4,361 posts
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Post by shady23 on Apr 23, 2017 9:17:00 GMT
The front row is row C for this production and it is probably better being a bit higher, the seats are hugely raked in this theatre.
I was in second row and the view was perfect.
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1,064 posts
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Post by bellboard27 on Apr 23, 2017 9:38:49 GMT
Thought it useful to summarise some reviews:
The Stage, WOS: 4 ⭐️
Express, Telegraph: 3 ⭐️
Evening Standard, Guardian, Time Out: 2 ⭐️
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Post by Deleted on Apr 23, 2017 10:00:09 GMT
Am going this week, to complete my set of the four The Other Palace / St James Theatre shows this year. I've enjoyed seeing The Wild Party at The Other Palace and Rent and La Strada on tour. These first three were all different but excellent so I shan't weep too much if Whisper House, different again from the other three, isn't a masterpiece. I intend to experience it as a companion piece to The Lighthouse by Peter Maxwell Davies.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 23, 2017 10:15:26 GMT
Quick question, when is The Other Palace - "the home of new British musicals" - going to do a new British musical?
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Post by Deleted on Apr 23, 2017 10:29:09 GMT
La Strada is British! It's a musical adaptation of a film and is a play, or piece of theatre, with music and songs.
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18 posts
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Post by bamaboy on Apr 23, 2017 15:55:48 GMT
Great! Seems like there are plenty of tickets for the Thursday matinee, so think I'll just snag a cheap seat.
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3,057 posts
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Post by ali973 on Apr 24, 2017 5:42:18 GMT
somewhat off topic, but the Secret Life of Bees (based on the book and film..which I thought was terrific) is adapted into a musical by Duncan Sheik. I do like his projects, but I'm not sure how his music style would be suitable for a story full of African American characters set in the south?
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18 posts
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Post by bamaboy on Apr 24, 2017 22:03:24 GMT
Maybe that's the challenge that excited him about the project?
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3,057 posts
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Post by ali973 on May 4, 2017 22:35:28 GMT
Well, this was rather avante garde.
Though the story is pretty weak, I think the show had its merits. I wish the characters sang more than the two ghosts. I wish the projections were better. I wish Dianne Pilkington gets more West End shows-- truly underused in London. I think she'd do Sondheim very well. Cast her as Fosca somewhere. She reminds me of Maria Friedman. I wish the boy had a better dialect coach. Overall, not too bad for twenty-five quid. I found myself in the first row, which I could swear I didn't do on purpose. So I went back to the box office, and asked the 17 year old if I could get a seat re-allocation because I felt it was too close and cluster-phobic. "Well, this is an exception". Power trip, much? Anyway, from my very comfortable isle seat a few rows back, I counted no more than 94 heads in the entire auditorium. The audience was extremely muted and ungenerous during the show-- they even refused to laugh at some of the dark humor sprinkled throughout.
I don't know what to think of it. I certainly didn't hate it- but I think it requires more on its content, direction and design.
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1,970 posts
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Post by sf on May 12, 2017 23:56:14 GMT
Anyway, from my very comfortable isle seat a few rows back, I counted no more than 94 heads in the entire auditorium. I counted 37 at Thursday's matinee. I'm glad I saw it, and it didn't work. I liked the performances and the direction and design, but it's too slight to stand alone as a full-length piece of theatre, and the interval is a mistake. It needs to be a one-act, preferably half of a double bill - it started at 2.30pm, and even with a 20-minute interval it was done by 4pm. |
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4,984 posts
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Post by Someone in a tree on May 13, 2017 7:51:08 GMT
If Simon Lipkin had a puppet then this musical would be perfect
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Post by Deleted on May 13, 2017 15:25:59 GMT
I was tempted to book but then I read all these bad reviews...
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125 posts
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Post by CBP1 on May 25, 2017 13:21:34 GMT
I saw this last night. It's not the best thing I've ever seen but it's certainly not the worst. I agree that the book was weak and quite a lot of the lyrics were clunky, but overall it was enjoyable enough for a last minute Wednesday night theatre trip. I actually really liked the set.
It was the cast that really appealed to me, and they all lived up to expectations, although as other people have said it's a shame that the ghosts had so many of the songs. Not that I object to listening to Niamh Perry all night. But I did feel like everyone other than the ghosts was chronically underused in the singing department. Simon Lipkin in particular - I would have cast him as the male ghost. He does creepy and comedy so well it felt like a wasted opportunity to cast him as the sheriff.
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