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Post by d'James on Jun 28, 2024 19:31:13 GMT
That’s because her costume is currently unfinished and this was thrown together with what they had last minute as the debut was unexpected! Having flashbacks to the ugly black super swing ‘Six’ costume! Not sure I want to know haha. |
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Post by Dr Tom on Jun 28, 2024 21:51:01 GMT
Yes, they were paper notices. The one I spotted was rather randomly on a back wall. I’m sure there must have been more, but I rather rushed in as unusually there was no queue.
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Post by kz on Jun 28, 2024 22:18:43 GMT
Dr Tom I'm doing "the double" tomorrow. Starlight Express matinee and Green Day in the evening. Definitely an unusual combination but very much looking forward to it!
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Post by andrew on Jun 30, 2024 14:36:01 GMT
I went last night courtesy of TodayTix Rush, got platform 2 row H seats which were very good. Glad to hear that first class people really enjoyed themselves, I think if I was to pick though I’d want to be slightly further back so you can take the whole thing in, platform 2 was perfect. Lots of lovely lighting effects and whilst all main scenes are played out in the centre area you would miss a chunk of race stuff, although obviously gain being much closer to the action. It didn’t seem like the rear section was that far away either though so I’m not sure if there is a bad seat.
I don’t know why but when skimming the early reviews on here I thought this was going to be quite bad. I’m not the biggest fan of musicals without any emotional or dramatic heft to them either so I was grimacing as the garishly costumed trains came out to synthetic string keyboard patches and the video game graphics on the screen behind.
It doesn’t really ever get complicated does it, and there’s way too much of a Cats like quality where characters appear in the story and just sing a slightly generic intro song. “my names Avanti and I’m here to say, I’m into the west coast in a major way”
But you know what? With enough lights, and some good ALW tune work and a bit of humour, all these 20-somethings working their bums off on skates, and a crowd that were really into it, I really really enjoyed myself. I can appreciate that maybe this is smaller scale than the AV production, or Bochum, or wherever, but I’ve never seen those. I thought the chases were exciting, I can see what people mean that the skating never really takes off into the stratosphere, but to my eyes it was fun to see and there’s still some impressive wheeled work going on. Visually the design is very impressive, but yeah I’d have loved to have seen the bridges and tunnels other versions have sported.
I can imagine that if this was a concert, I’d have had absolutely no interest in it at all. It’s nowhere near ALW’s best work, nor Richard Stillgoe’s et al, but I’d say about half the songs hit the mark. Some of the lyrics are quite painful (Freight Is Great comes to mind), but the overall crime is that some of it is just too generic. I did really enjoy how insane the concept is and how they’ve just leaned into that.
The more cynical won’t enjoy this and I can’t begrudge them that, but I’ll admit that I got swept away and found the whole thing hilarious, chaotic and FUN. The rum and coke probably helped too.
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Post by greatauntedna on Jun 30, 2024 16:19:59 GMT
“my names Avanti and I’m here to say, I’m into the west coast in a major way” Ha! |
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Post by danb on Jun 30, 2024 16:28:55 GMT
I went last night courtesy of TodayTix Rush, got platform 2 row H seats which were very good. Glad to hear that first class people really enjoyed themselves, I think if I was to pick though I’d want to be slightly further back so you can take the whole thing in, platform 2 was perfect. Lots of lovely lighting effects and whilst all main scenes are played out in the centre area you would miss a chunk of race stuff, although obviously gain being much closer to the action. It didn’t seem like the rear section was that far away either though so I’m not sure if there is a bad seat. I don’t know why but when skimming the early reviews on here I thought this was going to be quite bad. I’m not the biggest fan of musicals without any emotional or dramatic heft to them either so I was grimacing as the garishly costumed trains came out to synthetic string keyboard patches and the video game graphics on the screen behind. It doesn’t really ever get complicated does it, and there’s way too much of a Cats like quality where characters appear in the story and just sing a slightly generic intro song. “my names Avanti and I’m here to say, I’m into the west coast in a major way” But you know what? With enough lights, and some good ALW tune work and a bit of humour, all these 20-somethings working their bums off on skates, and a crowd that were really into it, I really really enjoyed myself. I can appreciate that maybe this is smaller scale than the AV production, or Bochum, or wherever, but I’ve never seen those. I thought the chases were exciting, I can see what people mean that the skating never really takes off into the stratosphere, but to my eyes it was fun to see and there’s still some impressive wheeled work going on. Visually the design is very impressive, but yeah I’d have loved to have seen the bridges and tunnels other versions have sported. I can imagine that if this was a concert, I’d have had absolutely no interest in it at all. It’s nowhere near ALW’s best work, nor Richard Stillgoe’s et al, but I’d say about half the songs hit the mark. Some of the lyrics are quite painful (Freight Is Great comes to mind), but the overall crime is that some of it is just too generic. I did really enjoy how insane the concept is and how they’ve just leaned into that. The more cynical won’t enjoy this and I can’t begrudge them that, but I’ll admit that I got swept away and found the whole thing hilarious, chaotic and FUN. The rum and coke probably helped too. I must admit that I’m as cynical as they come, and I sat there before it started, pulling everything I could see apart and comparing it to the scale of the Apollo Vic. But the joy of hearing it again, at volume, plus the catchy repetition of the new songs washed all of that away and reminded me to live in the moment. I loved having ‘Control’ controlling as a character. I think it helped to narrow the scope & scale. It is what it is and you can either lean into it and have fun, or sit there scowling & pooh-poohing it. They’ve had your money at that point so I doubt they care. |
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Post by alece10 on Jun 30, 2024 16:41:27 GMT
Just seen some pics of the "stars" arriving for the press night. First 2 pics are Biggins and Vanessa Feltz. I swear those 2 would go to the opening of a paper bag. Just missing Clare Sweeney now, or maybe she is on her way.
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Post by danb on Jun 30, 2024 16:57:41 GMT
They’ve gone high end with the guest list then? Hope Leslie Joseph isn’t stuck with a ‘Sister Act’ matinee 😂
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Post by theatre22 on Jun 30, 2024 17:17:16 GMT
They’ve gone high end with the guest list then? Hope Leslie Joseph isn’t stuck with a ‘Sister Act’ matinee 😂 Don’t worry she is there too! |
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Post by Being Alive on Jun 30, 2024 17:35:03 GMT
Lesley Joseph and Joe McCeldry come as a pair now 😂
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Post by danb on Jun 30, 2024 17:45:45 GMT
Is Su there with a party popper in her bag?
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Post by bobbievanhusen on Jun 30, 2024 22:53:08 GMT
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Post by kz on Jun 30, 2024 23:15:00 GMT
I was at the matinee yesterday. I knew a couple of the big songs but had never seen it before. There were some very, VERY questionable lyrics, some of which made us laugh out loud which I don't really think was the intention. There wasn't a huge amount of adrenaline in the races but I was quite impressed that (with only a couple of tiny exceptions) the cast managed to dance, navigate those ramps and stay upright in skates. The whole thing was complete nonsense but, if you just went with it, it was actually really quite good fun. I enjoyed the lighting effects, particularly in the Starlight Sequence in Act 2. We were sitting at the very back of the Locomotive section and felt much closer to everything than we did in similar seats for Newsies.
We had a great afternoon. I love the concept of Starlight Express and Green Day in the same day being "the double" and would highly recommend it!
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Post by mattnyc on Jun 30, 2024 23:21:12 GMT
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Post by ceebee on Jun 30, 2024 23:34:00 GMT
It's not such a bad review - I'd say it's balanced. "Restrained and magical." |
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Post by BVM on Jun 30, 2024 23:46:21 GMT
Telegraph. 5 stars.
Guardian. 4 stars.
Independent. 4 stars.
WOS. 3 stars.
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Post by BVM on Jun 30, 2024 23:51:54 GMT
And the only one that truly matters…..
4 stars from MJT!
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Post by mattnyc on Jul 1, 2024 0:08:49 GMT
I’m so excited to see this next week!
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Post by d'James on Jul 1, 2024 0:45:12 GMT
And the only one that truly matters….. 4 stars from MJT! What’s MJT? Sorry. Probably obvious, but my brain isn’t working. |
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Post by osdtdg on Jul 1, 2024 0:49:05 GMT
And the only one that truly matters….. 4 stars from MJT! What’s MJT? Sorry. Probably obvious, but my brain isn’t working. MickeyJoTheatre |
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Post by Oleanna on Jul 1, 2024 0:55:24 GMT
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1,108 posts
Member is Online
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Post by blamerobots on Jul 1, 2024 1:02:07 GMT
So let's hear it for the Starlight tour, It's been an incredible Express... We weren't quite sure, we had a few doubts... So will Rusty win through? But the answer is... Yes, and no.  |
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Post by bobbievanhusen on Jul 1, 2024 3:32:20 GMT
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Post by ceebee on Jul 1, 2024 7:13:25 GMT
This review reads like a piece of GCSE coursework. |
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Post by Being Alive on Jul 1, 2024 7:14:35 GMT
These reviews are wild - it's so weird that critics chose not to review it as an actual piece of musical theatre, and review it as a theme park ride instead 😂
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