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Post by indabe on Mar 28, 2024 11:15:47 GMT
Is it me or does the audience remain seated for the bows? I don't get the 'obligatory' standing ovation. If I feel it deserves it, I do it - but when I don't I'm often the only one seated. It’s not compulsory to give a standing ovation at any production and I’ve been to many where no one has stood. |
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Post by ix on Mar 28, 2024 11:17:10 GMT
Is it me or does the audience remain seated for the bows? I don't get the 'obligatory' standing ovation. If I feel it deserves it, I do it - but when I don't I'm often the only one seated. It's herd mentality. I'm old and comfortable enough not to care what strangers think of me if I stay seated.  |
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Post by basi1faw1ty on Mar 28, 2024 13:12:34 GMT
Something about watching it back making it more mortifying than watching it live. And you see the audience on their feet and clapping as the inane tune goes on, and you think what the hell do we become when we’re in the theatre? The definition of sheep?
It maddening and also hilarious. I think that's entirely their point. Does seem a bit contemptuous of anyone who thought they were seeing a nice linear musical with Sheridan Smith in it, and doesn't realise that they are the butt of the joke here. Nevertheless, I'm now addicted to this, and if you watch each performer individually they are doing a selection of archetypal ingratiating bows. Where Jamie Lloyd had a 'don't even smile' shtick at Sunset Boulevard, here they are *prosecuting* the nature of ovations. (aah 'prosecuting' - I had to, because you just know that's what was said in rehearsing this sequence). At the start of the video, the woman in white seems to also show her butt to the audience (memo to ALW for WIW revival); Sheridan Smith half heartedly seems to join in. 'You're the butt of the joke' reference? I've just noticed that 'bum man' is the only one who comes back for a second go. There's no holding him! Gonna rename him Bumjamin Walker. Of course it's had to be him lmao Also it looks like he flips the audience off too? Watch his hand as he turns back. |
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Post by iwanttix on Mar 28, 2024 18:37:11 GMT
I got a rush ticket to this tonight because of the bad reviews. There is a morbid curiosity in the same way I bought a Cinderella ticket 🤣. Wish me luck!
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Post by iwanttix on Mar 28, 2024 23:02:25 GMT
So the reviews are right...
It's just a bit of a mess really. The songs aren't great (maybe one or two memorable), the staging a bit odd, the story didn't flow well and there was an odd sense of meh when it ended.
I feel bad for the cast as they gave it their all, but there wasn't much to give to. I'm glad I saw it but I wouldn't ever recommend it to anyone.
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Post by ladidah on Mar 28, 2024 23:19:59 GMT
A girl on my train home had just seen this, and said there was a huge queue of people trying to get a refund by the end - surely not!
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Post by iwanttix on Mar 28, 2024 23:49:53 GMT
A girl on my train home had just seen this, and said there was a huge queue of people trying to get a refund by the end - surely not! Seemed unlikely, but you never know 🤣 |
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Post by Being Alive on Mar 28, 2024 23:51:01 GMT
A girl on my train home had just seen this, and said there was a huge queue of people trying to get a refund by the end - surely not! Well the box office go home at 8 so definitely seems unlikely. |
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Post by FairyGodmother on Mar 29, 2024 0:18:07 GMT
I've just added up the number of people on the poll.  Even if it's not good, it's definitely drawn interest! (I'm crediting the hoover for the initial TB rush for tickets  ) |
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Post by mattnyc on Mar 29, 2024 3:56:48 GMT
Can we petition for the Hoover to be added to the theatre wing at the V&A?
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Post by simon on Mar 29, 2024 8:58:55 GMT
Can we petition for the Hoover to be added to the theatre wing at the V&A? Or an Ivo Van Hoover award for best use of an electrical appliance in a musical? |
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Post by JJShaw on Mar 29, 2024 10:45:21 GMT
Saw the other day - the nicest thing I can say is I am very glad we have this show because London doesn't normally get an absolute doozy of a big musical to open in the West End. Sure we often get the bland boring play here but a musical? What a treat. It really puts your scale of good to bad into perspective.
The poor cast are doing their best and no ones performance is bad but there is no redeeming material to perform. The entire show I was thinking 'who cares?'. We learn nothing about anyone or this play they're struggling to put on.
Echoing the previous pages, the bows were by far the most egregious part of the show, when they started singing I couldn't believe they were keeping us sat here for more, I just wanted to go home! Talk about souring an already bad show to really give you the final lasting impression and send the audiences out even more annoyed! Can't see how it was a 'mockery' or send up of smart commentary on anything it was just Broadway pastiche because it was set on Broadway but the rest of the show wasn't making any commentary on this so why would they at the bows?
If you can get a decent cheap ticket I would say do so, it's surely joining I Can't Sing, Viva Forever, and Bad Cinderella in the history books.
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Post by galinda on Mar 30, 2024 11:29:07 GMT
Any offers for this?
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Post by bwayboy22 on Mar 30, 2024 16:39:45 GMT
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Post by annette on Mar 30, 2024 17:17:18 GMT
I’ve experienced a whole gamut of emotions at the theatre,but never jaw-dropping shock. I’ve experienced that feeling at the cinema when I saw Cats, but this was a first for me courtesy of Opening Night.
The apex of it came at the end of the show,starting with the poor cast gurning through the gauze curtain and then going upstage,linking arms and looking suspiciously like they were forming a kick-line. I knew from the board about the ‘dancing’, but never expected it to be quite that mortifyingly inappropriate .
Embarrassment doesn’t begin to describe it. I had my hand over my mouth until the horror show was finally
over.
I don’t think the ending was supposed to be saying anything about audience response/expectations of musicals. I just think it was wilful foolish pretentiousness on the part of IVH.
There’s little to be said that hasn’t already been expressed by board members and most of the critics.
Perhaps a question about how the play they were rehearsing seemed like a Mamet-type drama, but when it was supposedly on stage morphed into a Neil Simon type of script complete with Vaudeville gags.
Having the projection screen show the audience twice was a terrible distraction from the play (perhaps IVH sensed everyone would have lost the plot by then). People were talking,laughing and pointing when they recognised themselves. If that idea was put there to make an artistic point, it totally failed.
The highlight of this deeply unpleasant three ring circus came about five minutes into Act Two. Two elderly ladies sitting next to me asked at the interval if I had any idea what was going on on stage. I couldn’t help them as I was equally confused.
They decided to leave when they realised Act Two was just basically the same as Act One, making maximum noise. One lady was loaded with shopping bags and the other lady had a stick that she was banging against every seat in front of her along the way out. We were in the middle of a Stalls row, so a lot of people had to stand up to let them pass, causing an excellent disturbance, along with some of the ladies audible comments on the show. These included “Load of rubbish”, “Waste of money” and “Well she was quite good in Gavin and Stacey”.
If only the camera pan with the house lights up had co-incided with their departure.
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Post by Steve on Mar 30, 2024 18:00:40 GMT
There’s little to be said that hasn’t already been expressed by board members and most of the critics. Perhaps a question about how the play they were rehearsing seemed like a Mamet-type drama, but when it was supposedly on stage morphed into a Neil Simon type of script complete with Vaudeville gags. Some spoilers follow. . . What you observe is lifted directly from the Cassavetes film:- Myrtle goes off script because she just can't face the "Mamet-type drama." Her ex-husband Manny goes along with her improv and they totally change the script into a "Neil Simon type comedy."
The audience doesn't know that the writer's script has been totally changed, but like what they see, and roar with approval.
The other creatives know their vision has been compromised by Myrtle, but most of them are just happy for the claps, and they're overjoyed they survived another night. Much like how the real creatives of this must feel every time they survive a night of this. Forgive me, but I really hope I can go to this again lol. |
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Post by annette on Mar 30, 2024 19:17:44 GMT
Wow Steve,I swear upon the lives of my 10 cats (I know,my all time heroine is Little Edie Bouvier Beale of Grey Gardens fame) that I had not read the contents of your spoiler before. Who was this originally written and who wrote it? At least that gives an answer to that particular conundrum, but I still don’t think most of the audience would have got that explanation from watching the show. I really thought it was just another weird tonal shift. I wonder if somewhere there’s an answer to the reason for the dancing? It felt a bit like a bastardisation of Company to me,crossed with the equally horrifying but at least tonally correct finale of Shrek (The Musical). I’m sure you will get your wish to see it again at a much reduced rate. You could even buy a t-shirt from the sad looking merch stand by the front door. I really wish I’d bought one for myself actually (or a fridge magnet at the very least).  There’s little to be said that hasn’t already been expressed by board members and most of the critics. Perhaps a question about how the play they were rehearsing seemed like a Mamet-type drama, but when it was supposedly on stage morphed into a Neil Simon type of script complete with Vaudeville gags. Some spoilers follow. . . What you observe is lifted directly from the Cassavetes film:- Myrtle goes off script because she just can't face the "Mamet-type drama." Her ex-husband Manny goes along with her improv and they totally change the script into a "Neil Simon type comedy."
The audience doesn't know that the writer's script has been totally changed, but like what they see, and roar with approval.
The other creatives know their vision has been compromised by Myrtle, but most of them are just happy for the claps, and they're overjoyed they survived another night. Much like how the real creatives of this must feel every time they survive a night of this. Forgive me, but I really hope I can go to this again lol. |
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Post by annette on Mar 30, 2024 19:52:05 GMT
Ps(to Steve’s spoiler): Compromised vision? What was the original vision of any of the characters? Or for that matter,the real director? Anyone?
Roar with approval? Umm, I’d love to know if anyone who has seen the show has roared with approval (unless the roar was in response to the knowledge that the show was coming to an end).
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Post by n1david on Mar 30, 2024 20:10:49 GMT
You could even buy a t-shirt from the sad looking merch stand by the front door. I really wish I’d bought one for myself actually (or a fridge magnet at the very least). I bought a T-shirt. I was the only one at the merch stall at the end of the show. I wanted evidence for future theatre-goers that I saw this. |
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Post by annette on Mar 30, 2024 23:12:33 GMT
You could even buy a t-shirt from the sad looking merch stand by the front door. I really wish I’d bought one for myself actually (or a fridge magnet at the very least). I bought a T-shirt. I was the only one at the merch stall at the end of the show. I wanted evidence for future theatre-goers that I saw this. That’s exactly why I wanted one. I greatly admire your courage. I was too embarrassed to approach the merch stand with only the one melancholy staff member standing there alone (with a similar expression to the infamous Oompa Loopa at ‘Willy’s Chocolate Experience) and no audience members at all. Everybody was rushing to get out the door as fast as possible. I was also still in deep shock to be fair. I now bitterly regret my actions and since the shirts aren’t being sold on the website,I have no idea how to get one. Any advice on how to procure one would be welcome. On a completely different subject, do you think Benjamin Walker was wearing a wig? It looked like it from the back.I was staring at the back of his head quite a lot during the show thanks to IVH’s direction and my lack of ability to sustain an interest in anything else going on on the stage. |
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Post by Steve on Mar 30, 2024 23:57:40 GMT
You could even buy a t-shirt from the sad looking merch stand by the front door. I really wish I’d bought one for myself actually (or a fridge magnet at the very least). I bought a T-shirt. I was the only one at the merch stall at the end of the show. I wanted evidence for future theatre-goers that I saw this. I proudly wear my "I can't sing" t-shirt for exactly that reason. I must have this t-shirt!  |
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Post by Steve on Mar 31, 2024 0:04:30 GMT
Roar with approval? Umm, I’d love to know if anyone who has seen the show has roared with approval (unless the roar was in response to the knowledge that the show was coming to an end). Lol. Obviously, the roar of approval in the original movie is a fixed-in-aspic cinematic roar. Since the material is about making a play, its actually more exciting that the reaction isn't fixed in aspic, and the reaction from the live theatre audience could be anything, from roars of approval to boos to mouths gaped in astonishment. Its even more meta than the original meta movie its based on, and it's exciting whatever the reaction. |
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Post by greatauntedna on Mar 31, 2024 1:03:58 GMT
Roar with approval? Umm, I’d love to know if anyone who has seen the show has roared with approval (unless the roar was in response to the knowledge that the show was coming to an end). Lol. Obviously, the roar of approval in the original movie is a fixed-in-aspic cinematic roar. Since the material is about making a play, its actually more exciting that the reaction isn't fixed in aspic, and the reaction from the live theatre audience could be anything, from roars of approval to boos to mouths gaped in astonishment. Its even more meta than the original meta movie its based on, and it's exciting whatever the reaction. There’s no chance anyone is going to roar at the little slivers of the play in Opening Night the musical though is there? I mean that would be great if they set up the stakes and showed what the play is meant to be and then Myrtle takes it off the rails, but it’s all so vague as it is. What she does to the play has very little spark, it isn’t clear that she’s changing it until people say so. The singing bit is the most obvious, but it being a musical it’s hard to tell if that’s diegetic or not initially! |
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Post by midge on Mar 31, 2024 9:09:47 GMT
Saw this last night and reread the bizarre 4 star reviews. Hell will have truly frozen over when I agree with Arifa Akbar.
"There is compassionate treatment of the drama’s other midlife women too, from scriptwriter Sarah (Nicola Hughes, absolutely arresting) to Manny’s longsuffering wife Dorothy (Amy Lennox), who ruminate marital disappointment or menopausal hot flushes with disgruntled strength."
Compassionate treatment for Amy Lennox's "midlife" character? She strolls on with a guitar and sings an inane song about not really knowing why she stays with her boring husband?
I eagerly await Susannah Clapp's review
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Post by theatrefan62 on Mar 31, 2024 9:14:51 GMT
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