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Post by Deleted on Jun 4, 2016 20:58:06 GMT
I dont know how they're going to make their money back from this as its only a few months run and it's a brand new musical? Also, Michael Crawford must've cost abit of money to get back into the theatre? I'm It's a very cheap show to run, akin to any play running a limited engagement in the West End. |
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Post by Deleted on Jun 4, 2016 22:30:20 GMT
£85 down to £35 on TKTS
Bend it bend it
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Post by stevej678 on Jun 4, 2016 22:46:10 GMT
I was at the matinee today and the theatre was pretty much packed - certainly the stalls were - and all three levels were open. The show works. The bravos started even before the final blackout and continued through the bows. Michael Crawford got a big standing ovation. That's what I experienced.
More thoughts on the show - all positive - tomorrow. Pretty much only positive thoughts on the show for me too, Mallardo. The final two scenes in particular, the first between Crawford and Gemma Sutton and the second between Crawford and young Leo, are beautifully done. I thought the use of Crawford's character in general and his integration into the events he was observing/reliving around him was very well judged. I really wasn't sure this would be for me but very pleasantly surprised. |
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Post by mallardo on Jun 5, 2016 7:09:54 GMT
"The past is a foreign country, they do things differently there", is the famous opening line in L.P. Hartley's novel, The Go-Between, and its powerful resonances are everywhere in this poignant little musical that brilliantly evokes both the sunlight and the darkness of events in the summer of 1900, in Norfolk, confronted now by the man who was 13 years old at the time and who was changed forever.
So it's a show about memory, about the present calling up the past and demanding an explanation - something much easier to do in a novel than on a stage. But the creators here - Richard Taylor (music and lyrics) and David Wood (book and lyrics) - have given it a sublime translation through the simplest of means. A single set, an old room, a cluster of chairs, a grand piano upstage and a trunk centre stage from which the aging Leo Colston (Michael Crawford) lifts out the small props (a book, a ball, a cricket bat) that cue the actions of the story. In the wrong hands it could all be arch and precious - but it's not, it's perfect.
Because, first and foremost, the music is radiantly beautiful. As stevejohnson has noted above, there are no songs per se, nothing stand alone. There are "fragments of songs", themes and motifs floating in and out in a kind of Sondheim-ish way - the Sondheim of Sunday in the Park With George with overtones of A Little Night Music ("remember" is a word used over and over again). The only instrument heard is the piano and this works surprisingly well, although there are times when a string trio would have been a welcome addition, moments when the music surges up to a climax the piano alone cannot quite achieve. Because they get so little support the voices are important here, there is some challenging a cappella singing which this 11 person cast handles wonderfully. Some of the vocal arrangements, uncredited in the programme, are absolutely exquisite.
Roger Haines's staging is fluid and inventive, leaving everything to the imagination but cleverly giving us just enough to fill in the blanks. The cast is tremendous, top to bottom. The two boys I saw - Luka Green as Young Leo and Samuel Menhinick as his friend, Marcus - were amazing. Green, in particular, has a huge role, interacting with his older self throughout and carrying the story, and he never puts a foot wrong. He well deserved to share the final bow with Michael Crawford.
As for Gemma Sutton, the role of Marion, the heroine who befriends young Leo in order to use him, is a career changer. She sings like an angel, as always, but I had no idea she was such a superb actress. Not only that but she looks gorgeous as a blonde.
Michael Crawford is probably the reason this show is in the West End and if so he's living up to expectations. His commitment to the role of Leo Colston is complete. If his singing is, at times, not so beautiful, he handles the music well enough and his presence is always felt. In a role that could be intrusive he is sympathetic and galvanising throughout. The final scene with his younger self is electrifying. There couldn't have been a dry eye in the house.
The audience response was quite overwhelming. It's been a while since I've heard so many heart-felt bravos in a theatre. How this will do at the box-office I don't know. There was a good house for my performance but time will tell. It's a serious and seriously beautiful show and hopefully there's still a place for that in the West End.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 5, 2016 8:18:31 GMT
Thank you, mallardo. I love the film, and loved the recent TV drama, so booked on the strength of that, along with some positive comments about the show's northern incarnation on this board. From one or two earlier comments, I was beginning to think I'd booked a dud, but after reading your beautifully written and thoughtful review, I'm really looking forward to it next Saturday.
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Post by mrbarnaby on Jun 5, 2016 8:22:27 GMT
Hmmmm.. You are making me think about booking it now...
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Post by Deleted on Jun 5, 2016 9:13:00 GMT
Can't believe people are getting excited about this.. Let alone actually bought a ticket!! Go on, mrb... Treat yourself. You might like it after all. (That's what happens when we get to 39- our tastes change...  ) |
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Post by stanne on Jun 5, 2016 9:40:07 GMT
Thank you very much for your review of this Mallardo. I've booked for September and was beginning to wonder if I'd made a terrible mistake....looking forward to it now!
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Post by Deleted on Jun 5, 2016 10:02:14 GMT
I'd say if anyone is thinking of going to see this then I'd go sooner rather than later as I don't think it will last that long. I saw it on Saturday night and the stalls were just over two thirds full and I couldn't tell if the upper circle was open or not. The theatre is just too big for the show, it needs to be in a Donmar or Almeida, somewhere like that.
It's all very nicely done, beautifully sung and very well acted but there was just something missing for me. Terrific cast though and it is something different for the West End so I hope it succeeds for that.
Oh and for those who love a bit of man totty with your theatre, Stuart Ward gets his shirt off and gets a bit damp which was a rather pleasant surprise.
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Post by stevej678 on Jun 8, 2016 7:26:19 GMT
Mixed set of reviews so far.
2* Times
2* Whatsonstage
3* Telegraph
4* Mail
4* Stage
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Post by horton on Jun 8, 2016 9:49:02 GMT
I really want to see this, but that trailer made it look dull as hell. Conflicted!
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Post by Oleanna on Jun 8, 2016 10:11:27 GMT
Who made the decision to open on the same night that Harry Potter started previews!?
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Post by Deleted on Jun 8, 2016 14:47:27 GMT
I really want to see this, but that trailer made it look dull as hell. Conflicted! I agree. But for me, trailers fit into one of two categories. Dire ones, like this, that are not going to tempt anyone along; and then there are the oversellers, which promise far too much, and in the end you are left wanting. (There seem to be more of the latter around.) Am going on Saturday, with an open mind, having read conflicting reviews... |
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Post by Deleted on Jun 8, 2016 16:00:13 GMT
I really want to see this, but that trailer made it look dull as hell. Conflicted! I agree. But for me, trailers fit into one of two categories. Dire ones, like this, that are not going to tempt anyone along; and then there are the oversellers, which promise far too much, and in the end you are left wanting. (There seem to be more of the latter around.) Am going on Saturday, with an open mind, having read conflicting reviews... I will be interested to see what you think. This wasn't on my wish list but since reading Mallardo's review I rather fancy giving it a whirl - the varied official reviews don't worry me, I usually find reviews here give me a better idea of if I am likely to enjoy.
Assuming it keeps going until August though,as I don't think I can get there before then.
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Post by loureviews on Jun 10, 2016 6:40:34 GMT
I went last night. It is a slow piece with a dark heart and although the ensemble are excellent, especially Crawford, the songs are not memorable and the transition to a musical is not entirely successful.
However it is well acted, has a fine solo piano accompaniment throughout, is lit beautifully and does well with a tricky storyline. Gemma Sutton is very good as Marian and Issy van Randwyck is scary as her mother.
A minimalist set uses lots of tricks and invention to portray different locations (the tailor's shop, the farm, the outhouse). It is a pity this is clearly not selling that well - and I can't imagine Crawford, still a huge theatre name even past his Phantom prime, came cheap.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 10, 2016 7:43:55 GMT
I rather enjoyed this - it's gentle and atmospheric, and far more about the emotions than any plot, which is barely there. Excellent performances all round and I loved Crawford's whimsical old man. But very brave/foolhardy to go into the West End cold with something like this - I'd have thought they would have been better off starting in one of the bigger fringe theatres like the Hampstead and then thinking about a transfer. As it is, I don't know where the audience is going to come from - but it really does deserve an audience and I hope it gets one, as it's a charmer. I certainly don't think anyone would regret seeing it.
It's definitely not Wicked, and I say that as a compliment!
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Post by Deleted on Jun 10, 2016 8:25:51 GMT
I went last night. It is a slow piece with a dark heart and although the ensemble are excellent, especially Crawford, the songs are not memorable and the transition to a musical is not entirely successful. However it is well acted, has a fine solo piano accompaniment throughout, is lit beautifully and does well with a tricky storyline. Gemma Sutton is very good as Marian and Issy van Randwyck is scary as her mother. A minimalist set uses lots of tricks and invention to portray different locations (the tailor's shop, the farm, the outhouse). It is a pity this is clearly not selling that well - and I can't imagine Crawford, still a huge theatre name even past his Phantom prime, came cheap. I did think at some point IvR was going to scream "I'll get you my pretty - and your little dog too!" though. |
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Post by paplazaroo on Jun 11, 2016 8:46:02 GMT
What a shame this is such a curiously underpowered and melancholic affair, it has glimmers of potential. I found it pretty boring, it's all taken so seriously but the music is nice and lyrics work well it just could have been done faster and more excitingly. The staging is a bit budget Complicite, complete with flapping umbrellas and while Crawford is convincing as Leo, he doesn't have the chops to make Butterfly soar, rather you worry he might rupture something trying to hit the final note.
I found it quite badly paced, you spend most of the first half waiting for something to happen, a lot of the second half thinking something is maybe happening and then the last 5 minutes trying to catch up with everything they've told you happened (in clunky exposition). It's a shame as I really want new musicals to succeed but I can't see it lasting long.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 12, 2016 13:13:53 GMT
Every so often, but not often enough, in amongst the rubbish, the stuff that’s been around a bit too long now, and that which arrives with a great fanfare, as if to tell us all of its great importance, something quietly arrives in the West End and waits for us to discover it.
This is The Go-Between. And this was my kind of thing…
This is a delicate little piece of stunning beauty. The story is simple, and it takes place when Things Mattered. Behaviour. Class. War. Summer holidays in the country. Afternoon tea. Cricket.
I went along with fond memories of Michel Legrand’s score, a pounding harpsichord as a boy ran messages between Julie Christie and Alan Bates. And he shouldn’t have been… And that’s the essence of the plot. I saw the recent TV adaptation and enjoyed it. So I had to book for this, a musical version.
And then I read some of the reviews, and caught the promotional video; I wondered if I had splashed out on a dud. It turns out that some of the reviewers have been unkind, not only to the production and some of the actors, but to a potential audience, who might never see this show now as a result of these negative comments.
It’s cleverly, imaginatively staged, in an Edwardian drawing room, with tarnished chairs and Norfolk grass sprouting up through the floorboards starting to cover up the past. Actors suddenly grasp props from nowhere to show us we are in a shop, outside a church, on a vast country estate. There are images of Mercury and Icarus. The lighting is brilliantly atmospheric. A single pianist pounds away in the back corner of the room (no harpsichord, but it didn’t matter…) which is the only accompaniment this piece requires. You can hear every note played and sung, a rarity in the West End today.
And the cast! Phenomenal! Every one of them. The two boys on last night were just astounding; the Young Leo holds the whole piece and almost never leaves the stage. Just like omnipresent Old Leo, Michael Crawford, who is incredible. Sitting right down the front of the stalls, I was able to see his every twitch, every contortion, every movement, and I was suddenly reminded of what he brought to Phantom all those years ago that no-one else has ever managed to bring since. (I’m sorry, Michael, but you were never the powerhouse singing hunk that has replaced you time and time again at Her Majesty's. You were something far more subtle than that- a twisted, tortured soul, a fool who never stood a chance. And you made us feel for you…) Here I was reminded of Glenn Close’s Norma in Sunset- her singing wasn’t perfect, but she brought to the role something you can’t define. You just know it’s right. And that’s exactly what you get here with Michael Crawford. He is stunning; no tortured Phantom this time (it’s someone else’s turn to wear the facial disfigurement, more boldly.) Now he’s looking back, making sense of the part he played in his youth, and not quite coming to terms with his past for the present. There are two moments when he and his young counterpart reduce the audience to tears. Even the woman to my right stopped eating her (whole bag of) Minstrels to savour the moments. If Michael Crawford is off the night you attend, I would be seriously tempted to ask politely at the box-office if you could exchange your tickets for another night…
It has to be said that if you like your musicals with tap along tunes, music that soars, and a big finish, then this possibly isn’t for you, unless you are willing to let it in.
So, does this belong in the West End? Why not? If I were Director of the West End, I’d have a lot more shows like this in theatres, because there really should be room for everything: the rubbish, the stuff that’s been around too long, and the fanfare stuff. As to whether it belongs in this type of theatre…. Perhaps it would sit better in a smaller venue, but I’m glad it ended up here rather than nowhere from its original home up north, as I would never have had an opportunity to see it. And I am so, so glad I did…
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Post by wickedgrin on Jun 12, 2016 13:23:20 GMT
Fantastic review. I'm going!!
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Post by mallardo on Jun 12, 2016 13:35:22 GMT
Indeed, wonderful review, Caiaphus. So glad you enjoyed it.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 12, 2016 18:32:18 GMT
Fantastic review. I'm going!! Me too ! |
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Post by Michael on Jun 12, 2016 22:53:29 GMT
The earliest I can manage is mid September, but if it's still running, I'll definitely be going.
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Post by bellboard27 on Jun 16, 2016 21:38:40 GMT
Just been. I couldn't match Caiaphas' eloquent review, so won't. But thanks for it as it made me go.
On numbers - stalls about two thirds full and a smattering in the dress circle. Grand circle closed.
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Post by Oleanna on Jun 17, 2016 0:17:34 GMT
Hoping to see this tomorrow. £85 down to £27.50 on TKTS. May try for day seats first.
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