmvSvTRirfkpmGazQsQ&dd=1Worth a listen I feel.
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Post by Dr Tom on Apr 16, 2023 20:01:45 GMT
Interval. Well, the people behind me clearly thought they were coming to a concert of summer music and were speculating who would perform. None of the names they mentioned were in the cast! If only they’d looked at the large screens with their names on in the way in.
I’m in side Row K of the Stalls thanks to a very good ticket deal, which I presume many people around me got too, due to the amount of phone checking and fidgeting. A guy in the row in front didn’t last the first half.
It’s all quite gentle. A very good orchestra. Quite a few songs that I think could be accused of plagiarism (if the originals weren’t out of copyright). Jordan Cunningham making the most of his small part (as the chauffeur). Jac Yarrow stealing the show so far.
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Post by kyvai on Apr 16, 2023 21:05:38 GMT
I had a ticket but missed it! Thanks to a combination of only just being right on time as I missed a bus stop in my way to the tube and had to get another bus back…..and then also heading to the wrong theatre lol. I have ADHD and sometimes things just don’t line up. I have no idea what I was thinking. I’d have been about 20 minutes late if I’d headed to the Palladium, and I was tired with a long week ahead so I just headed home.
Hope those that made it had a pleasant evening…..does anyone think this has legs?
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Post by Dr Tom on Apr 16, 2023 21:16:38 GMT
Second half short and not strong. It all developed very predictably (it is mirroring golden age musicals after all) and farcically). It’s hard to say much without giving away the plot, but there are some major inconsistencies.
Pleasant, but I’m not sure where this could find a wider audience.
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Post by robertb213 on Apr 16, 2023 21:23:59 GMT
It didn't do much for me I'm afraid. Hardly an exciting plot and the twist didn't redeem it. It was nice to hear a big orchestra but there were very few memorable songs, and even a cast that good couldn't pump much life into it. I very much doubt we'll see it again in any major way.
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Post by Being Alive on Apr 16, 2023 22:47:19 GMT
This was very very bad.
It was like A Little Night Music meets Me and my Girl without any of the charm, wit or warmth, and without any good songs
Always nice to see an orchestra that size, the cast did what they could, but...very very bad.
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Post by theoracle on Apr 17, 2023 0:05:43 GMT
It was an odd evening - I’m not really sure what the plot was even with Alan Titchmarsh’s beautiful voice narration… I would’ve liked to see Jo get a bigger number but a “big number” never really occurred. The second act definitely needs developing but I am encouraged by the writer’s intention to write a musical with an orchestra in mind. The overture was probably the strongest part and musically, the show stayed very consistent but the absence of a book made it a little tricky to buy into. Clearly lots of friends of the cast and creatives in the audience where I was and talk of there perhaps being more work from Clive Richard Davis in the future… there’s definitely potential with this material but needs some deeper thought I think
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Post by jr on Apr 17, 2023 6:03:40 GMT
This was very very bad. It was like A Little Night Music meets Me and my Girl without any of the charm, wit or warmth, and without any good songs Always nice to see an orchestra that size, the cast did what they could, but...very very bad. Sometimes I am happy that Stephen Sondheim is dead, so he won't have the chance to listen to rubbish like this. I left at the interval, didn't think it would improve after the really boring first half. A waste of orchestra and performers. Good that it was for charity, only point of the evening. The songs were very middle of the road, no plot. There were 3 songs in a row about the same thing! First they fall in love, then the servants talk about it, then back to the couple singing how much they love each other. Awful. No idea who the composer is but it sounds like a vanity project to me. I don't think this will be produced in the next century or ever.
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Post by ladidah on Apr 17, 2023 8:11:41 GMT
What is the plot? Sounds very odd
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Post by woobl on Apr 17, 2023 9:14:14 GMT
This was very very bad. It was like A Little Night Music meets Me and my Girl without any of the charm, wit or warmth, and without any good songs Always nice to see an orchestra that size, the cast did what they could, but...very very bad. Sometimes I am happy that Stephen Sondheim is dead, so he won't have the chance to listen to rubbish like this. I left at the interval, didn't think it would improve after the really boring first half. A waste of orchestra and performers. Good that it was for charity, only point of the evening. The songs were very middle of the road, no plot. There were 3 songs in a row about the same thing! First they fall in love, then the servants talk about it, then back to the couple singing how much they love each other. Awful. No idea who the composer is but it sounds like a vanity project to me. I don't think this will be produced in the next century or ever. Apparently the composer produced and paid for the event...
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Post by alece10 on Apr 17, 2023 9:15:28 GMT
Wasn't it also a charity event in aid of Parkinsons?
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Post by jamb0r on Apr 17, 2023 9:25:18 GMT
I didn’t think I’d was the worst thing I’ve ever seen, but also have no desire to ever see it again if it has further life.
Was nice to be entertained by a full orchestra and those amazing voices on a Sunday evening, but other than that I thought the plot was pretty boring and only a couple of stand out songs (however as mentioned before, I could have sworn I’d heard some of them already because they sound so similar to songs from other musicals)
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Post by Dr Tom on Apr 17, 2023 10:39:46 GMT
Wasn't it also a charity event in aid of Parkinsons? It was, although there were no collection buckets or anything. Presumably some of the ticket prices went to the charity.
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Post by anthony40 on Apr 17, 2023 10:45:40 GMT
I wasn't there so am not in a position to comment on the evening but I was sorry to read the less than favourable posts about this.
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Post by Being Alive on Apr 17, 2023 10:51:54 GMT
Someone with money evidently bank rolled this because a LOT of the upper circle were there on comps/seat filling (myself included) and an orchestra of that size, and cast is not cheap, and that's before you get into the details of hiring the Palladium of all places...
I think it's possible there's a good idea in there somewhere, but (like Hex and so many other things recently) it needs entirely redoing.
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Post by ladidah on Apr 17, 2023 14:23:14 GMT
What a shame, they can't have raised as much as they wanted for charity.
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Post by Being Alive on Apr 17, 2023 18:00:42 GMT
I can't imagine they made hardly anything, considering almost all of the upper circle was in for £2.50 🤷🏻♂️
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Post by Dr Tom on Apr 17, 2023 21:08:21 GMT
I can't imagine they made hardly anything, considering almost all of the upper circle was in for £2.50 🤷🏻♂️ And none of that goes to the production company, just the seat filling company. I'm obviously signed up in the wrong places, as I didn't see that one. There again, happy with my £10 stalls ticket (which officially speaking wasn't a seat filling ticket, just a special offer).
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