Lazarus is coming

My children sat in the next to last row and although they said they thought it would be better close up, they (particularly my son) enjoyed it.  My daughter is v. short and since there was no one behind her, took advice from folks on here, and sat on three coats, which helped sightlines.  The music is loud and the projections big so that's all fine from the back, but son confessed that when one character came on with a different hair colour (wig?) he thought it was a different person altogether so daughter reckons he wasn't taking enough care trying to follow the 'plot' - he was just enjoying the music and spectacle.

I'm in first row at this Wednesday's matinee.  I feel like I bought this ticket a lifetime ago.

I was ZA for the first show and I was able to see everything with a bit of craning my head round the couple in front who could not sit still! Am happy to admit that I may have just been lucky and not had anyone particularly tall in my line of vision, but even so, your view shouldn't be completely obstructed from row Z.

I was completely onboard from the moment the geisha appeared
And the joyful "I'll drink all the time" and "I wish I could swim" deliveries did catch me off guard, think I had something in my eye..

Theres a nice Enda Walsh chat about the evolution of the play here:

Excellent so pleased this is being recorded for posterity

Going to see it next weekend, the ticket says "All ticket holders should arrive at least 45 minutes prior to the start of the performance to allow time for venue staff to verify tickets and conduct bag searches", do they indeed have issues with lines, or would getting 15-20 minutes in advance be fine?

I went about a week ago and they had some FOH technical problems, so couldn't let people in till about 30 mins before the start. Most had arrived before then, so a huge queue had built up in the cold. We still had loads of time (but they still started about 10 minutes late).

This is bad. Really bad.

Michael C Hall is amazing. Very much enjoyed Michael Esper also. They are the only things I can recommend.

I sat in row V and paid £55 for the privilege. I'd guesstimate I saw maximum 40% of the show clearly. The majority of it seemed to be played out with actors sprawled on the floor, and with that many heads in front of me (including an irritating tall woman directly in front doing her best meerkat impersonation every time anyone on stage moved a muscle) I really struggled to see. Most of the time I was at an angle of 45 degrees, with my neck hyperextended into the aisle.

The less said about the 'plot', the better. Newton's storyline should be fascinating and worthy of exploration. Instead we get a lot of rubbish about some 2D woman who doesn't like her hubby very much, the pair of them having conversations I don't believe any normal people have ever had. Then some more rubbish about an irritating loved-up couple who appear to be there for one reason only (can't speak for their denouement to see if my guess was right, I had my eyes screwed up for ten minutes at that point trying to avoid some vicious strobe lighting. Perhaps someone can enlighten me using spoiler tags!).

Hall and Esper handle the songs beautifully, the two women not so much. They seem to think every line should be sung with an MT belt. I would have hoped they'd have troubled themselves to cast singers who have found their own 'voice' - I'm hard put to think of a Bowie song rendered with a production-line MT sound. Life on Mars was a real letdown, and as for Changes... Wish I'd ch-ch-ch-ch-changed my ticket for a show actually worth two hours of my life.

This was an emotional rollercoaster for me. I think everyone in the cast was great, and tbh I liked Amy Lennox more than Cristin Milioti (well, based on what I've heard on the recording). Can't wait for the DVD to be released. Maybe it could even go to the cinemas?
As to the plot and bland conversations, I think it's supposed to be that way as most of the characters are shattered in their own ways, so there's no room or will for eloquence.

Totally get what you're saying, boybooshka and mapleglaze, and I'm pleased you had a more rewarding experience!

But for me I suppose it's a question of: when you've got such a fascinating central storyline, why on earth would you opt for blandness in the subplots? Where is the entertainment value in blandness? Why not either make the subplots more interesting - or jettison them altogether?

I didn't feel any of the women were remotely characters in their own right - can't even remember their names - at least with the blokes Valentine had a purpose, we knew the assistant's husband worked in IT and Newton's friend had worked in the business with him. Actually, God only knows how the blonde ditz landed a role as a rich bloke's personal assistant - these people are usually hyper-organised and 'together', so I can only assume the rest of the applicants must have been catatonic.

I sympathise with Jean Hunt - I would have felt the same I think except I only paid £15 for a clear view from the front row - so I did see all the sprawling around on the floor!

I completely gave up trying to work out the "plot" and just enjoyed it more as a piece of performance art rather than musical theatre.

Looks like it's a marmite show. I hate marmite itself but Lazarus just crawled under my skin before I was able to process it even. Many peeps I know walked out with WFT just happened? look on their faces, others poored they heart out adoring this. I think it's a good sign when the show resonates that strongly, differently and deeply rather than being given "okay, fine, cool" kind of review by all.

Judging by what Enda said during the interview kindly shared on the previous page Bowie hinself didn't much interested in positive response - he wanted to do it his way, make it that abstract dream, 5 seconds before you die agony and hope stretched into 1h45min and so he did. It's great if some of us can relate to that, but it's okay if some of us don't.

I saw this a few nignts ago and it was silly of not to think to come on here and ask a few questions about the venue before booking. I have MS which gives me severe mobility problems but I'm also visually impaired. When I booed my ticket, the box office were so helpful and I was asked "Can you manage a few steps?" which I can, with a bit of help. It turns out that "a few" was a bit too much for me in this instance! FOH staff were on it and found a lady who was on her own on the end of a row I could make it to and she kindly sat in my front row seat.

The FOH staff were amazingly helpful. They all chatted to me and also asked me at all times what I needed them to do to help, rather than just assuming. I got a bit of goss too. One lady said they'd had a few complaints about the venue and they had to explain it was purposefully built for this production. Someone else told me that the cast rarely did stage door appearances which didn't stop some partrons waiting quite a while in the cold after the show. I asked what the behaviour has been like as I saw a young guy taking a flash photo during the actual performance (!) and they said that, on the whole, people were respectful but that there were people who went, particularly at the start of the run, who were a little difficult. It was apparently rather clear that they were merely Bowie fans rather than regular theatregoers.

I think I'm in the camp of posters who have said they're glad they saw this, didn't quite understand it and possibly wouldn't see it again. Mixed review from my broken body!