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Post by Dr Tom on Feb 1, 2020 20:34:52 GMT
Anyone seen this yet? I see they've set the front row to £45, which is a shame as they were a bargain price for Fame. But there are £10 seats to the side of the Stalls a few rows back (and even the £18 side Stalls on the aisle are better value than TodayTix is offering). Worth a trip to Wembley?
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Post by stevej678 on Feb 2, 2020 10:21:57 GMT
Saw this last night. It's throwaway forgettable fun which is done no favours by the venue. The vast Wembley Park Theatre swallows up this show more than it did with Fame. I was on an aisle seat in the centre block and was still a seat away from being within the proscenium. Side blocks towards the front will offer a restricted view of parts of the stage from many seats.
The main problem is the atmosphere (or lack of it). Despite the centre block being pretty full last night, as with Fame the applause or laughter from the audience just seems to dissipate into thin air, so it makes everything fall rather flat. Conversely, every noise from props and bits of the set being wheeled into place in the wings seemed to reverberate around the auditorium, as did the steps of any audience members pounding down the stairs as they nipped out for a mid-show toilet break. There also seemed to be an array of flashing lights coming from the band in the wings stage right which proved quite distracting at times.
Despite that, it's still a show worth seeing. Kevin Clifton has a decent voice that's fine for upbeat songs like the opening number but is slightly more exposed in the ballads. It's great to see Rhiannon Chesterman as Julia. I loved her as Regina in Rock of Ages and she certainly injects Julia with more quirkiness and personality than Cassie Compton in the previous tour. She sounded great too; her first solo number Someday is probably my favourite in the show. Fresh from Club Tropicana, Tara Verloop brings act one to a barnstorming close as Holly with another standout song, Saturday Night In The City. I hadn't realised just how much of a Rock of Ages reunion this is until reading the cast bios in the programme.
It's a show with few surprises but for a gently amusing evening of theatre with some great songs and Nick Winston's always impressive choreography, this is a welcome addition to London's musical landscape for the next few weeks.
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489 posts
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Post by djdan14 on Feb 2, 2020 11:06:35 GMT
Anyone seen this yet? I see they've set the front row to £45, which is a shame as they were a bargain price for Fame. But there are £10 seats to the side of the Stalls a few rows back (and even the £18 side Stalls on the aisle are better value than TodayTix is offering). Worth a trip to Wembley? Sat on the side block aisle nearest the centre block yesterday for £18 (basically the whole block to myself) and confirm the view is perfectly acceptable, with just a brief moment not visible stage left but nothing to worry about. |
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Post by robertb213 on Feb 2, 2020 15:34:34 GMT
As much as I adore Kev, this Instagram pic doesn't fill me with confidence - could it look cheaper?... I was keeping it as a matinee option before Lucie Jones' Adelphi gig, but I'll wait for a few more board verdicts I think before I commit... http://instagram.com/p/B8Cx7fnhJpn |
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Post by pianowithsam on Feb 2, 2020 15:37:32 GMT
Totally Appalling ,one of the cheapest and nastiest productions I have ever seen. The theatre(hardly a theatre)itself does not help,the sound is very tinny and muffled and very uncomfortable seats must have been left over from when it was drafty old studio. Not sure how Nick Winston keeps getting work,more poor am dram stuff from him and that is actually an insult to am dram! Kevin Clifton where to start,he can’t sing or act and just isn’t up to leading a musical that is charging high prices. Loads of empty seats and I wish I had left mine empty a total waste of money. AVOID! Enjoyed it then? |
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Post by HereForTheatre on Feb 2, 2020 15:44:56 GMT
Totally Appalling ,one of the cheapest and nastiest productions I have ever seen. The theatre(hardly a theatre)itself does not help,the sound is very tinny and muffled and very uncomfortable seats must have been left over from when it was drafty old studio. Not sure how Nick Winston keeps getting work,more poor am dram stuff from him and that is actually an insult to am dram! Kevin Clifton where to start,he can’t sing or act and just isn’t up to leading a musical that is charging high prices. Loads of empty seats and I wish I had left mine empty a total waste of money. AVOID! I noticed that 3 of your 4 posts on here since you signed up have been you ripping a show to shreds! You must see some good shows (?) so we'd love to hear about the good stuff too!  |
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Post by amp09 on Feb 2, 2020 15:54:28 GMT
Totally Appalling ,one of the cheapest and nastiest productions I have ever seen. The theatre(hardly a theatre)itself does not help,the sound is very tinny and muffled and very uncomfortable seats must have been left over from when it was drafty old studio. Not sure how Nick Winston keeps getting work,more poor am dram stuff from him and that is actually an insult to am dram! Kevin Clifton where to start,he can’t sing or act and just isn’t up to leading a musical that is charging high prices. Loads of empty seats and I wish I had left mine empty a total waste of money. AVOID! It really wasn’t that bad at all! I really enjoyed it. It’s great fun with some cracking songs. |
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Post by pianowithsam on Feb 2, 2020 16:02:39 GMT
Totally Appalling ,one of the cheapest and nastiest productions I have ever seen. The theatre(hardly a theatre)itself does not help,the sound is very tinny and muffled and very uncomfortable seats must have been left over from when it was drafty old studio. Not sure how Nick Winston keeps getting work,more poor am dram stuff from him and that is actually an insult to am dram! Kevin Clifton where to start,he can’t sing or act and just isn’t up to leading a musical that is charging high prices. Loads of empty seats and I wish I had left mine empty a total waste of money. AVOID! It really wasn’t that bad at all! I really enjoyed it. It’s great fun with some cracking songs. Absolutely! Haven't seen this production, but the show itself is an absolute belter. Funny and some great songs as you say. Was lucky enough to play in the band for a production the other month. Such a uplifting show. |
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Post by stevej678 on Feb 2, 2020 16:24:34 GMT
It really wasn’t that bad at all! I really enjoyed it. It’s great fun with some cracking songs. I completely agree! There's nothing cheap or nasty about this production at all. Kevin Clifton gives a committed, humorous performance that I thought was quite impressive for the most part. The stuff about empty (also rather comfy) seats is kind of redundant in a barn like the Wembley Park Theatre. And Nick Winston can do no wrong as far as I'm concerned! |
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Post by ensembleswings on Feb 2, 2020 17:11:51 GMT
I really enjoyed it when I saw it yesterday. Think it worked better on tour a few years ago but that's to do with the theatre that's housing the show rather than the show itself. Wasn't the biggest fan of Kevin, he wasn't bad just didn't appear confident enough for my liking, hopefully with a few more performances under his belt he'll get there, Rhiannon and Tara however were standouts.
I'll be making a return visit towards the end of the run.
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Post by djdan14 on Feb 2, 2020 19:00:21 GMT
One of my favourite tours from a couple of years ago and was so pleased to see it come back for a brief engagement. Saw it yesterday and it’s not lost everything for me. After John Robyns I was worried that Kevin wouldn’t be a patch but he was perfectly serviceable. Got another tripped planned so later in the run so interesting to see how it beds in.
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Post by musicalmarge on Feb 3, 2020 9:42:56 GMT
I saw this yesterday. I laughed out loud lots. Funny? No. More like Wembley Amateur Operatics (sorry if this is a real company). IT WAS TERRIBLE!!!
Wrong location, wrong theatre, too large, no atmosphere (and I was sat on the front), Kevin from Srictly can’t act and his singing is average, the lead female has a sqeaky voice and laughably no stage presence.
This show has the worst wigs I’ve ever seen on stage in my life, the WORST set, and is the cheapest looking thing I think I’ve ever seen. Miscast, badly directed and DREADFUL.
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Post by theatregod on Feb 3, 2020 10:08:25 GMT
For those who lived in the 80s, most things about the 80s was....cough, cheap and nasty I recall? Seems like people are forgetting it’s infact set in the 80s so doesn’t this production perfectly fit the bill ? Plus, the book/film is cheesy as hell.
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Post by theatremadness on Feb 3, 2020 14:46:49 GMT
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Post by stevej678 on Feb 5, 2020 9:50:17 GMT
Four stars from WhatsOnStage which warns that the show will leave "musical theatre snobs rolling their eyes" but praises Kevin Clifton for a "lovely central turn" and Rhiannon Chesterman for "winningly combining feistiness and sweetness in an adorable performance". www.whatsonstage.com/london-theatre/reviews/wedding-singer-wembley-kevin-clifton_50848.htmlTwo stars from The Stage and, based on a tweet from the reviewer last night, no doubt a similarly lukewarm response from the Evening Standard to follow. |
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Post by raiseitup on Feb 5, 2020 11:44:52 GMT
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Post by stevej678 on Feb 5, 2020 12:27:46 GMT
Looks like they knocked off a star for Kevin Clifton's "catastrophic trouser malfunction"! 😲 |
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Post by Mark on Feb 8, 2020 0:32:35 GMT
I really enjoyed this! £10 ticket at the side a steal, great view if you go a bit further back.
Only issue I had was it took me until almost midnight to get back over to Heathrow area. Why start the show at 7:45?!?
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Post by Dr Tom on Feb 9, 2020 14:38:20 GMT
My third Saturday show yesterday was a late booking for The Wedding Singer. In this case, I was glad of the 15 minute later start than usual as there were a few transport disruptions.
TodayTix has been quietly discounting this and I was able to pick up a front row ticket for £20 a couple of hours before the show, which worked for me. There are £10 tickets available and I'm sure you could buy one of those and move to a better seat, but I'm happy with my purchase.
Really enjoyed this one. I've no recollection of the film and haven't seen this on stage before. Fun rock music, an enjoyable plot and some good 1980s jokes. They play movie trailers while you wait for the show to start.
The only downside of the front row is there's a row of strip lights at the front of the stage, so the view isn't as good as it was for Fame. But it's worth it not to have anyone in front of you.
Added bonus. Simon Anthony, fresh off the Fame tour, was on as Glen. Hard to see him as a villain, but he did well. Same accent as Schlomo. I know he's been in a previous tour of this. I presume he usually focuses on the drums as they were conspicuously unmanned when he needed to be in character as Glen.
Kevin from Grimsby has a great rock voice and was able to mostly keep the accent. I've never really followed Strictly but he can certainly move. Also great to see Sandra Dickinson in this and also Jordan Crouch. It's a talented cast all around.
Yes, it is a slight musical, but it's fun and the crowd enjoyed it (even if there did seem to be a lot of conversations going on in the crowd). There was an attempt to get the crowd on their feet at the end, but no one obliged, it just didn't seem like that type of show. Don't know if I'll get the chance to go back, but I'd happily see this again. Haven't started the day with the emotionally draining Assassins, then been to a work in progress MT Fest show, this was easily the most fun of the three.
Finished about 10:20pm, so do plan travel around that. And there was a metal gig of some kind on at Wembley, so there were some interesting people (and the usual fake T-Shirt sellers) about.
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Post by robertb213 on Feb 16, 2020 22:39:06 GMT
This wasn't anywhere near as bad as the negative reviews say. Plenty of fun to be had. Kev does well and doesn't embarrass himself. At times he seemed out of breath in the opening number (never a good sign) and very occasionally the accent slipped, but it's a perfectly acceptable leading performance (plus he's in his pants twice, for anyone who's interested!). It's a frothy musical with good songs, enjoy it for what it is.
Also row DD has great legroom (but isn't raked, so shorties beware) 😀
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Post by carriesparkle on Feb 17, 2020 9:30:48 GMT
They've cancelled one of the two Sunday shows for the last two weeks of the run. Full refunds on offer. Although I had to chase them up to refund the booking fee as well.
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Post by stevej678 on Feb 19, 2020 16:59:42 GMT
Kevin Clifton has done an extended interview with Rhiannon Chesterman where they chat about the show, auditions, reviews and lots more.
Google the Kevin Clifton Show and it's the latest podcast on there.
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Post by xanady on Feb 23, 2020 18:16:51 GMT
Had a great time at the show this afternoon.£15 each for us on the front row.Took part in the pre-show foyer entertainment with the band Rocktupus who were doing an improvised songwriting session using lyrics suggested by the audience.Great fun!
Venue is the old Fountain Studios which have been used for film-making and tv shows in the past.
Very friendly and welcoming staff and after the claustrophobic atmosphere of the bars in WE theatres,it was nice to have a beer in a more relaxed and roomy space.Great to see new theatres spring up like this to provide employment opps.
Not a big KC fan after the Rock Of Ages debacle,but he was excellent in this as the perennial lucked-out Wedding Singer who sings about love but can’t find it for himself.
Great support from the always reliable Jonny Fines,Rhiannon and the rest of the cast including Sandra Dickinson.Her free-style rapping and electric-guitar styling was worth the ticket price alone.
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Post by Dr Tom on Mar 1, 2020 17:41:46 GMT
I went to the penultimate show yesterday evening (would have gone to the final show today, which was a matinee, but didn't like the seat choice).
My £15 front row seat was a bargain. The theatre was very full, with the exception of the side restricted view seats.
The full cast was on, unlike last time, so it was great to see the show in that format. I'm sure that my previous visit had some small cuts.
Not much to add to my previous review. The show is a lot of fun and I'd definitely see it on tour if it goes out again.
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