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Post by Deleted on Nov 8, 2017 19:25:50 GMT
I'm surprised about the negativity toward Will, especially considering he is a great singer with his own music and got nominated for an Olivier for this role alongside Alex Bourne, Michael Ball and Tom Chambers. Granted I haven't seen him in it so can't judge myself I'm just surprised.  He was not poor. But did not save the show with any star performance. |
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Post by BurlyBeaR on Nov 8, 2017 20:06:11 GMT
I'm surprised about the negativity toward Will, especially considering he is a great singer with his own music and got nominated for an Olivier for this role alongside Alex Bourne, Michael Ball and Tom Chambers. Granted I haven't seen him in it so can't judge myself I'm just surprised. He was not poor. But did not save the show with any star performance. Phoning it in. It was boring. Yes, the musical Cabaret was boring. Get your head around that one. And that is largely down to the direction and the leads. The staging and design is a matter of taste, and it was actually TO my taste because I like Chicago from which it is blatantly ripped off, but that can’t make up for mediocre performances. Im balking to say Sleep and Barks were better. Shoot me now. |
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Post by Deleted on Nov 8, 2017 23:24:31 GMT
The set in the bedsit was grey/black and dingy. This could have been contrasted with bright nightclub scenes, but the nightclub also had a black background.
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Post by shady23 on Nov 8, 2017 23:43:34 GMT
I went to see the show last night at the Lowry in salford. The show has four star plus reviews. No way is that correct From the sounds of the reviews on here, it could be four lots of one star reviews added together. There's some really poor touring productions doing the rounds at the moment and a lot of it seems down to the stunt casting, cheap sets and dull stories. If they can't be bothered why should we when deciding what tickets to buy. |
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Post by musicalmarge on Nov 9, 2017 0:03:34 GMT
I went to see the show last night at the Lowry in salford. The show has four star plus reviews. No way is that correct From the sounds of the reviews on here, it could be four lots of one star reviews added together. There's some really poor touring productions doing the rounds at the moment and a lot of it seems down to the stunt casting, cheap sets and dull stories. If they can't be bothered why should we when deciding what tickets to buy. Kenwright has a lot to blame in this. They are simply sub standard regional shows with flat pack sets and stunt casting. Compare our touring musicals to those on the road in the US! |
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Post by Phantom of London on Nov 9, 2017 0:11:31 GMT
He was not poor. But did not save the show with any star performance. Phoning it in. It was boring. Yes, the musical Cabaret was boring. Get your head around that one. And that is largely down to the direction and the leads. The staging and design is a matter of taste, and it was actually TO my taste because I like Chicago from which it is blatantly ripped off, but that can’t make up for mediocre performances. Im balking to say Sleep and Barks were better. Shoot me now. Chicago/Cabaret are from the same stable, in case you didn't know, so there will be a natural cross over. Sad you didn't enjoy it though, it is down my way in a couple of weeks, think I will see it. Edit I was going to see it, until I checked on tickets and all 8 shows are sold out, very surprised I haven't seen this at this theatre before, just as The Addams Family was sold out at the Orchard Theatre - I wonder what the attraction is? Is Louise Rednapp really that much of a pull? |
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Post by musicalmarge on Nov 9, 2017 0:27:37 GMT
Phoning it in. It was boring. Yes, the musical Cabaret was boring. Get your head around that one. And that is largely down to the direction and the leads. The staging and design is a matter of taste, and it was actually TO my taste because I like Chicago from which it is blatantly ripped off, but that can’t make up for mediocre performances. Im balking to say Sleep and Barks were better. Shoot me now. Chicago/Cabaret are from the same stable, in case you didn't know, so there will be a natural cross over. Sad you didn't enjoy it though, it is down my way in a couple of weeks, think I will see it. Edit I was going to see it, until I checked on tickets and all 8 shows are sold out, very surprised I haven't seen this at this theatre before, just as The Addams Family was sold out at the Orchard Theatre - I wonder what the attraction is? Is Louise Rednapp really that much of a pull? I think it would sell out if Louise Rednapp was not in it and it was a standard musical theatre graduate. People love to go to the theatre -!: cabaret is a popular and well known show with classic songs! |
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Post by Phantom of London on Nov 9, 2017 1:39:01 GMT
Chicago/Cabaret are from the same stable, in case you didn't know, so there will be a natural cross over. Sad you didn't enjoy it though, it is down my way in a couple of weeks, think I will see it. Edit I was going to see it, until I checked on tickets and all 8 shows are sold out, very surprised I haven't seen this at this theatre before, just as The Addams Family was sold out at the Orchard Theatre - I wonder what the attraction is? Is Louise Rednapp really that much of a pull? I think it would sell out if Louise Rednapp was not in it and it was a standard musical theatre graduate. People love to go to the theatre -!: cabaret is a popular and well known show with classic songs! No, not to be sold out for the whole run 2 weeks in advance. I have seen this both in London and local and it definitely wasn't sold out, it the star selling it, not the show. However I do agree it is popular and has classic songs. |
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Post by danb on Nov 9, 2017 7:30:31 GMT
Phoning it in. It was boring. Yes, the musical Cabaret was boring. Get your head around that one. And that is largely down to the direction and the leads. The staging and design is a matter of taste, and it was actually TO my taste because I like Chicago from which it is blatantly ripped off, but that can’t make up for mediocre performances. Im balking to say Sleep and Barks were better. Shoot me now. Chicago/Cabaret are from the same stable, in case you didn't know, so there will be a natural cross over. Sad you didn't enjoy it though, it is down my way in a couple of weeks, think I will see it. Edit I was going to see it, until I checked on tickets and all 8 shows are sold out, very surprised I haven't seen this at this theatre before, just as The Addams Family was sold out at the Orchard Theatre - I wonder what the attraction is? Is Louise Rednapp really that much of a pull? I think it’s more to do with a supposedly west end quality show visiting a smaller regional theatre like when we have been gifted with Blood Brothers & Joseph here in Weston. Gee thanks Bill! 😂 |
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Post by martin1965 on Nov 11, 2017 16:50:59 GMT
Just come out of the Lowry mat. Not for the first time i find myself wondering what show the west end wendys on here saw! I thought it very good. Yes Louise is not an actress but she can bloody well sing. Will Young was the star and Susan Penhaligon and Linal Haft were excellent too. Lots of love for Louise at curtain😉 Recommended.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 11, 2017 17:52:46 GMT
Just come out of the Lowry mat. Not for the first time i find myself wondering what show the west end wendys on here saw! I thought it very good. Yes Louise is not an actress but she can bloody well sing. Will Young was the star and Susan Penhaligon and Linal Haft were excellent too. Lots of love for Louise at curtain😉 Recommended. What do you think was good about the show ? |
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Post by martin1965 on Nov 11, 2017 18:08:19 GMT
Casting as i say was good. Kander and Ebb's score is fantastic. Says something when unveiling of Swastika armband bought gasps!
I go along with the Stage review, in that this is a first class revival of a seminal show.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 11, 2017 18:32:09 GMT
So you thought the casting was good and when he revealed the nazi armband.
The celebrity cast is obviously why tickets are selling. Gossip magazines are big business and many people enjoy them. Nothing wrong with that. Katie Price has a theatre show where she just talks about her life. However being in gossip magazines does not qualify a celebrity for staring in a musical.
The Stage's reveiwer obviously did not see the show we saw.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 11, 2017 18:36:53 GMT
So you thought the casting was good and when he revealed the nazi armband. The celebrity cast is obviously why tickets are selling. Gossip magazines are big business and many people enjoy them. Nothing wrong with that. Katie Price has a theatre show where she just talks about her life. However being in gossip magazines does not qualify a celebrity for staring in a musical. And he thought the score was fantastic, don't forget that bit. As much as I think she's bland, Louise Redknapp can't really be compared to Katie Price. If you'd made a comparison to Alexandra Burke I'd get it but Katie? Not really. |
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Post by orchidman on Nov 12, 2017 3:18:00 GMT
The story was not believable. The unemployed male lead who dressed in grey and lived in a bedsit would never be in a relationship with a glamorous showgirl. Haven't seen this production but she's not really supposed to be a glamorous showgirl, she's supposed to be a feeble singer clinging to a job at a third-rate venue. And he's supposed to be a reasonably charismatic young writer, who is also American, which would be quite glamorous in Mitteleuropa at that time. Maybe this production got it wrong but I don't think Cabaret would be such a consistent hit if such a key element of the story itself was off. |
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Post by BurlyBeaR on Nov 13, 2017 15:24:38 GMT
Whether you think she should be a good singer or not (and I don’t think most audiences would accept a Sally who can’t sing) we’re supposed to believe that Sally is a delusional, self-obsessed, low rent dive-bar entertainer, sleeping her way around Berlin. Louise plays it like an Essex Mum. Which of course, she is.
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Post by mallardo on Nov 13, 2017 17:15:21 GMT
In John Van Druten's play "I Am A Camera" from which Cabaret is adapted, Sally is, in fact, posh. Her mother turns up in the play to bring her wayward daughter back into society's fold. In Cabaret itself every Sally I've seen has done or tried to do a posh accent. Re her so-called singing career I don't know if she's delusional or just putting on a front. She seems very self-aware to me.
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Post by martin1965 on Nov 13, 2017 18:48:50 GMT
Whether you think she should be a good singer or not (and I don’t think most audiences would accept a Sally who can’t sing) we’re supposed to believe that Sally is a delusional, self-obsessed, low rent dive-bar entertainer, sleeping her way around Berlin. Louise plays it like an Essex Mum. Which of course, she is. Or rather isnt as she is a south london girl born and bred. Very very different from TOWIE land. |
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Post by BurlyBeaR on Nov 13, 2017 19:14:43 GMT
Essex, Surrey it’s all sarf innit.
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Post by Tibidabo on Nov 13, 2017 19:49:13 GMT
Essex, Surrey it’s all sarf innit. Manchester, Liverpool...it's all t'north, Pet. |
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Post by BurlyBeaR on Nov 13, 2017 21:35:15 GMT
Essex, Surrey it’s all sarf innit. Manchester, Liverpool...it's all t'north, Pet. It is indeed. Homogeneous north west. Yuk! Just don’t confuse it with YORKSHIRE. which is a different bag of chips entirely. |
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Post by distantcousin on Nov 14, 2017 8:53:33 GMT
Essex, Surrey it’s all sarf innit.
Bloody Norfeners!
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Post by Deleted on Nov 14, 2017 11:22:31 GMT
The discussion has turned to Louise Redknapp. However she is not the problem with the show. The problem is with the production.
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Post by loureviews on Nov 14, 2017 12:17:30 GMT
I rather like that one is unsettled at the end. Completely agree. I found the ending in the production I saw very powerful indeed. |
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Post by zsazsa on Nov 19, 2017 10:45:59 GMT
Saw the current tour at the Edinburgh Playhouse last night.
I have seen this production in its various incarnations over the years and certainly when I saw it at the Savoy and its previous tour I was blown away by its grittiness and integrity to exploring a dark time in history.
Last night I felt somewhat overwhelmed. Louise Redknapp was a poor choice for Sally. Yes she could sing the role (with some melodic adjustments) but she could not Act this multifaceted role. Ironically her bio in the programme had so much info that a smaller text size needed to be used and ended with “making her theatrical debut”.
I loved Will as the Emcee in my previous visits but last night I felt his performance lacked the danger he once brought to the role. I think vocally his voice lends itself so well to this era, particularly in ‘I Don’t Care Much’, reminiscent of his beautiful version of ‘All The Things You Are’ in the film of Mrs Henderson Presents.
The audience was full of Louise & Will fans who were more interested in seeing the celebrity rather than engaging with the plot. This resulted in some in appropriate whooping at some of the shows darker moments.
I get the impression that this tour has not been given the same directorial attention to detail of the previous runs and has been rushed together in same fashion BK puts together his tours of Joseph and Blood Brothers.
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