1,936 posts
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Post by wickedgrin on Aug 18, 2018 7:59:39 GMT
Allegedly she has split from the guy she "coupled" up with too, so she cannot even make some money as a "celebrity couple" with the magazine deals. The gamble she took didn't pay off. The best of luck to her...…...
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2,041 posts
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Post by 49thand8th on Aug 22, 2018 15:19:55 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Aug 22, 2018 17:54:38 GMT
Samira who?
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4,153 posts
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Post by kathryn on Aug 29, 2018 16:41:24 GMT
Finally saw this today, after not winning the TodayTix lotto for months I finally got a £35 stalls tickets from TKTS - row N central, nice view.
Theatre packed with kids as it’s the holidays - I suspect many repeat visitors. Lovely atmosphere. But - and this is probably just me - I had a very peculiar experience with it. It left me completely cold. I can see that it is well-produced and the cast are great, but I just didn’t like any of the characters. They’re all selfish, horrible people. I especially found Effie annoying. I mean, the actress playing her absolutely sings her guts out, and clearly has a great voice and is very talented, but I just found the character abrasive.
The rest of the audience absolutely loved it - I’m sure I was the only one not standing at the end - but I found myself thinking about what I’m going to have for dinner.
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Post by anthem on Aug 29, 2018 18:53:35 GMT
A shame you didn’t enjoy it kathryn. Can I ask who you saw as Effie? I found her quite sympathetic/ likeable when I saw it. |
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Post by Deleted on Aug 29, 2018 19:29:56 GMT
As time has gone on I have realised how much I don't like Effie as a person. I actually much prefer Deena as a character. And I find (don't come for me), Deena is actually the better of the two roles from a performance perspective and an audience perspective, but that's just me.  |
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4,153 posts
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Post by kathryn on Aug 29, 2018 21:54:10 GMT
A shame you didn’t enjoy it kathryn. Can I ask who you saw as Effie? I found her quite sympathetic/ likeable when I saw it. I don’t know - I didn’t check. (I tend not to as I forget everyone’s name anyway!) |
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5,138 posts
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Post by TallPaul on Sept 3, 2018 13:13:36 GMT
Like they did with 42nd Street last Monday/Tuesday, TodayTix has a 24 hour sale on tickets for Dreamgirls. Every performance in September. Tickets at £15, £25 and £35.
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19,657 posts
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Post by BurlyBeaR on Sept 3, 2018 14:06:28 GMT
Finally saw this today, after not winning the TodayTix lotto for months I finally got a £35 stalls tickets from TKTS - row N central, nice view. Theatre packed with kids as it’s the holidays - I suspect many repeat visitors. Lovely atmosphere. But - and this is probably just me - I had a very peculiar experience with it. It left me completely cold. I can see that it is well-produced and the cast are great, but I just didn’t like any of the characters. They’re all selfish, horrible people. I especially found Effie annoying. I mean, the actress playing her absolutely sings her guts out, and clearly has a great voice and is very talented, but I just found the character abrasive. The rest of the audience absolutely loved it - I’m sure I was the only one not standing at the end - but I found myself thinking about what I’m going to have for dinner. B...b...b....but what about that crystal curtain? A...a....a....and that ‘bit’ in I Am Changing? ?😢😢😢 |
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4,153 posts
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Post by kathryn on Sept 3, 2018 14:45:17 GMT
B...b...b....but what about that crystal curtain? A...a....a....and that ‘bit’ in I Am Changing? ?😢😢😢 If they ain't diamonds I ain't impressed! |
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Post by Deleted on Sept 3, 2018 15:02:08 GMT
Finally saw this today, after not winning the TodayTix lotto for months I finally got a £35 stalls tickets from TKTS - row N central, nice view. Theatre packed with kids as it’s the holidays - I suspect many repeat visitors. Lovely atmosphere. But - and this is probably just me - I had a very peculiar experience with it. It left me completely cold. I can see that it is well-produced and the cast are great, but I just didn’t like any of the characters. They’re all selfish, horrible people. I especially found Effie annoying. I mean, the actress playing her absolutely sings her guts out, and clearly has a great voice and is very talented, but I just found the character abrasive. The rest of the audience absolutely loved it - I’m sure I was the only one not standing at the end - but I found myself thinking about what I’m going to have for dinner. B...b...b....but what about that crystal curtain? A...a....a....and that ‘bit’ in I Am Changing? ?😢😢😢 A....a....a....and what did you decide on for dinner? |
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4,153 posts
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Post by kathryn on Sept 3, 2018 15:07:06 GMT
B...b...b....but what about that crystal curtain? A...a....a....and that ‘bit’ in I Am Changing? ?😢😢😢 A....a....a....and what did you decide on for dinner? Went to Ping Pong for dim sum! Lovely char sui bao, sticky vegetable rice, chicken and cashew nut dumplings, and jasmine tea. Yummy. I have no memory at all of the ‘bit’ in I Am Changing. The only songs from the show I can recall are One Night Only and I Am Telling You. Weird, isn't it? I guess sometimes a show just doesn't work for you. |
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19,657 posts
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Post by BurlyBeaR on Sept 3, 2018 15:57:45 GMT
I have no memory at all of the ‘bit’ in I Am Changing.  |
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Post by danb on Sept 3, 2018 16:52:44 GMT
^No, it isn't just you kathryn. I hated the whole thing to, and you have put your finger on why, I think. ...and I could only manage the first act. I found it a bit empty as a whole and only Ambers AIATYIAG elevated it anywhere other than mildly disinterested. I don’t know if I even saw a curtain or a ‘bit’. |
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Post by Deleted on Sept 4, 2018 0:54:05 GMT
I adored this show. I’m not really into musicals but this is a really clever musical that recounts an important moment in black American history. Although they don’t make a meal of it the backdrop to this is the civil rights movement. People of colour were fighting a violentbattle against segregation. Music and sports were two of the major ways of escaping what the show describes as a veritable prison. The show explores the effect this has on all the characters (the abrasiveness) and explains why the desire for fame is so intense. It also explains Effie’s self destructiveness - despite her huge talent she has no self belief or self regard, which is why her song about needing her man’s love,no matter how badly he treats her, is so devastating. A community tearing itself apart. I felt something for all the characters - even the “villains”
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4,153 posts
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Post by kathryn on Sept 4, 2018 8:58:21 GMT
I adored this show. I’m not really into musicals but this is a really clever musical that recounts an important moment in black American history. Although they don’t make a meal of it the backdrop to this is the civil rights movement. People of colour were fighting a violentbattle against segregation. Music and sports were two of the major ways of escaping what the show describes as a veritable prison. The show explores the effect this has on all the characters (the abrasiveness) and explains why the desire for fame is so intense. It also explains Effie’s self destructiveness - despite her huge talent she has no self belief or self regard, which is why her song about needing her man’s love,no matter how badly he treats her, is so devastating. A community tearing itself apart. I felt something for all the characters - even the “villains” For me, the book really fails to connect the dots between that wider theme and the personalities of the characters - I didn't see Effie as having no self regard, quite the opposite, in fact. The civil rights and segregation backdrop is treated so shallowly, and the focus is so completely on the personalities and petty squabbling, that any wider concerns are completely lost. The major motivation for them all is personal success. I didn't believe in the 'community' - it's presented more like a group of competing egos - so the notion that it is tragically 'tearing itself apart' didn't land for me. I didn't see Effie's man actually 'treating her badly' - there appeared to be little to their relationship beyond a superficial attraction and mutual ambition, in any case, which made it hard to invest in it as a love story. So I didn't find her big number 'devastating'. It was more like a temper tantrum. |
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Post by Deleted on Sept 4, 2018 11:47:16 GMT
Like a lot of musicals this used fairly broad brushstrokes to tell the story but there are plenty of references to the characters’ predicament and the way in which artists of colour had to compromise in order to find be acceptable to white audiences, lots of references to segregation - they weren’t allowed to play certain clubs. There were references too to the way that the music business appropriated the music of people of colour, giving their songs to artists like Elvis while the original artists were left by the wayside. One of the reasons I loved this was because it’s references are widely known so it doesn’t have to be heavy handed with them- it wouldn’t work if you were constantly telling people about a fairly well known history; we all recognise at once that Deana and Effie’s love triangle is like that of Diana Ross and Berry Gordy, we make connections to James Brown and to men who had a genius for creating stars but were driven by demons like Ike Turner, Michael Jackson’s father. It was first prodiuced in 1981 so I expected it to be dated but for me it wasn’t because many of its themes remain relevant.
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4,153 posts
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Post by kathryn on Sept 4, 2018 13:02:05 GMT
People get out of a show what they bring to it.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 4, 2018 14:17:53 GMT
People get out of a show what they bring to it. I think this is so true! |
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5,139 posts
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Post by Being Alive on Sept 4, 2018 21:54:26 GMT
Just out of tonight’s show - and I’m exhausted!
Moyà was Effie. And she was a supernova. I’m serious, that lady is the real deal. And I Am Telling You was unquestionably the best rendition I’ve heard of it (even better than when I last saw the show with Amber in the first week of previews) - thoroughly deserving of the standing ovation a lot of people gave it - and such a great portrayal of Effie.
Asmeret and Brennyn were fantastic as Lorell and Deena. Much preferred Brennyn to Liisi. Just wonderful vocals and such strength.
I’m glad I left such a gap in between seeing the shows (just over 19 months) and hope to see it on tour at some point in the future.
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520 posts
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Post by anthony on Sept 8, 2018 18:50:38 GMT
Saw this for the 2nd time today. Went to the matinee. Moya was on as Effie.
I first saw Dreamgirls last August and was expecting to hate it -- I'd listened to a few songs from the cast album, all of which left me cold, but I completely loved it so was looking forward to seeing it again, but something just didn't click today. I can't put my finger on what, but I found myself sort of bored. I can't decide whether I loved Moya or wasn't a fan. She's vocally amazing, but her voice I think can sometimes sound quite 'rough', if you know what I mean?
Has anyone else found the speakers in the Savoy to be a bit rubbish, too? We were in the dress circle and don't remember it being an issue when I saw it last August in the stalls. It was almost like the speakers couldn't handle the volume and it almost sounded like the speakers were going a bit 'fuzzy', particularly during I Am Telling You I'm Not Going.
I really didn't like how the the audience turned the last 10 minutes into a pantomime, though. When Deena was telling Curtis she was leaving, someone in the audience gasped, which led to loads of people going 'ooooohhhhh', and even someone shouting something to the affect of 'RUN AWAY, DEENA', whistling and heckling. They also booed Joe Aaron Reid, which I thought was a shame... I know he's playing a 'villain', but still... I know villains do sometimes get booed, but this is the first time I've ever saw something where the boos were louder than the cheers.
As a side note, Joe Aaron Reid is amazing. He's perfect for the role.
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904 posts
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Post by lonlad on Sept 8, 2018 22:20:23 GMT
The booing of Joe has been going on since the production first opened and is BEYOND asinine, speaking only to how brain-dead audiences are these days. Just wait till the next Iagos or Claudiuses start getting catcalls for their efforts. Heaven help us.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 16, 2018 1:07:04 GMT
Nicole will be on for Effie this coming Wednesday matinee for anyone interested in seeing her!  |
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Post by tayla on Sept 25, 2018 11:11:41 GMT
I want to see dreamgirls again but I’m not sure whether to see Marisha or Moya (already seen Karen). I’ve seen a few videos of Marisha’s Effie and I’m not that impressed ngl. It seems a bit weak and nasily, does she sound like that live? It seems everyone loves her but from what I’ve seen she’s not that great. Would I be better seeing Moya or should I give Marisha a chance?
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376 posts
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Post by hitmewithurbethshot on Sept 25, 2018 15:15:38 GMT
Can’t speak for Marisha but I saw Moya a few months ago and loved her, far better than when I saw Amber with the previous cast
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