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Post by Deleted on Mar 1, 2016 11:14:32 GMT
If it is gonna win in any category, it is gonna be Best Supporting Actress in a Musical, which I can actually see happening. Her main competition is Lara though. It will be interesting to see.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 1, 2016 11:41:13 GMT
If it is gonna win in any category, it is gonna be Best Supporting Actress in a Musical, which I can actually see happening. Her main competition is Lara though. It will be interesting to see. There's no comparison between Lara Pulver and Emma Williams though for my money. Emma's performance is nice, sweetly sung, well played. Lara's is astonishing. It takes a rare actress who could have stood up against the juggernaut of Imelda's performance and also stood out in her own right. The transformation before your eyes in 'Let Me Entertain You' was mesmerising. There was no such 'moment' with Emma Williams - other than her bravery in stripping fully frontal naked. |
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Post by Deleted on Mar 1, 2016 11:48:24 GMT
There's no comparison between Lara Pulver and Emma Williams though for my money. Emma's performance is nice, sweetly sung, well played. Lara's is astonishing. It takes a rare actress who could have stood up against the juggernaut of Imelda's performance and also stood out in her own right. The transformation before your eyes in 'Let Me Entertain You' was mesmerising. There was no such 'moment' with Emma Williams - other than her bravery in stripping fully frontal naked. Whilst I agree on most parts (I personally think she does get the stand out moment in the show and, to be honest, she is the strongest element of the show) the other thing to factor in is she quite literally is the show, and holds the whole thing together.
Lara was sensational in her role, amazing in every way, even up against Imelda... and Emma steals the show from Tracie.
If Henderson has any hope at winning in a category, which is a shame as I really loved the show, it will be this one as it really is Emma's show for the taking.
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Post by raiseitup on Mar 1, 2016 12:17:25 GMT
I agree with Ryan, Lara's transformation in Gypsy was streaks ahead of anything Emma did. Her Let Me Entertain You was just as heart stopping a moment as Rose's Turn for me.
It wasn't difficult for Emma Williams to steal the show from Tracie Bennett's clunky, brutish performance. I actually think Ian Bartholomew was my favourite part of this show, his singing was beautiful and his number at the end of act 1 was the only part of the show that managed to move me. I'm sure many will think Matt Henry is a shoe in for Best Actor, but I'm glad Bartholomew has been recognised.
I don't think Henderson will win anything on the night.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 1, 2016 17:34:07 GMT
Personally, I think Samuel Holmes steals Mrs H, not Emma!
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Post by Deleted on Mar 1, 2016 17:38:58 GMT
Personally, I think Samuel Holmes steals Mrs H, not Emma! I absolutely agree. He's marvellous. The moment when Eddie takes his clothes off and he gets a quick look is priceless.  |
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Post by Deleted on Mar 1, 2016 22:15:44 GMT
Personally, I think Samuel Holmes steals Mrs H, not Emma! Ok, I stand corrected, Samuel Holmes was brilliant! |
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Post by Deleted on Mar 2, 2016 11:27:47 GMT
Yeah samuel for me as well ;-)
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Post by theatre-turtle on Mar 2, 2016 17:22:35 GMT
I had a quick look at ticket availability on the booking website. This show is selling shockingly badly ! On some dates there's about 80%+ of the theatre unsold
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Post by mallardo on Mar 4, 2016 6:25:08 GMT
Mrs. Henderson Presents is a decent little show about the wrong people. Yes, I know they're working from a movie but they needed to be more ruthless with their adaptation. As good as Ian Bartholomew and Tracy Bennett are they get too many songs and too much stage time. How many times must we hear that they're not young anymore and they're full of regrets? My interest was centred on Maureen and the three principal girls. Every time they flounced offstage en route to having fun I was wishing we were going with them.
As it is the girls are barely characterized. There's Katie Bernstein (man crazy), Lizzy Connolly (money crazy) and Lauren Hood (the shy one), and that's basically it. Their parts are essentially a series of one liners. Even Maureen is underwritten. I kept thinking, where's her "I want" song? But the problem is she doesn't know what she wants - and neither do we. Her little romance is pretty much DOA and written that way. When Ian Bartholomew sings Now is Not The Time about his frustrated feelings for Maureen, why doesn't she join in to make it a duet and tell us about HER feelings. It's a completely wasted opportunity. If you're going to have girls getting naked it's obviously better to know who they are.
And that's another thing. The selling point of this show is a plot that actually justifies having nude Windmill Girls on stage. So why do we get so little of them? Two tableaus in the first act work well and the act ends on a real high. But the second act has nothing until the last moments. They should have started the second act as they ended the first, perhaps with a kind of montage of tableaus that would cover the passage of time and, incidentally, recapture the pre-interval glory. Of course to do this it would help to have a revolve and they don't have one which is a mistake.
As it is now the second act is awash in darkness and gloom. Obviously the show needed to acknowledge the awfulness of the war but not as much or as heavily as it does. There's a lot of talk about the soldiers who line up to see the girls. Why not bring some of them on? Have a club scene or a pub scene where the girls can do a number and flirt and show the boys a good time? The show cries out for it or something like it. But, I suppose that scene wasn't in the movie so...
Apart from all that I thought the score was serviceable if uninspired and not really an issue. I also liked Jamie Foreman's comic/narrator who was actually more entertaining than the material he was working with. Alas, I did not get to see Emma Williams who was off but her understudy Rhiannon Chesterman was terrific with a nice take on the character and a powerful voice. Plus her big full frontal moment was a definite wow!
I didn't dislike it but I sure didn't love it and I wanted to. But, what do I know? The audience - among the oldest I have ever been in - were lapping it up. Perhaps the show is deliberately pitched to them - it plays like that. But that is not the path to success for a musical. My takeaway thoughts were all about missed opportunities.
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Post by ilovewemusicals on Mar 4, 2016 7:56:22 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Mar 4, 2016 7:56:57 GMT
Funnily enough, mentioning Emma being off... I had a friend who went the other day (maybe Monday?) and she said that Emma was apparently having the onset of a nasty rash which really was not flattering under the stage lights when she is meant to be fully naked.
I didn't dare ask where the rash was, but it could be one of the reasons she is off?
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Post by couldileaveyou on Mar 4, 2016 10:43:04 GMT
My problem with Tracie's performance is that she plays Mrs. Henderson like a brothel keeper.
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543 posts
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Post by freckles on Mar 4, 2016 13:12:07 GMT
Mrs. Henderson Presents is a decent little show about the wrong people. Yes, I know they're working from a movie but they needed to be more ruthless with their adaptation. As good as Ian Bartholomew and Tracy Bennett are they get too many songs and too much stage time. How many times must we hear that they're not young anymore and they're full of regrets? My interest was centred on Maureen and the three principal girls. Every time they flounced offstage en route to having fun I was wishing we were going with them. As it is the girls are barely characterized. There's Katie Bernstein (man crazy), Lizzy Connolly (money crazy) and Lauren Hood (the shy one), and that's basically it. Their parts are essentially a series of one liners. Even Maureen is underwritten. I kept thinking, where's her "I want" song? But the problem is she doesn't know what she wants - and neither do we. Her little romance is pretty much DOA and written that way. When Ian Bartholomew sings Now is Not The Time about his frustrated feelings for Maureen, why doesn't she join in to make it a duet and tell us about HER feelings. It's a completely wasted opportunity. If you're going to have girls getting naked it's obviously better to know who they are. And that's another thing. The selling point of this show is a plot that actually justifies having nude Windmill Girls on stage. So why do we get so little of them? Two tableaus in the first act work well and the act ends on a real high. But the second act has nothing until the last moments. They should have started the second act as they ended the first, perhaps with a kind of montage of tableaus that would cover the passage of time and, incidentally, recapture the pre-interval glory. Of course to do this it would help to have a revolve and they don't have one which is a mistake. As it is now the second act is awash in darkness and gloom. Obviously the show needed to acknowledge the awfulness of the war but not as much or as heavily as it does. There's a lot of talk about the soldiers who line up to see the girls. Why not bring some of them on? Have a club scene or a pub scene where the girls can do a number and flirt and show the boys a good time? The show cries out for it or something like it. But, I suppose that scene wasn't in the movie so... Apart from all that I thought the score was serviceable if uninspired and not really an issue. I also liked Jamie Foreman's comic/narrator who was actually more entertaining than the material he was working with. Alas, I did not get to see Emma Williams who was off but her understudy Rhiannon Chesterman was terrific with a nice take on the character and a powerful voice. Plus her big full frontal moment was a definite wow! I didn't dislike it but I sure didn't love it and I wanted to. But, what do I know? The audience - among the oldest I have ever been in - were lapping it up. Perhaps the show is deliberately pitched to them - it plays like that. But that is not the path to success for a musical. My takeaway thoughts were all about missed opportunities. Interesting read, and I agree with a lot of what you say. It's true that the girls are underdeveloped (not like that!), although I think Samuel Holmes as Bertie is a shining example of a perfectly acted character with very little to say. Perhaps the direction could have brought more out of the girls' characters, even if the script does not? I think you are completely right about the weighting of the musical numbers. Glad you appreciated the Arthur character (Jamie Foreman) too. There doesn't seem to be much love for him on here, but I think some are forgetting that, during his scenes, the audience is expected to become a member of the Windmill audience, rather than judging the humour by today's standards. And it was a great framing device. Ah, if only they'd got Mallardo to dramaturg this! |
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Post by mallardo on Mar 4, 2016 16:16:35 GMT
Freckles, when the book writer and the director are the same guy, the script rarely changes - and I think that's a factor here. I wish someone with more experience with musicals had directed.
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543 posts
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Post by freckles on Mar 4, 2016 17:13:12 GMT
Freckles, when the book writer and the director are the same guy, the script rarely changes - and I think that's a factor here. I wish someone with more experience with musicals had directed. Fair point. I had forgotten that was the case. |
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Post by stagemanager on Mar 4, 2016 20:21:08 GMT
Has anybody ever seen anything written by Terry Johnson that hasn't included nudity. As far as I can remember the only shows of his I have seen are The Graduate, Hitchcock Blonde, Piano/Forte and Mrs Henderson Preents and they all contain nudity. Just wondering if this was his calling card?
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Post by Jon on Mar 4, 2016 20:42:06 GMT
I'm assuming Cleo, Camping, Emmanuelle and Dick didn't have nudity.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 4, 2016 22:11:35 GMT
Insignificance, Hysteria, both excellent plays.
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Post by brenth on Mar 5, 2016 17:54:49 GMT
Dead Funny had David Haig's Willie and a truly filthy joke from Zoe Wannamaker
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Post by easilypleased on Mar 6, 2016 13:14:24 GMT
My first post here so please go easy on me...
I went to see the matinee of MHP on Feb 27. In common with a lot of what is written here I found it a bit jumbled and incoherent. The first half was quite jolly and fun and I didn't find it overlong. but the second half dragged...(for me at least). War, mortality and unwanted pregnancy jarred with the first half and frankly I felt I didn't know the characters well enough to care. The scenes on the roof of the Windmill in particular seemed interminable. The songs aren't bad, I have just refreshed my memory on iTunes and they are better on second listening. Although the mix of 30's/40/s styles and a ballad like "Mountains" is a bit strange.
I didn't really warm to any of the characters, frankly. Of the lot I thought Van Damm was the best. I very much agree that we should get to know the other girls more.
My take on the comedian...the material was poor, but if the idea is that we are supposed to be part of the Windmill audience then tell us that (not sure how, but anyway) so that we can heckle with impunity if we want, as they would have done. THAT would be fun, (when I was there someone did shout something that I couldn't quite catch during one of the comedian's slots and he dealt with it well).
I liked the Lord Chamberlain's scene! A bit barmy for sure, but funny.
and so to the nudity...now of course I appreciate how brave the girls are and that it is tastefully done. However, the publicity surrounding the show seems to focus on it and honestly there are maybe 10 minutes of nudity out of about 135, so there really isn't a lot of it timewise. What there is, is impressive for sure but there was a big gap in story between the coy "calendar girls" type scene in the first half and the full tableaux. How did they get from one to the other? How did Maureen learn the fan dance? Missed opportunities for character development, I think.
All the cast try hard, no doubt, but I came out wondering how long that second half had actually been.
My fellow punters seemed to enjoy it anyway and the place was more or less full as far as I could see. But I have seen the unsold seats for future performances (if i owned a theatre I might think twice about how much info those seating plans give!)
Would I go again? Yes, if I could leave at half time, go for a beer and come back for the last 10 minutes (but I doubt they will let me do that).
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Post by mrbarnaby on Mar 7, 2016 22:33:00 GMT
Anyone else noticed Emma Williams in that dreadful online casino advert? Nearly dropped my tea when I realised it was her!
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Post by Deleted on Mar 8, 2016 12:28:20 GMT
They really need to put out an official trailer for this... when the Olivier Awards showed videos of the four Best New Musicals at the nominations announcement, it looked really weak compared to the other three which was a shame because it is not at all weak but only showing photos is very sad.
Is it something to do with the theatre it is in? Because the past two/three shows that have been there never had an Official trailer did they? |
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Post by theatremadness on Mar 8, 2016 13:26:06 GMT
They really need to put out an official trailer for this... when the Olivier Awards showed videos of the four Best New Musicals at the nominations announcement, it looked really weak compared to the other three which was a shame because it is not at all weak but only showing photos is very sad.
Is it something to do with the theatre it is in? Because the past two/three shows that have been there never had an Official trailer did they? Shakespeare In Love ('14/'15) had a trailer, Death of a Salesman (early '15) had one and Impossible (summer '15) had one, interestingly, it's only Photograph 51 and Christmas Carol (that last 2, as you say) that haven't - wonder why? Maybe the name of the stars were big enough not to need the spend the money on one to generate interest/ticket sales! Anyhow, I agree and hope that Mrs Henderson Presents films an EPK, I always love watching them! |
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Post by easilypleased on Mar 8, 2016 14:53:33 GMT
Is it my imagination but has publicity dipped generally for the show? Nothing on the Tube that I can see now (loads for Kinky Boots!) or in the Standard. Pity if it has.
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