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Post by tonyloco on Aug 13, 2017 23:11:42 GMT
 Found the picture on the internet! This is the original cast singing the title song. I assumed it was an encore at the very end but maybe it was the end of the number as it occurs in its normal place in the show. I was really longing to see it at the RAH last Friday but alas it didn't happen. How sad must I be! |
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Post by theatremadness on Aug 14, 2017 8:11:13 GMT
Found the picture on the internet! This is the original cast singing the title song. I assumed it was an encore at the very end but maybe it was the end of the number as it occurs in its normal place in the show. I was really longing to see it at the RAH last Friday but alas it didn't happen. How sad must I be! It must've been when the number occurs in the show, as John Wilson's thing is, as we all know, painstakingly re-creating the original Broadway orchestrations, so he wouldn't leave anything out. But also; they weren't replicating the staging or choreography anyway, that was all new to this performance, so it's possible you may never have got your wish! |
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Post by tonyloco on Aug 14, 2017 9:28:39 GMT
It must've been when the number occurs in the show, as John Wilson's thing is, as we all know, painstakingly re-creating the original Broadway orchestrations, so he wouldn't leave anything out. But also; they weren't replicating the staging or choreography anyway, that was all new to this performance, so it's possible you may never have got your wish! Yes, theatremadness, you are absolutely right. I have checked the piano vocal score and it is clear that John Wilson gave us every note of what appears printed there, in the right order, including the company calls at the end to a brief reprise of 'Oh what a beautiful morning' and the end of 'People will say we're in love'. There is a written encore to 'Oklahoma!' in its place in the show when Will Parker shepherds the company together for a group photograph, and that's exactly what we got on Friday, so maybe they lined up at the start of the 'Oklahoma!' encore. Sorry to go on about this but I was so looking forward to that moment and it never came! |
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Post by Deleted on Aug 14, 2017 10:06:27 GMT
Robert Fairchild is just kinda dreamy... He is indeed. And not long split from his wife so could be footloose and fancy free at the moment . . . Time for this one do you think?  |
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Post by alece10 on Aug 14, 2017 10:08:40 GMT
Good review in the Sunday Times and only negative note was about sound quality for the actors which is an age old problem at the RAH.
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Post by vabbian on Aug 14, 2017 11:19:21 GMT
Robert Fairchild is just kinda dreamy... He is indeed. And not long split from his wife so could be footloose and fancy free at the moment . . . Time for this one do you think? he's straight?  |
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Post by Deleted on Aug 14, 2017 11:28:12 GMT
He is indeed. And not long split from his wife so could be footloose and fancy free at the moment . . . Time for this one do you think? he's straight? I know right? What a waste . . . |
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Post by tmesis on Aug 14, 2017 11:37:26 GMT
It's interesting that the song Oklahoma was a last minute addition. This was one of the best moments in the RAH performance. The song always, when as well done as on Friday, gives a real frisson. We should big up Robert Russell Bennett who supplied the amazing choral arrangement (not to mention his superb orchestrations for this, and many more musicals.)
Rodgers was undoubtedly a genius and here provides us with a stonking tune, but at least 50% of the pleasure the title song provides is down to RRB.
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Post by tmesis on Aug 14, 2017 12:10:19 GMT
Really enjoyed watching it on DVD last night (yes, I have a DVD recorder). Great cast, lovely staging. One question to those who know, was the show always so heavy on the strings? It just seemed that way to me? Although Wilson's shtick is to give us more or less what was heard at the first performances, I think he said he deliberately uses more at RAH because of the size of the place. However, I think what makes the string sound so ample is the way he gets them to play, with lots of full, intense vibrato, making them sound like a bigger section than they actually are. They sounded pretty gorgeous live. |
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Post by TallPaul on Aug 14, 2017 13:11:25 GMT
The filmed 'behind the scenes' insert on Proms Extra is certainly worth watching on the BBC iplayer. I can't remember exactly, but it was about 20 minutes in, give or take.
Some of the performers like to sing in the morning, some don't. Some take milk in their coffee, some prefer various potions.
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Post by tonyloco on Aug 14, 2017 14:43:23 GMT
It's interesting that the song Oklahoma was a last minute addition. This was one of the best moments in the RAH performance. The song always, when as well done as on Friday, gives a real frisson. We should big up Robert Russell Bennett who supplied the amazing choral arrangement (not to mention his superb orchestrations for this, and many more musicals.) Rodgers was undoubtedly a genius and here provides us with a stonking tune, but at least 50% of the pleasure the title song provides is down to RRB. Absolutely right, and as tmesis says, we heard RRB's contribution magnificently realised on Friday by John Wilson's orchestra and his particular way of getting them to play. I'm all in favour of bigging up RRB for his unique contribution to the Broadway musical over so many years. The only problem is that RRB also stands for Richard Rodney Bennett, another musical genius in a totally different way, so a big shout going out to both the RRBs! |
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Post by d'James on Aug 14, 2017 14:47:21 GMT
I wonder if they'll repeat this around Christmas.
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Post by tmesis on Aug 14, 2017 16:51:07 GMT
The filmed 'behind the scenes' insert on Proms Extra is certainly worth watching on the BBC iplayer. I can't remember exactly, but it was about 20 minutes in, give or take. Some of the performers like to sing in the morning, some don't. Some take milk in their coffee, some prefer various potions. Yes, having slagged-off the programme earlier, I enjoyed this, or maybe it was the lovely Julian that made all the difference. |
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Post by Deleted on Aug 14, 2017 18:26:06 GMT
He is indeed. And not long split from his wife so could be footloose and fancy free at the moment . . . Time for this one do you think? he's straight? Ahem, not saying anything but...  |
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Post by tmesis on Aug 14, 2017 22:23:17 GMT
Absolutely right, and as tmesis says, we heard RRB's contribution magnificently realised on Friday by John Wilson's orchestra and his particular way of getting them to play. I'm all in favour of bigging up RRB for his unique contribution to the Broadway musical over so many years. The only problem is that RRB also stands for Richard Rodney Bennett, another musical genius in a totally different way, so a big shout going out to both the RRBs! I'm a big R.Rodney Bennett fan. I love playing his piano music - some of it quite Ravelian in style, (no greater praise from me in that) his film music is superb - Far From the Madding Crowd is as good as V. Williams and Murder on the Orient Express is very classy with some great !920s pastiche-ing going on. Then the icing on the cake is his fab jazz piano playing, either solo, or accompanying the likes of Clare Martin. He had an encyclopedic knowledge of the Great American Songbook and was a great player of their music and, in interview, talked about it fascinatingly. Sorry off-topic! |
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Post by tonyloco on Aug 15, 2017 9:24:57 GMT
Absolutely right, and as tmesis says, we heard RRB's contribution magnificently realised on Friday by John Wilson's orchestra and his particular way of getting them to play. I'm all in favour of bigging up RRB for his unique contribution to the Broadway musical over so many years. The only problem is that RRB also stands for Richard Rodney Bennett, another musical genius in a totally different way, so a big shout going out to both the RRBs! I'm a big R.Rodney Bennett fan. I love playing his piano music - some of it quite Ravelian in style, (no greater praise from me in that) his film music is superb - Far From the Madding Crowd is as good as V. Williams and Murder on the Orient Express is very classy with some great !920s pastiche-ing going on. Then the icing on the cake is his fab jazz piano playing, either solo, or accompanying the likes of Clare Martin. He had an encyclopedic knowledge of the Great American Songbook and was a great player of their music and, in interview, talked about it fascinatingly. Sorry off-topic! My fault for going off-topic but delighted to find another R.Rodney Bennett fan with such a comprehensive knowledge of his achievements. Now, any more for the surrey with the fringe on top? |
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Post by Deleted on Aug 17, 2017 8:58:59 GMT
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Post by tmesis on Aug 17, 2017 10:34:14 GMT
Owen-Norris is fantastic; they should give him a series. It's usually the only gem in an otherwise terrible programme. |
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Post by TallPaul on Aug 17, 2017 12:33:16 GMT
Owen-Norris is fantastic; they should give him a series. It's usually the only gem in an otherwise terrible programme. Except when Julian Ovenden is on the panel? I don't think I've missed a single programme in four years, or however long it's been running. Admittedly, this says more about me than him, but I've never understood a word David Owen-Norris has said! |
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Post by tonyloco on Aug 17, 2017 12:47:50 GMT
Thanks Remark for making me aware of those chord variations in 'Oh what a beautiful morning.' Very interesting. I will file that away for reference. My own bit of geeky-ness in the field of analysis in the musical theatre is to point out how Jerome Kern made good use of an almost identical melodic phrase several times in 'Show Boat', albeit in different keys and in different directions. Compare the notes in: 'Cotton blossom, cotton blossom'; 'Ole man river, dat ole man river'; 'Fish got to swim and birds got to fly' and even (almost) 'Why do I love you? Why do you love me?' I'm not sure how strongly this registers on the listener but it's certainly there as a kind of Leitmotif.
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Post by tmesis on Aug 17, 2017 14:25:35 GMT
Except when Julian Ovenden is on the panel? Julian's presence should be mandatory, wearing only speedos (and also singing, of course.) |
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Post by tmesis on Aug 17, 2017 14:49:59 GMT
Thanks Remark for making me aware of those chord variations in 'Oh what a beautiful morning.' Very interesting. I will file that away for reference. My own bit of geeky-ness in the field of analysis in the musical theatre is to point out how Jerome Kern made good use of an almost identical melodic phrase several times in 'Show Boat', albeit in different keys and in different directions. Compare the notes in: 'Cotton blossom, cotton blossom'; 'Ole man river, dat ole man river'; 'Fish got to swim and birds got to fly' and even (almost) 'Why do I love you? Why do you love me?' I'm not sure how strongly this registers on the listener but it's certainly there as a kind of Leitmotif. Yes it's interesting how Kern does this. As with anything like this, what's fascinating is whether it was deliberate or not. Showboat is a terrifically well integrated musical, amazingly so for it's time, so it possibly was. But then Kern was technically the most adroit of all the earlier music-theatre geniuses. You know what? - I think we should have a Great American Songbook thread! |
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Post by tonyloco on Aug 17, 2017 18:59:14 GMT
OK, tmesis, but I think you should lead off!
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Post by Dawnstar on Aug 17, 2017 21:32:45 GMT
I've just iPlayered Act 1. As I was expecting from previous JWO Proms, the sound is much better on TV than it was in the hall.
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Post by tonyloco on Dec 26, 2017 12:26:53 GMT
I thoroughly enjoyed the showing of the John Wilson 'Oklahoma!' on TV yesterday. All the performers seem to have got even better since last August! Seriously, I really couldn't fault it and I found more depth in all of the characterisations than when I was at the performance, even Aunt Eller seemed OK. All the dramatic details worked for me and the climax of the ballet was tremendous. And I haven't even mentioned Robert Fairchild...!
Does anybody know what John Wilson will be doing next in London, either at the Proms or anywhere else?
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