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Post by HereForTheatre on Nov 4, 2017 12:14:39 GMT
Leslie Bricusse on Radio 2 earlier.
Said there is a tour from September starting in Salford.
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Post by fiyero on Nov 5, 2017 18:15:29 GMT
Leslie Bricusse on Radio 2 earlier. Said there is a tour from September starting in Salford. I saw Jason Manford on a tour try-out on Friday and asked if he had any more shows coming up, he mentioned they were trying to arrange Dr Doolittle :-) |
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Post by Deleted on Nov 5, 2017 18:40:20 GMT
I wonder if this tour will have all the animatronic animals that the Philip Schofield production had many years ago. I rather enjoyed that show.
Maybe they should hold off a year or 2. Robert Downey Jr goes into filming a new Dr Dolittle movie in January next year. It could have been a nice tie in.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 5, 2017 22:42:21 GMT
There's some great songs in Doctor Dolittle and I quite liked the Tommy Steele tour about a decade ago. Although I think they should go with someone much younger than Steele so the relationship with the love interest doesn't seem as odd (which I think was the reason they originally got Schofield). Leslie Bricusse on Radio 2 earlier. Said there is a tour from September starting in Salford. I saw Jason Manford on a tour try-out on Friday and asked if he had any more shows coming up, he mentioned they were trying to arrange Dr Doolittle :-) Jason Manford seems like a good name and imagine would be quite good in the role, although he doesn't seem to be good at keeping his upcoming MT projects a secret as I remember someone on here saying the same thing about him doing Chitty long before it was announced! |
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Post by sam22 on Nov 14, 2017 18:59:13 GMT
Gosh this brings back memories, the Philip Schofield production was one of the first shows I ever saw as a kid!
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1,119 posts
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Post by martin1965 on Nov 14, 2017 19:03:48 GMT
Gosh this brings back memories, the Philip Schofield production was one of the first shows I ever saw as a kid! Yep took my daughter to Hammersmith to see that. Remember it as being ok. |
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371 posts
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Post by sam22 on Nov 14, 2017 19:04:58 GMT
Gosh this brings back memories, the Philip Schofield production was one of the first shows I ever saw as a kid! Yep took my daughter to Hammersmith to see that. Remember it as being ok. To be honest I can remember very little about it but I feel like there was a Chitty-esque part where the car flew. Is that right or am I imagining it?! |
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Post by alece10 on Nov 14, 2017 19:46:54 GMT
Gosh this brings back memories, the Philip Schofield production was one of the first shows I ever saw as a kid! Yep took my daughter to Hammersmith to see that. Remember it as being ok. I saw that too. It was great fun |
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Post by musicalmarge on Nov 30, 2017 10:25:00 GMT
Press release sent out. NEW STAGE PRODUCTION OF LESLIE BRICUSSE’S DOCTOR DOLITTLE TO OPEN IN BROMLEY ON 9 NOVEMBER 2018 AS PART OF DOCTOR DOLITTLE’S 50TH Produced by Music and Lyrics doctordolittlemusical.com |
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Post by firefingers on Jun 7, 2018 23:39:55 GMT
Mark Williams playing the lead apparently:
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343 posts
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Post by Sam on Jun 8, 2018 10:55:28 GMT
Interested to see who will be performing the role at the Mayflower. According to What's On Stage, he'll be in the first 10 venues, with further casting to be announced. |
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Post by groupbooker on Jun 8, 2018 14:29:48 GMT
The Schofield version didn't have a flying car. At Hammersmith, He flew either on or off stage on the giant moon moth. May be it flew to the stage from the roof and he flew back off the stage, up and out of sight.
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Post by learfan on Jun 8, 2018 17:29:38 GMT
The Schofield version didn't have a flying car. At Hammersmith, He flew either on or off stage on the giant moon moth. May be it flew to the stage from the roof and he flew back off the stage, up and out of sight. Thats right! I remember it now, Not weird at all. |
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Post by Deleted on Aug 4, 2018 0:54:42 GMT
Found this documentary on the original London production for those who fancy a bit of nostalgia - it looked like a fantastic production!
I only saw the Tommy Steele tour 10 years ago, but I've started listening to the OLC recording recently and love it!
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253 posts
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Post by No. on Aug 28, 2018 13:55:58 GMT
Hitting the Birmingham Hippodrome in Autumn 2019, ‘star cast to be announced’ alongside the announcement in the brochure.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 28, 2018 23:30:17 GMT
Hitting the Birmingham Hippodrome in Autumn 2019, ‘star cast to be announced’ alongside the announcement in the brochure. It was already listed a while back for 22 October to 2 November 2019. Although it will be interesting to see who will play the title role if it isn't Mark Williams or Jason Manford (as someone earlier in this thread said). |
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Post by Stephen on Aug 29, 2018 0:34:00 GMT
I've never seen the film so would look forward to seeing this first!
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Post by BurlyBeaR on Sept 17, 2018 8:32:07 GMT
Vicky Entwistle and Brian Capron supporting at The Lowry.
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343 posts
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Post by Sam on Nov 9, 2018 10:04:35 GMT
Opens tonight!
Anyone going anytime soon?
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3,325 posts
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Post by Dr Tom on Nov 9, 2018 20:55:55 GMT
Interval time.
Incredible. So enjoyable.
The most old fashioned show I’ve seen in a long time. With all the classic songs.
It isn’t polished yet, but it will get there. And the pushmi-pullyu skips rope, you’ve never seen anything like it!
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3,325 posts
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Post by Dr Tom on Nov 9, 2018 22:53:28 GMT
Some rather unordered thoughts typed on my phone.
The theatre seemed full. I was centre front Stalls, which I’m sure would be a premium seat. Great rake and legroom. Also got a goodie bag.
Show started late, about 7:45pm. The producer spoke first to say it was the first full run of the show and to apologise in advance in case of stoppages (there weren’t any).
Signs up to say they were filming (for promos I would think).
Timings start 7:45, interval 8:50, second half 9:20, end 10:20.
The band are raised on either side of the stage.
Set is all simple paper themed. So mostly flat cartoon style. Various large sheets which the cast move to set the scenes.
Most scenes have a centrepiece made of an open book which rotates. One side represents an outside, the other an inside. The later books were certainly covers of the famous Dr Dolittle titles which the musical merged together. The earlier ones probably were too but I didn’t pick up on it. The stacks of books got taller as the show progressed.
The animals started out as card too, but the main characters were full puppets, all impressive and with human operators (two in the case of Polynesia). Varioius larger animals as well portrayed in different ways, including for the finale, which I won’t spoil.
I said it wasn’t polished yet, so there were messed up lines, lots of cases of microphones being turned on late, papers the wrong way up when meant to form a picture, dropped props and puppets not perfectly where they should be yet. But I won’t hold that against them. It will get there.
Strong cast and ensemble (will post more on the leads later). I will say Mark Williams is exactly the right character actor for the lead role.
I presume the book is updated as there were some modern jokes.
I loved it. I haven’t seen this on stage before and it’s a long time since I’ve seen the film, but all the magic is there. I do remember reading all the books when I was at school.
Some of the younger children were a bit bored, but this may be due to overrunning.
I certainly gave a standing ovation at the end, as did many others. Thanks to the lady next to me for standing up quickly to join me too.
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3,325 posts
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Post by Dr Tom on Nov 10, 2018 10:23:42 GMT
And comments on the cast:
Mark Williams - a perfect Dolittle. Has great chemistry and interaction with the animals. He mostly speak sings but it works.
Mollie Melia-Redgrave - Great voice as Emma
Patrick Sullivan - A real star as Matthew
Adèle Anderson - Not quite there yet with her lines and her voice went out on the high notes. But knows how to crack a whip and portray someone evil.
Brian Capron - Plays his roles with a lot of humour. Think he’ll be great when he properly settles into the roles.
Vicky Entwistle - Very talented, considering especially she’s hidden behind a parrot. For the first half of the show, there were two operators for Polynesia and Vicky was supplying the voice. Later, she took over as one of the operators.
I’m not sure which of the 6 boys we got as Tommy, but he was good too.
Look forward to reading the thoughts of any other Board members who made it along.
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3,325 posts
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Post by Dr Tom on Nov 10, 2018 19:13:54 GMT
If you do go to Bromley, remember to show your ticket and collect a goodie bag.
Mine had in it:
A WWF (World Wide Fund for Nature) Lion small cuddly toy
A Dr Dolittle sticker
A Dr Dolittle bookmark
I presume they’re all similar but you might get different toys.
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3,325 posts
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Post by Dr Tom on Dec 24, 2018 9:51:37 GMT
Due to the lack of comments, I’m going to guess that no one else has seen this show, or has nothing to add.
Made my second visit last night (Sunday evening) to the Lowry in Salford, mainly chosen due to being in Manchester and the rather limited choices. Plus a good ticket deal helped.
It’s a comfortable theatre, decent wide seats. Good view from the front side Stalls. Stalls were probably three quarters full,
Not much has changed since the first preview. Everything was smoother, particularly in the group numbers. Not perfect still, Mark Williams made some minor line slips and there was several cases where microphones weren’t turned on late.
Exactly the same comments about singing abilities as before.
The crowd were rather muted too. The jokes just didn’t hit. And, despite being in/near Manchester, there was little reaction to the Corrie stars.
And the strange moment with the vegetarian Dr’s best friend being a cat meat deliver (and carrying an injured duck in the very place he delivers the meat from) is still there.
Still an enjoyable evening. You do notice more of the shortcomings of the musical as a whole in a place like this.
Doubt I’ll go back with this cast, but I’ll await the announcement of who is taking over the lead role with interest.
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Post by Phantom of London on Dec 28, 2018 22:49:06 GMT
Saw it Bromley like you did, just wasn’t overly blown away by it and found it to just be mildly enjoyable, saying that Leslie Briscuse I think is an brilliant composer.
However think it is great where independent theatres pull together and put on shows like thanks only theatre as a whole can benefit.
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