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Post by synchrony on Nov 26, 2016 19:06:15 GMT
Just saw the matinee, and went in knowing nothing about Bowie songs (although I recognised three), or The Man Who Fell To Earth.
The positives - good cast, and I loved The Girl. It is certainly unique. My £35 seat (I1, supposedly restricted view) was great.
The negatives - I hated it and had no clue what on earth was going on. Who was the random in love couple?! Why was the villain guy there?! The songs mostly sounded the same to me, other than the three I knew. I had no sympathy for any of the characters except The Girl. I've never seen anything like it, but spent most of the (long) two hours thinking "what?!?!?".
Not for me at all :-$
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Post by Deleted on Nov 27, 2016 10:46:04 GMT
Enjoyed this a lot from the front row last night. Helped that I had seen Man Who Fell To Earth recently.
But ... I can see it would be a totally different experience at the back. Sitting up front you felt like you were in an intimate venue like the Young Vic - at the back it would be more like sitting in the O2 or something. Was quite shocked when I got in to see how far back the seating went. The New York venue, as far as I can see, was a 200 seat theatre and I suspect the staging hasn't been changed to suit this massive venue.
And even at the front I could hear noise from the outside (sirens etc), must have been far worse further back.
Would have been much better to stage this in the Young Vic or if they wanted a bigger venue the Old Vic or Barbican but I guess they saw ££ signs and thought they could fill this huge space (turns out they can't and people at the back have a v. poor experience as a result). If you have seats near the back I'd strongly recommend trying to swap them for something further forward, now that there are a bunch of £35 seats near the front for many dates.
As I suspected when I first visited the venue for the Donmar Shakespeares, nowhere near enough loos. Big queue in the gents before and after the show, queue for the ladies looked worse. No excuse for this in a new purpose built venue.
Set was very similar to Song From Far Away - wonder which came first?
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Post by n1david on Nov 27, 2016 12:24:37 GMT
I was there last night too xanderl, in row E and agree with much of what you say.
I actually really enjoyed this. We'd rewatched the film yesterday afternoon and I think that made a HUGE difference in understanding the character. For example, the significance of the song "Hello Mary Lou" will be completely lost if you haven't seen the film. As for the overall plot, well it is somewhat messy and I chose to interpret it as a nightmare and dreams can get messy with odd characters showing up in odd places. I'm sure that's just a rationalisation but I think the performances were extremely good - MCH emotes wonderfully - and I liked the voices and arrangements of the songs (I hadn't listened to the NY cast recording beforehand so the songs came to me fresh).
Agreed with what everyone has said about the space though - it's a vast aircraft hangar of a space and I can entirely understand why those towards the back feel completely disconnected from the show as it's actually a very intimate piece. Absurd overreach by the producers.
Maybe it helped that I assumed I'd put it in my diary wrongly at 8.30pm so showed up an hour early and had an extra two glasses of wine, but I think I'm going to see this again, as long as I can get a close-up cheap seat.
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Post by kathryn on Nov 27, 2016 16:01:40 GMT
. [Set was very similar to Song From Far Away - wonder which came first? I noticed that. Preferred how it was used in Song. It kind of reminded me of Antigone, too - just in the shape of the space. |
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Post by wickedgrin on Nov 27, 2016 17:44:45 GMT
I concur with a lot of what has been said in this thread. The venue is awful! I was lucky enough to see the show from a £15 front row seat. The view was excellent - you felt totally involved which you certainly would not have done further back. The sightlines further back must be terrible too as there was an awful lot of "rolling around on the floor" action!
As for the plot - I hadn't a clue - I just enjoyed the performances - very committed up close and the staging. But I suppose I would have enjoyed it less the more I had paid - if that makes any sense. It was great value for £15!!
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Post by ali973 on Nov 27, 2016 18:05:32 GMT
I was at last night's show too, front row for fifteen quid. Where it was also kind of freezing.
I thought everything about it was quite a different theatre going experience. It certainly isn't theatre for theatre goers per se. The venue foyer feels like an art show opening. A lot of "artsy" folk from different walks of life (though homogeneously caucasian). A lot more straight men than the norm. A lot of head bobbing and grooving to the music. There's also a lot of mingling and schmingling going on after the show at the foyer, which seemed to be like a place to hang and have drinks post-show, unlike a West End experience when you are out the door by the end of the show.
The show is visually well done, and of course the cast does a great job. Didn't feel much about it. The music doesn't work for the theatre. It only soars when they sing "Perfect Strangers", which I thought felt theatrical. The rest didn't feel like it had any relevant to the already strange plot. A lot of people were overheard saying, "i didn't quite get it." At one point I was bored, tired and did want it to end.
Certainly don't regret seeing it, and especially given the view and the price. Did I love it? Absolutely not.
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Post by stuart on Nov 28, 2016 21:09:09 GMT
I'm assuming dynamic pricing is in place with this? Just went to book tickets I saw earlier today and they've more than doubled in price?! From £15 to £40! No other £15 seats there for the performance (the back 5 rows are all £40+) but there are for every other date available.
EDIT: Yep, definitely automatic dynamic pricing. Just had another look and those seats were still there, back at £15!
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Post by Deleted on Nov 29, 2016 22:51:47 GMT
This is the weirdest sh!t I've ever seen.
Michael C. Hall is one sexy man.
That's all I can say right now.
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Post by avenueqresident on Nov 30, 2016 18:50:46 GMT
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Post by talkstageytome on Nov 30, 2016 19:17:36 GMT
Any idea why/ does that mean anything significant?
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Post by n1david on Nov 30, 2016 20:16:40 GMT
Although the NT website says every show is sold out... (at the time of writing) |
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Post by Phantom of London on Nov 30, 2016 20:31:31 GMT
Is this bad? Not really! Is this good? Not really! Think the adjative to describe this is weird - but then again then David Bowie fitted this profile perfectly, who's great back catalogue is being showcased at Kings Cross, in this pop up venue.as much as I didn't understand the endgame here I would still applaud the people who had the verve and foresight to bring this to London, even though the final package wasn't all that.
Anyone going and it's getting cold at the moment and going to get colder needs to wrap up warm as this is a temporary venue and the heating system isn't the best.
Front row seats were ideal.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 30, 2016 23:23:24 GMT
Exactly. It's not bad; it's just weird. Would I see it again? Probably not. But I'm happy I got to experience it.
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Post by wickedgrin on Dec 1, 2016 0:07:44 GMT
The venue must be freezing on these cold nights. It was bad enough when I was there with the temperature outside a relatively balmy 12 degrees!
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Post by Deleted on Dec 1, 2016 17:46:41 GMT
Bumtits - trains cancelled so we can't get there tonight. Spoke to theatre and have moved me to 21st Dec but they had no £15 front row so, after refusing row ZZZ I have paid an extra £20 and sitting row E. do u reckon these gonna b ok or is the rake really that bad?  ? |
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Post by wickedgrin on Dec 1, 2016 17:54:28 GMT
Row E should be fine.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 1, 2016 19:02:04 GMT
Cheers. I'm literally gonna spend the next 3 weeks worrying about this. Interestingly the box office chap pretty much said don't bother with the £15 tickets at the back |
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Post by wickedgrin on Dec 1, 2016 19:09:55 GMT
Lazarus makes an "interesting" evening! Certainly different.
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Post by foxa on Dec 1, 2016 19:25:23 GMT
Cheers. I'm literally gonna spend the next 3 weeks worrying about this. Interestingly the box office chap pretty much said don't bother with the £15 tickets at the back Oh no! I booked a couple of those back tickets for my son.... |
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Post by Deleted on Dec 1, 2016 19:33:18 GMT
Cheers. I'm literally gonna spend the next 3 weeks worrying about this. Interestingly the box office chap pretty much said don't bother with the £15 tickets at the back Oh no! I booked a couple of those back tickets for my son.... At least it ain't for u!!!! |
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Post by foxa on Dec 1, 2016 19:41:17 GMT
Oh no! I booked a couple of those back tickets for my son.... At least it ain't for u!!!! No I got a single front row seat ages ago and then he said he wanted to come but isn't around when I'm going. I wasn't sure how good it would be, so didn't know how much of a splurge I should go for. There seemed to be lots of expensive tickets left but few cheap ones.... |
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Post by wickedgrin on Dec 1, 2016 19:42:22 GMT
Only worth a cheap price IMO.
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Post by synchrony on Dec 1, 2016 19:49:49 GMT
Cheers. I'm literally gonna spend the next 3 weeks worrying about this. Interestingly the box office chap pretty much said don't bother with the £15 tickets at the back I was a little further back, in row I, right on the end (which were advertised as restricted view and thus cheaper at £25 than the rest of the row). The seats were great. The 'restriction' was negligible. At no point did I wish I was further forwards. I could have actually moved to a more central seat on the row as they hadn't sold those (presumably premium) tickets, but there's no interval so didn't want to disturb anyone by the time I was sure no one was going to turn up. I hope you enjoy it. Despite not thinking it was for me, I have been listening to Sophia's rendition of "Life on Mars" on repeat and love it. |
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Post by Deleted on Dec 1, 2016 20:21:44 GMT
Cheers. I'm literally gonna spend the next 3 weeks worrying about this. Interestingly the box office chap pretty much said don't bother with the £15 tickets at the back I was a little further back, in row I, right on the end (which were advertised as restricted view and thus cheaper at £25 than the rest of the row). The seats were great. The 'restriction' was negligible. At no point did I wish I was further forwards. I could have actually moved to a more central seat on the row as they hadn't sold those (presumably premium) tickets, but there's no interval so didn't want to disturb anyone by the time I was sure no one was going to turn up. I hope you enjoy it. Despite not thinking it was for me, I have been listening to Sophia's rendition of "Life on Mars" on repeat and love it. The one good thing about going in 3 weeks is that The Girl will be played by the proper actor as she is off at mo! Cheers for the Row thoughts xx |
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Post by rumbledoll on Dec 3, 2016 20:58:28 GMT
They've released a pro-shot vid of Life on Mars as well.. Gosh, I'm in love with this girl's voice - so full with emotion. Got my pulse racing again..
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