Romeo & Juliet - Duke of York's Theatre

Surely Sunset? Despite its single run (currently), I imagine it has earned him more than Commitments did.

Was thinking the same. Mixed reviews, not terrible across the board.(still, I have no desire to see another R&J- esp at those prices). 

There's little chance he'll pull out, it'd be very selfish on his part. The situation with Taron Egerton in Cock was different and that production had Jonathan Bailey as well so it could continue even with Taron pulling out.

The reviews by the critics and others reflect what I thought about the directing choices by Jamie Lloyd and using his greatest hits on R&J. I'm sure he'll be fine but I think this is a good reminder to him not to rest on his laurels.

I was just using him as an example of a big name star pulling out of a high profile show. As usual if producers choose not to reveal the reason why for privacy reasons then they can’t really complain about people speculating. Regarding Cock, from memory of discussions on here, TE had a fainting incident n stage very soon after previews started. The reviews came out, they were less than raves 2 and 3 stars. Then he immediately disappeared, some said he had covid. Then when it was clear he wasn’t coming back the “personal reasons” announcement was made.

It is a very secretive profession and there are reasons for that. I know a case where a production was announced with a director attached and then closer to when it opened it was advertised with another director with no explanation for the switch ever given. What had happened was the first director had withdrawn with a genuine medical issue but didn’t want this known as they thought it would impact their chances of getting future work. This is even more of a problem for actors, film actors particularly, I suppose related to insurance issues.

The last high-profile withdrawal I recall was Michael Balogun pulling out of the RSC Much Ado and no explanation was ever given beyond “unforeseen circumstances” which we could have worked out for ourselves.

Yikes, I left at the interval of that one. 😭

Seeing this one tomorrow. I like Tom Holland and was hoping for good reviews for him after he was quite upset at the critical reception for his recent tv show. It’s a shame it’s so mixed. Not completely surprised that it’s a rehash of ideas though.

I’d never book anything based on what it says on the poster. Whether a review is positive or negative they’ll pull a quote from it for the poster regardless.

The poll on here of paying customers currently has around three quarters of the ratings at three stars or less.

Interested to read others thoughts as more see it.

Saw it this afternoon. IMO it is not the fact that it’s a stripped back staging or even the cameras that are poor in this (although they’re distracting and I didn’t enjoy them). The way he has directed the performances is so disappointing. It’s so low energy it’s like they’re sloths performing. The occasional glimmer of spark in no way makes up for the weird muted delivery of most of the play. It’s like they’re all half asleep. I get that this is a dour interpretation of the play and I am not at all against the concept of a depressed Romeo from the outset, in fact the idea of that at the start was really appealing. Like there’s a bleak inevitability to what happens. But alas it didn’t work for me. The key scenes were too flat, too monotone, too sleepy.

The Jamie Lloyd Company produced it in association with a couple of other producers like David Binder so the issues with R&J are down to Jamie Lloyd.

Rebecca Frecknall as well as Jamie Lloyd probably get a bit of free reign from producing houses and commercial producers.

I'd be surprised too. I don't think especially rate Holland as an actor, but he's very likeable and seems happy to put in the work. I like to think regardless of reviews he'll see this run as an opportunity to challenge himself and become a better actor. And if we're honest the people paying lots of money for this production are paying to see a name, and that's the bit they'll be telling their friends about.

I know there were other issues for Egerton, but I think his lack of stage experience was relevant and contributed towards it all being a bit too much for him. It's a long time since Holland was on the West End, but it was a starring role in a big production. A very different production, but I'm sure he understood the responsibility of being the big name for the production before he signed on, and intends to take that seriously.

I'm sure he'd be hoping for good reviews for his acting, but he doesn't need them. The sheer fact he has taken on a West End run like this will round out his CV and give him an edge over a lot of the young Hollywood stars he's competing with for roles.

Hopefully Lloyd will have a bit of a think about what is and isn't working, and make some tweaks to improve the production and not just coast on tickets sold on a star name.

As a latecomer who was shut out of the initial ticket drop, and who hasn't been checking this message board frequently so missed out on the incremental releases in the past few weeks, seeing the few released tickets creep up from £250 to ¢295 to £345 has been both depressing and alarming.

Are there any strategies for getting a "reasonable" ticket in the £100-150 range, say day-of? Do unsold premium (£250 and higher) get knocked down at the box office perhaps day of performance?

A ticket for this production isn't worth £345 (any more than Cabaret is worth £330). Greed and hype. There are better things on, offering better bang for buck.