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Post by BVM on Apr 13, 2024 12:03:17 GMT
Agree re the "service industry" and agree re it very much not being an insult (as someone who works in a service industry myself).
I did feel for him as the Cinderella social media drama went exponential. Did he do everything right? Probably not. But it reached a stage where anything he said was being taken wildly out of context, meaning being assigned that he had never inferred and an avalanche of "love to hate" type posts.
Dislike him for what he actually does, fair enough. But the anti ALW campaigns lead by the likes of All The Dazzles based on absolute fantasy were gross.
Of course I appreciate in 2024 taking things out of context and running with various agendas on Twitter is not unique to ALW and is a wider societal problem.
And as time has elapsed since the Cinderella drama I do think perhaps the whole world was slightly losing it's head in the immediate release from Covid and all parties may have had all kinds going on in their heads; if one was trying to be understanding.
Back to Closing Night - am in agreement with DanB above. Taking one of the most populist stars with a massive ITV following and combining that with such an unusual piece was, I guess, a recipe for disaster.
It is a shame really as Sheridan is a fantastic actress and it's a sad day (whether this project was any good or not) if she ends up restricted to the kind of things her fans expect.
Sounds like this show was in the main a "miss" (still not seen it) but I still think it's good that obscure stuff makes it to the West End (I will try and go before it closes so can form a more valid opinion!)
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Post by thedriftersgirl on Apr 13, 2024 14:08:21 GMT
Anyone know where to get a few cheap tickets for this?
Looked direct but still £50 or £70 on there.
Thanks!
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Post by Being Alive on Apr 13, 2024 14:13:31 GMT
Todaytix rush seems to be your friend - £30 and doesn't sell out quickly...
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Post by danb on Apr 13, 2024 14:14:22 GMT
Surely you are being its’ friend? 😁
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Post by Being Alive on Apr 13, 2024 14:15:46 GMT
Fair point 😂
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Post by A.Ham on Apr 13, 2024 14:51:09 GMT
Anyone know where to get a few cheap tickets for this? Looked direct but still £50 or £70 on there. Thanks! It's available on Rush... although appreciate that only works if you don't need/want the certainty of booking ahead. |
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Post by danb on Apr 13, 2024 15:06:44 GMT
I was just offered row C dress circle at 4pm on a Saturday afternoon. I think you’d be fine.
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Post by n1david on Apr 13, 2024 15:19:03 GMT
There were offers around e.g at theatremonkey.com prior to the closing announcement. I imagine they have pulled them so that bookers for late in the run aren't tempted to take the refund and book at a cheaper rate. I'm sure they will be back before the end of the run.
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Post by mkb on Apr 13, 2024 15:22:30 GMT
I saw it a third time this evening in the second row of the stalls. I saw the first preview in the Grand Circle (2.5 stars) and the first show after press night in the Dress Circle (3 stars). I really loved it this time! ... 4.5 stars! Is this the theatrical equivalent of Stockholm syndrome? If you watch it enough, you come to empathise with it. We need a name for it! |
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Post by Steve on Apr 13, 2024 16:37:04 GMT
I saw it a third time this evening in the second row of the stalls. I saw the first preview in the Grand Circle (2.5 stars) and the first show after press night in the Dress Circle (3 stars). I really loved it this time! ... 4.5 stars! Is this the theatrical equivalent of Stockholm syndrome? If you watch it enough, you come to empathise with it. We need a name for it! "Ugly Duckling" syndrome: The drama ducks saw her and rated her "desperately deadly dull;" The Cassavetes ducks saw her and rated her sickly sweet, soporific and "unsophisticated;" The Musical ducks rated her "dirge"-like and dimwitted; The director ducks said she was a dull copy of ducks done before; But if you saw her again, you started to see she was was like nothing else at all, unique, and there had never been anything like her and never would again, and if you saw her again after that, you suddenly saw she was never a duck at all, but a swan, a delicate, compassionate creative, melancholy utterly unique teary-eyed Sheridan-souled swan with the lifespan of a firefly, destined never to be seen again. Except once a decade at the Palladium and on T-shirts.  |
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Post by max on Apr 14, 2024 11:53:41 GMT
I saw it a third time this evening in the second row of the stalls. I saw the first preview in the Grand Circle (2.5 stars) and the first show after press night in the Dress Circle (3 stars). I really loved it this time! ... 4.5 stars! Is this the theatrical equivalent of Stockholm syndrome? If you watch it enough, you come to empathise with it. We need a name for it! Given that 'Mamma Mia' is one of the biggest hits of all time, I think it's fine to stick with 'Stockholm syndrome' as the name for this condition. |
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Post by fiyero on Apr 15, 2024 11:27:28 GMT
There were offers around e.g at theatremonkey.com prior to the closing announcement. I imagine they have pulled them so that bookers for late in the run aren't tempted to take the refund and book at a cheaper rate. I'm sure they will be back before the end of the run. 24 Hour offer on Today tix. Just got rear circle for £25 instead of £55 for a Saturday night |
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Post by bigredapple on Apr 15, 2024 18:51:59 GMT
Most of the auditorium is under £55 on TodayTix for the remainder of the run.
It’s a limited time offer, but still pretty telling of how bad this is selling
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Post by fiyero on Apr 15, 2024 20:22:20 GMT
There were offers around e.g at theatremonkey.com prior to the closing announcement. I imagine they have pulled them so that bookers for late in the run aren't tempted to take the refund and book at a cheaper rate. I'm sure they will be back before the end of the run. 24 Hour offer on Today tix. Just got rear circle for £25 instead of £55 for a Saturday night I really should have checked trains were running before booking. I hope this is worth the rail replacement bus!! |
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Post by mrbarnaby on Apr 15, 2024 20:41:34 GMT
24 Hour offer on Today tix. Just got rear circle for £25 instead of £55 for a Saturday night I really should have checked trains were running before booking. I hope this is worth the rail replacement bus!! Awkward…. |
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Post by Rory on Apr 16, 2024 9:30:37 GMT
Any word on what the replacement show is going to be?
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Post by musicbox on Apr 16, 2024 23:04:21 GMT
I decided I wanted to check out what the fuss was about with this show and got a day seat on TodayTix in the front stalls at around 2pm today, I was quite shocked that they were so readily available...
...But as others have stated continuously at this point, I can see why now, as it's one of the worst shows I've ever seen. I'm quite an open minded person, not easily swayed by other reviews or opinions and I've really liked loads of productions that are otherwise universally panned, so I really wanted to like this, but it was just bad on so many levels.
I won't repeat what has been said by so many others, but my main thinking when I was leaving the theatre was "What was that?". After 140 minutes of watching I'm still not 100% sure what the show is actually about and I can't remember a single song.
I just found it be very boring, joyless and dull - who felt it was a good idea to base an entire show around an actress not liking her character? I really like Sheridan, but I started to really dislike her victim playing character in the second act, constantly moaning about the same thing over and over, instead of just getting on with it. I think we all know it's pretty common for an actor to not love their character, but are doing it because it's a great career opportunity - that's why it's called acting.
I also felt that the filmed aspect fell really flat - In Sunset it was innovative and added to the story, in this show it felt tacked on and a poor attempt to replicate another really successful show. The parts where the film suddenly faded into a still image for a few minutes also felt really clunky and at one point in the first act I had to hold in a laugh because Sheridan was making a really bizarre face in it - but it was probably a show highlight for me.
Overall I'm really not surprised this is closing early - the theatre was half full tonight and only a handful of people stood during the bows. Maybe I'm looking into it too much, but I sensed an expression of sadness from Sheridan at the total lack of enthusiasm, despite the cast's best efforts. I seriously doubt this will dent her career in any way though - she's brilliant and will probably have another big success within the year, either on stage or TV.
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Post by greatauntedna on Apr 17, 2024 0:05:18 GMT
I think we all know it's pretty common for an actor to not love their character, but are doing it because it's a great career opportunity - that's why it's called acting. Well she’s having a mental breakdown, she doesn’t just not love her character. |
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Post by musicbox on Apr 17, 2024 8:38:39 GMT
I think we all know it's pretty common for an actor to not love their character, but are doing it because it's a great career opportunity - that's why it's called acting. Well she’s having a mental breakdown, she doesn’t just not love her character. I didn’t feel that this was effectively communicated in the writing though - her despair came as across as shallow and the reasoning being that she didn’t want to look old to the audience is so deeply misogynistic. |
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Post by Oleanna on Apr 17, 2024 11:58:36 GMT
Well she’s having a mental breakdown, she doesn’t just not love her character. I didn’t feel that this was effectively communicated in the writing though - her despair came as across as shallow and the reasoning being that she didn’t want to look old to the audience is so deeply misogynistic. I was there last night, and it was clear that the character is having a breakdown, through a combination of midlife crises, alcoholism, and trauma related to the death of Nancy. |
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Post by mattnyc on Apr 17, 2024 12:38:52 GMT
The one thing I just could not wrap my head around and what I kept wanting to shout out was “Why did you take the role, then?!” if she hated it so much.
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Post by greatauntedna on Apr 17, 2024 12:53:48 GMT
The one thing I just could not wrap my head around and what I kept wanting to shout out was “Why did you take the role, then?!” if she hated it so much. Well one example, how did Catherine Tate end up in The Enfield Haunting? |
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Post by Being Alive on Apr 17, 2024 12:54:23 GMT
The one thing I just could not wrap my head around and what I kept wanting to shout out was “Why did you take the role, then?!” if she hated it so much. Well one example, how did Catherine Tate end up in The Enfield Haunting? The answer to that (and probably the answer to this question too) was £££ |
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Post by Oleanna on Apr 17, 2024 13:33:24 GMT
The one thing I just could not wrap my head around and what I kept wanting to shout out was “Why did you take the role, then?!” if she hated it so much. To try and save her dwindling career, and because the issues she has with the role unfold concurrently with her own personal issues. I would argue that Myrtle doesn’t start seriously reflecting on her age until she has to grapple with Virginia’s. |
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Post by Oleanna on Apr 17, 2024 13:41:23 GMT
Finally saw this last night and loved it. Yes it’s messy, yes it’s chaotic, but it’s vibrant, full of energy, and a welcome addition to the commercial West End.
The adjustments required to make this show fire on all cylinders are, I think, not huge, and probably another workshop away.
But how refreshing to see a musical for adults, a musical for people who think, outwith of the current fashion of shows about teenagers with superficial problems.
How refreshing, too, to hear a sound world quite different from anything else on at the moment. No generic pop/rock here. The music keeps you guessing, keeps your ear and brain challenged, and is orchestrated in a wacky and wonderful way.
I think the idea that from the start that “The Second Woman” is thought of as a “bad play” muddies the waters. It’s not a bad play, it’s just proving difficult and impenetrable for some of the people involved.
Similarly, the slight re-setting to New York changed the stakes slightly, but I can see why they did it.
Production-wise it was exactly what I expected from Van Hove. Certainly one of his more engaging productions. I didn’t think the documentary crew addition was really necessary, but it didn’t bother me either.
I found the sound design problematic. The balance between the band and the cast was a frequent issue, with lyrics getting buried.
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