93 posts
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Post by bobbybaby on Aug 26, 2017 17:09:48 GMT
Welcome to the board bobbybaby Thanks - a bit of a lurker but I drop in my hapennyworth occasionally. But looking forward to seeing it again. I felt Imelda hadn't quite decided where she was going with her vocals, but will be interesting to see again when fully up and running. |
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2,302 posts
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Post by Tibidabo on Aug 26, 2017 17:13:04 GMT
Coming from the States to see the show in November and cannot quite remember best seating in this theatre. I know it is steeply raked and wide. I can get P29 on the center block center aisle or G16, a few seats in from the side aisle on the center block? Any thoughts? Thank you. Everything you need to know from our own wonderful resident Monkey. (You will wonder how you ever lived without him!) And welcome to the board @jbc . |
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Post by Deleted on Aug 26, 2017 17:14:03 GMT
How in heaven's name do the apparently delicate flowers on this board go to movies these days, vast numbers of which are way longer than FOLLIES would ever be, and have no interval (most of the HARRY POTTER films, for starters, or most Oscar-season blockbusters) -- in life, are people really going to the loo every 90 minutes? most peculiar if so. Translation: FOLLIES does not and should not have an interval. End of story. Who has TIME to go to movies when there are ALL THESE PLAYS AND MUSICALS to see?! Also, congratulations on your excellent physical health, may it last you a good long while, but if it doesn't, at least then I guess you'll understand why some people can't sit still for as long as you imagine they should be able to. |
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4,215 posts
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Post by anthony40 on Aug 26, 2017 17:16:27 GMT
Welcome to the board bobbybaby Thanks - a bit of a lurker but I drop in my hapennyworth occasionally. Everybody's opinion matters and is of value |
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5,066 posts
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Post by Phantom of London on Aug 26, 2017 17:18:17 GMT
Coming from the States to see the show in November and cannot quite remember best seating in this theatre. I know it is steeply raked and wide. I can get P29 on the center block center aisle or G16, a few seats in from the side aisle on the center block? Any thoughts? Thank you. G16 better to be close, than central, also the Olivier no where you have a bad view. |
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Follies
Aug 26, 2017 17:18:33 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Aug 26, 2017 17:18:33 GMT
Coming from the States to see the show in November and cannot quite remember best seating in this theatre. I know it is steeply raked and wide. I can get P29 on the center block center aisle or G16, a few seats in from the side aisle on the center block? Any thoughts? Thank you. G16. It's a great theatre for sightlines, unless you're exceedingly short sitting behind exceedingly tall, so there'll be a fine view from either of those. I'd always prefer a little closer though, gets you nearer to the facial expressions and finer details.  |
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Post by Deleted on Aug 26, 2017 17:19:11 GMT
How in heaven's name do the apparently delicate flowers on this board go to movies these days, vast numbers of which are way longer than FOLLIES would ever be, and have no interval (most of the HARRY POTTER films, for starters, or most Oscar-season blockbusters) -- in life, are people really going to the loo every 90 minutes? most peculiar if so. Translation: FOLLIES does not and should not have an interval. End of story. It's not about going to the loo. It's about going to the bar. End of story. |
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Post by Deleted on Aug 26, 2017 17:20:38 GMT
Coming from the States to see the show in November and cannot quite remember best seating in this theatre. I know it is steeply raked and wide. I can get P29 on the center block center aisle or G16, a few seats in from the side aisle on the center block? Any thoughts? Thank you. Oh I love the Olivier. Never had a bad view whenever I've been and wherever I've sat. |
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Post by Deleted on Aug 26, 2017 17:50:53 GMT
Thanks everyone for all the seating advice.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 26, 2017 18:17:04 GMT
In fact when Loveland appeared it had a really cool feel as opposed to the warm rose-tinted yesteryear type stagings I've seen previously. I'm not sure how Loveland could ever be rose tinted - the bleak irony of the younger characters' hopes set against the emotional breakdowns of Ben and Sally and the split personalities of Buddy and Phyllis are edging from blue to black! Quick quiz, what do the following songs have in common, apart from being by Sondheim and from Follies? Ah but Underneath, Who's That Woman, One More Kiss, Could I Leave You?, Don't Look at Me, It Wasn't Meant to Happen, Listen to the Rain on the Roof, Beautiful Girls, In Buddy's Eyes, You're Gonna Love Tomorrow, The Story of Lucy and Jessie, The God Why Don't You Love Me Blues, Pleasant Little Kingdom, I'm Still Here. Clue - the order is important. |
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524 posts
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Post by callum on Aug 26, 2017 18:18:29 GMT
I suppose Follies isn't for everyone, but surely by going to the NT in the first place, people will know that they're going to see something slightly subversive or out of the mainstream i.e. not a bog standard musical. Short walk over Waterloo Bridge if they want to see 42nd Street or Lion King.
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19,799 posts
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Post by BurlyBeaR on Aug 26, 2017 18:21:19 GMT
Of course, the people seeing it at the cinema in November have the best of both worlds. Run straight through "as the piece demands"   but also able to trot to the bogotary as often as they please! Win Win! |
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Post by bobbybaby on Aug 26, 2017 19:04:33 GMT
Hi Cardinal Pirelli , I'm referring mainly to the physical staging of Loveland as opposed to the material. {Spoiler - click to view}
The mint green/ice blue colour palette felt very muted in comparison to previous productions I've seen. The RAH piercingly bright mirror lights and RFH huge costume pieces felt quite jarring. Perhaps its the interval free transition that made most impact on me. But as I say Imelda's Losing My Mind blew me away. |
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Post by melly on Aug 26, 2017 21:29:10 GMT
Lights went down at pretty much exactly 2 hours 20 tonight, then another few minutes for curtain call.
I do a silent cheer normally when I hear there's no interval as it means I get home earlier, but found this too long. Wasn't a toilet or even comfort issue as such, but it's a really long time to sit in one position, and you can only fidget so much in a theatre seat without actually getting up. I think I may have cried if I'd been in the cheap front seats though.
My biggest issue was my attention span cut out at around 1 hour 50 minutes, as did most people's judging by the fidgeting and watch checking. 140 minutes of actual show is a long time to stay focussed on one thing. The last 4 songs were probably my favourite part, but I really just wanted it to be done at that point.
It is very rare to get a film that is 150 minutes long (making it roughly 140 minutes without the end credits), and cinema seats are a lot more roomy.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 26, 2017 21:31:39 GMT
Much as it pains me to say it but who needs an interval vodka and tonic? It really does fly by. I don't get all the "meh", performances, orchestra, staging, sets are all phenomenal and glorious song after song. Cannot wait to see it again.
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Post by crabtree on Aug 26, 2017 21:56:07 GMT
People are being a bit cagey about the Loveland staging. I'm expecting the full resources of the National, but well, we'll see. Anyone remember Ziegfeld at the Palladium.....yikes.
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Post by oxfordsimon on Aug 26, 2017 22:05:57 GMT
As regards running times, I would just throw in that I once saw a near enough full text Hamlet where the interval came after 2 hours 30 minutes.
I have also been to a number of Wagner performances where a single act can easily run to the same sort of length with the knowledge that you have 3 more hours to go.
Being at a show with a Follies sort of run time is not that unprecedented. You just have to prepare yourself for it as best you can.
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Post by crabtree on Aug 26, 2017 22:16:49 GMT
Chorus Line faces the same problem - an interval is so half hearted and interrupts the show, and kills all the momentum. How long is Chorus line played straight through, as it sometimes is.
I'm glad someone mention Josephine B....what a great performer she is.
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5,066 posts
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Post by Phantom of London on Aug 26, 2017 22:48:57 GMT
This isn't 2:20hr I will get back again, but why would you need to? When a production of this leaves you with a big smile and the fondest of memories. This revival is as welcome as a big log fire on the coldest winter night. This will join Guys and Dolls, Carousel, A Little Night Music and My Fair Lady - all have been National Theatre produced musical and are talked about today, many years later, in the context of superlatives.
How ironic this is being done in the Olivier Theatre, by which I mean it has the same aesetics as a multi-storey car park!!! How great this would be if this was done in the Theatre Royal, Haymarket that grand old theatre, but scales of economics would make that prohibitive, so alas who were lucky to get a ticket are really lucky to have the pleasure of seeing this in the Olivier without an interval. Only the National could mount a production like this anywhere in the world.
With Gypsy Imelda Staunton is a demure 4ft something actress, upstage she turns into a 7ft powerhouse, that no one will ever overshadow, the rest is history, she bagged the Olivier and much deservedly, however as both musicals are Sondheim it's only natural to compère the 2, but when you reality check you just can't, as Follies is a musical that belongs to the ensemble, with so many stellar individual performances. Where's Gypsy is all about a star vehicle for Rose, saying that I wouldn't be surprised if Imelda's Sideboard starts to creak come next April, why? Because she was magnificent but so was Janine Dee, Tracey Bennet and Emily Goodenough, but who is the 'Right Girl'.
Like Sunset Boulevard last year, worth raiding the piggy banks for - then look behind the sofa.
5 Stars
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Post by Ade on Aug 26, 2017 22:50:51 GMT
Saw this tonight. I enjoyed it but was far from blown away. Some great numbers but it just seemed to go on a long time (more because of the structure of the piece rather than the lack of interval)... I'll admit I'm not the biggest Sondheim fan though. Felt pretty let down by the staging to be honest. It felt like a lot of effort had gone into the set pieces that were there on the stage but those could have been executed and used way more effectively. Performances and orchestra were great though!
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1,972 posts
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Post by sf on Aug 26, 2017 22:52:00 GMT
Chorus Line faces the same problem - an interval is so half hearted and interrupts the show, and kills all the momentum. How long is Chorus line played straight through, as it sometimes is. I'm glad someone mention Josephine B....what a great performer she is. Performed without an intermission - as it was on Broadway for fifteen years - 'A Chorus Line' is more or less exactly two hours long. The Tommy Tune production of 'Grand Hotel' also didn't have an interval (I didn't see the revivals at the Donmar or the Southwark Playhouse), and it's roughly the same length. Again, there isn't any logical spot in the show for an act break. |
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Post by Jon on Aug 26, 2017 23:34:59 GMT
I really liked it, I was familiar with a number of the songs but the show really is great. It's not perfect and I think no amount of tweaking to the material could alter the fact the show is dark and with flawed, unlikeable characters but it's Sondheim so it's not exactly a surprise.
Imelda is fantastic as Sally and a much quieter role compared to Mamma Rose or Martha and it's heartbreaking to see Sally being so happy at the beginning and emotionally devastated by the end. Janie Dee is great as Phyllis and I so surprised at how good a dancer she is but Tracie Bennett did shine as Carlotta especially when she sung I'm Still Here.
Follies isn't going to appeal to everyone but I think people should check it out.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 26, 2017 23:44:52 GMT
I'm glad to see Tracie seems to be the one stealing the show. Great song for a great performer!
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Post by Deleted on Aug 26, 2017 23:54:50 GMT
Not a massive Sondheim fan historically but as I get older am investigating his work more and more. Really like the Follies CD and will be going to this. Out of the musicals of his I am aware of, I find Follies the most accessible.
Quick question - is it not thought of as one of his better works? Only reason I ask, is that in the recent poll of favourite Sondheim musical on this board it didn't get a single vote. Not one! This really surprised me. Especially as with this revival it must be high on people's minds.
Any thoughts?
Oh and I'm team interval for what it's worth. G&T. Wee. General leg stretch.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 27, 2017 0:17:16 GMT
Quick question - is it not thought of as one of his better works? Only reason I ask, is that in the recent poll of favourite Sondheim musical on this board it didn't get a single vote. Not one! This really surprised me. Especially as with this revival it must be high on people's minds. It hasn't been seen here in a full version for nearly thirty years, though, which has kept it out of people's experience. Barring the odd regional outing it's never been seen in its original version at all. I think the expectations of something large scale were responsible for that. I know the Landor did it but it becomes a different show at that scale. |
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but also able to trot to the bogotary as often as they please! 
