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Post by zak97 on Oct 8, 2016 10:12:31 GMT
Just booked a £19.50 grand circle seat for the Wednesday matinee. Being the last week, I'm not sure if it'll be as empty as other weeks. I'm hoping for an upgrade to the dress circle, but you can never know.
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Post by stevej678 on Oct 8, 2016 18:43:36 GMT
Awww you guys, what a beautiful show. I found it just so beautifully staged. Great performances, beautiful music and story. I dont quite know what it was, whether the show or seeing a legend perform in front of me. But either way, a really lovely night in the theatre. And we stage doored and got to meet Michael, what a lovely man, truly a highlight of my theatrical life.  Stalls pretty full but we got upgraded from T to central K for some reason, but a great view it was. Awww I wish more people were going to this! Always good to read your reviews Daniel, your enjoyment of theatre shines through! I completely agree that part of the charm about this show is seeing Michael Crawford perform. Even if his vocals aren't perfect here, there's still something quite magical about seeing him back on stage. And of course Gemma Sutton as a leading lady is hard to better too. Can't wait to see her in Strictly Ballroom! Hopefully The Go-Between will belatedly start packing the audiences in for its final week. It's the complete antithesis of Thriller next door and quite refreshing to see there's still a home for this kind of musical in the West End, no matter what the commercial challenges it might bring. |
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Post by Deleted on Oct 8, 2016 20:53:25 GMT
Awww you guys, what a beautiful show. I found it just so beautifully staged. Great performances, beautiful music and story. I dont quite know what it was, whether the show or seeing a legend perform in front of me. But either way, a really lovely night in the theatre. And we stage doored and got to meet Michael, what a lovely man, truly a highlight of my theatrical life. Stalls pretty full but we got upgraded from T to central K for some reason, but a great view it was. Awww I wish more people were going to this! Always good to read your reviews Daniel, your enjoyment of theatre shines through! I completely agree that part of the charm about this show is seeing Michael Crawford perform. Even if his vocals aren't perfect here, there's still something quite magical about seeing him back on stage. And of course Gemma Sutton as a leading lady is hard to better too. Can't wait to see her in Strictly Ballroom! Hopefully The Go-Between will belatedly start packing the audiences in for its final week. It's the complete antithesis of Thriller next door and quite refreshing to see there's still a home for this kind of musical in the West End, no matter what the commercial challenges it might bring. Awww thank you! I always read back my reviews and think they can sound over-the-top or like I just love everything, so it is nice to hear these don't come across in a negative fashion, I just love theatre hahaha! 
With Michael's voice, I agree he wasn't perfect all the time, I was quite stunned when he really went for it! Several times I got chills when he hit the big notes, as I wasn't expecting him to go that far in this piece. It really was an overwhelming moment! Especially when he sings what is arguably the only song with true structure in the show "Butterfly", his vocals were beautiful, and the staging that went with it just made it such a beautiful moment. I found myself wiping away tears several times throughout, in part for the story but also the stunning staging.
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Post by romeo94 on Oct 9, 2016 16:12:09 GMT
Does anyone know of any deals going for the final week? Hoping to catch it before it goes.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 9, 2016 16:30:47 GMT
Something I find quite sad is that so many are discovering the merits of this so late, so they can't recommend it to others now, as it disappears from the West End as quietly as it appeared. Some of us tried to sing its praises a while back, but it's limped along it would seem with only a handful in the audience, when it might have been supported by a much bigger crowd.
Glad that it has been appreciated though...
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Post by Someone in a tree on Oct 10, 2016 21:20:42 GMT
I can't remember the last time I sore two hostess trolleys on stage ...
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Post by Deleted on Oct 10, 2016 23:14:15 GMT
Something I find quite sad is that so many are discovering the merits of this so late, so they can't recommend it to others now, as it disappears from the West End as quietly as it appeared That's because the prices were so high, sadly. I was hooked by the Michael Crawford name on a poster, but when I got home and checked the prices... |
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Post by Someone in a tree on Oct 11, 2016 6:06:01 GMT
Very high prices for single set (stunning if may be), small cast and piano
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Post by gazzaw13 on Oct 11, 2016 7:47:51 GMT
I agree with all of the recent posters. It's a beautiful piece, well performed and such a pleasure to see Michael Crawford again. I'm so pleased that I saw it before closing.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 11, 2016 7:55:48 GMT
Very high prices for single set (stunning if may be), small cast and piano The set was very clever and worked beautifully, the cast were outstanding, every one of them, and I'd love to be able to play the piano like the chap in this, and make it sound like a little orchestra. Sometimes quality is far, far better than quantity... |
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Post by zak97 on Oct 12, 2016 7:58:57 GMT
Looking forward to seeing this, this afternoon, and also seeing how busy the theatre is. Surely this deserves to go out on a high?
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Post by mmmbop on Oct 12, 2016 9:28:39 GMT
Looking forward to seeing this, this afternoon, and also seeing how busy the theatre is. Surely this deserves to go out on a high? Not sure how busy it was outside of the Stalls, but quite a few empty rows last night unfortunately, although that did mean I got moved forward to a much better seat from my £10 deal. Although at least the audience that was there seemed very appreciative. It was a lovely show - although not normally the kind of story I go for, I am really glad I got to see it and I wouldn't have done so if not for this thread. |
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Post by Someone in a tree on Oct 12, 2016 16:52:41 GMT
Very high prices for single set (stunning if may be), small cast and piano The set was very clever and worked beautifully, the cast were outstanding, every one of them, and I'd love to be able to play the piano like the chap in this, and make it sound like a little orchestra. Sometimes quality is far, far better than quantity... Don't get me wrong I really enjoyed multiple aspects of this and praise it highly |
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Post by zak97 on Oct 12, 2016 18:13:44 GMT
Absolutely loved this, after seeing it this afternoon! The set, whilst not changing, I though was simple yet very atmospheric. The cast were all brilliant, Gemma was standout for me, and her parents who were directly in front of me were visibly proud. Michael was on top form, I didn't think his voice was weak at any moments at all. The simple piano orchestration worked surprisingly well, I thought the music might feel a bit thin, but it was dramatic and atmospheric and did never detract from the story telling.
Upper circle closed, but the dress was open. Very happily upgraded to J14 stalls from B24 Grand, which I think for sure improved my enjoyment of the piece.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 14, 2016 16:54:00 GMT
This was a pleasant enough evening, but I can see why it hasn't set the West End alight and I wasn't quite as impressed as some others have been. It may have been because I was fighting a hideous heavy cold (spent most of Act 1 trying not to cough, happily discovered Haagen Dazs chocolate ice cream at the interval was the ideal cure for that before Act 2), but I was slightly baffled by the ending. {Spoiler - click to view}
Leo blames himself for destroying the relationship between the posh daughter and the farmer. But I couldn't see why. Posh daughter was going to wait until 6.30 anyway, but for some reason Burgess randomly decided to shoot himself anyway without waiting to see if she turned up. (This was something he could have done at any time while getting depressed about the fact they couldn't marry. Why pick this moment when they'd supposedly arranged to meet?)
And then at the end, he seemed to randomly pull himself together and decide that despite having lived with the guilt of this for decades, suddenly he was perfectly OK with it all because posh daughter had had the farmer's child anyway (at least, I think that was his reasoning).
It was all just a bit sudden at the end, having been subject to lots of slightly annoying extended scenes of diaries/memories 'talking' and posh families bickering. |
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Post by d'James on Oct 14, 2016 20:00:45 GMT
This was a pleasant enough evening, but I can see why it hasn't set the West End alight and I wasn't quite as impressed as some others have been. It may have been because I was fighting a hideous heavy cold (spent most of Act 1 trying not to cough, happily discovered Haagen Dazs chocolate ice cream at the interval was the ideal cure for that before Act 2), but I was slightly baffled by the ending. {Spoiler - click to view}
I thought he shot himself after the mother caught them 'at it.'
I think he could let go because he had a sort of forgiveness from Marian and was the Go-Between for her and her (was it?) grandson
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Post by Deleted on Oct 14, 2016 22:44:45 GMT
That makes sense, d'James. I remember the mother certainly having a line like "How COULD you, Marian?" but assumed she'd just twigged what was going on, not that she'd actually witnessed it.
I should add that I thought the actress playing Marian had a beautiful voice - as did Trimingham; would've liked to hear him sing more. Crawford's voice is, I am sure, rather less strong than it used to be but his acting found lovely emotional moments, I thought.
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Post by loureviews on Oct 15, 2016 9:38:30 GMT
The two film versions make the ending much clearer and as d'James describes.
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Post by andrew on Oct 15, 2016 12:15:48 GMT
I also was a touch confused by the ending and just sort of made assumptions about what must have happened. Bearing in mind it's the moment the whole play leads up to it would've been nice to really nail the direction of it though.
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Post by d'James on Oct 15, 2016 12:25:08 GMT
I also was a touch confused by the ending and just sort of made assumptions about what must have happened. Bearing in mind it's the moment the whole play leads up to it would've been nice to really nail the direction of it though. I definitely agree. I had to double check with the person I was with, who had recently read the story. |
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