Coraline (ROH/Barbican)

I've already booked with my Friend's Priority Membership. I'm a Turnage fan and looking forward to it.

I'm also a member, and didn't get any reminder about this one being on sale. This morning there was even a weekly email thing, which didn't mention it either which is weird.

I didn't get any notification of this either and I am a member. This morning's mailout seemed to be full of things about Christmas workshops. Will certainly be booking for this this afternoon. Loved the book and the film and listened to the audiobook (read by Dawn French) on cassette tape (!) on many long car journeys when our three kids were small. Hoping that, since it is Turnage, it will have some good brass parts to satisfy my brass playing kids. Thanks for the heads up jadnoop.

Went to see the new Mark-Anthony Turnage opera based on Neil Gaiman's Coraline last night. Liked the music and some terrific performances and some clever design but have some real reservations about the piece overall.  It just seemed a bit too well mannered - as if it needed to let its hair down a bit.  I had started to worry about seeing it when I realised that the libretto was written by Rory Mullarkey whose George and The Dragon was a lowpoint of my theatre going last year.  One of the real problems with it is - as the Telegraph review pointed out - that it is pretty much all recitative.  There is certainly nothing that you would come out humming.  There were very few children in the audience (and my daughter at 16 hardly fits that category any more) and I can't imagine what they made of it.  The production was suggesting it was suitable for ages 8+ but I can't see any of my three kids having taken to it at that age.


Interestingly one of the best performances was Kitty Whately playing the mother/other mother.  But she wasn't actually singing the role last night.  Due to laryngitis she walked the role while Harriet Williams sang it from the sidelines.  That worked surprisingly well and the pair of them deserved the huge cheer they got at the curtain call.   

Sorry @theatremonkey. Worrying that I did not remember that there was already a thread, especially given that I had contributed to it!

I rather enjoyed this. I quite liked the musical structure and didn't have a problem with the libretto (maybe I was fortunate in avoiding St George having seen the comments on this Board!). I agree that the set is excellent and the clarity of the singing is spot on. As others have noted, the children in the audience seemed fully engaged.

Note that the advertised run time is 2 hours with an interval, but it was 2 hours 10 minutes (I don't think we had any delays)

Last night we managed to end at exactly the same time (21.10) as the concert hall, so the building was packed. Then, as we emerged onto Silk Street, these crowds merged with those leaving Pericles at the Silk Street Theatre, which also finishes at 21.10. It was a bit busy!

I've been following the spat for the last 3 days, as I follow most of the critics involved on Twitter. Never having heard any of Turnage's operas I can't really have an opinion on whether his quitting as a composer is a loss to music or not. I do agree with some of the comments that were questioning critics & musicians online relationships. I sometimes see critics tweeting about meeting, having meals with, etc. singers & wonder how they can then review them impartially.