Post by theatremadness on Mar 4, 2016 0:11:30 GMT
So I *finally* caught this tonight - better late than never! Or maybe....better never.
Unfortunately, I genuinely hate to say that I really didn't enjoy much of this. I was actually looking forward to it and very pleased to see all levels open and quite full. However, by the interval there wasn't much hope. Some parts I really did enjoy and laughed heartily at, along with the rest of the audience, and the scene at the end where Jess' parents allow her to flee the nest is really quite touching - and I must add that Jess' father was fantastic and possibly my favourite of the night.
For the rest of the show, however....oh dear. The music is so bland and at times so terribly dreary. Not really one good song in there, and definitely not full of any memorable tunes. The dance-break during the engagement party and the wedding itself were probably the only highlights. The lyrics were just plain dreadful. Horribly pedestrian, completely uninspiring, as bland as the music and sometimes just unnecessary ("thar' she blows?!). All characters were about as stereotypical as you could get. Sometimes this paid off but many times just felt cringed and forced. Middle-aged white woman who can't pronounce what appears to be a very simple Indian name and an Indian mother who needs to go home and "fry 200 samosas". Absolutely hated the end of Act 1, possibly the most anti-climactic end to an act I've ever seen and the Beckham appearances are dreadfully tacky. The first I can maybe get on board with in what is Jess' dream-like sequence, but not-so-much the one at the end. And it never seemed to end!! It's such a long show and I was unfortunately bored throughout much of it. A girl who wants to play football and parents that don't want her to play football. Stretched over 3 hours. Most of the football tricks were passable, but the projection felt so amateur.
Thought Jess was very sweetly played by Natalie Dew, she got the balance just right - though at times her dancing was completely out of time with the ensemble. Lauren Samuels was perfectly fine as Jules, neither dull nor outstanding. I'm a big fan of Jamie Muscato and adored him in Dogfight - and maybe it's a character choice - but he looked completely bored, though his singing was, of course, fantastic. Sophie Louise-Dann was hugely funny (when is she not?) in a, as everyone else has said, terribly underwritten role with a pointless song. We had the understudy for Pinky, she was doing her best and it's obvious there is a very good role written there, but she didn't completely find it.
Even with all that, I'm happy to have seen it to have formed my own opinion. And also to have seen what great value for money the upper circle is - a fantasticly clear and close view! Confirmed my trip to the Guys & Dolls transfer even more so.
Unfortunately, I genuinely hate to say that I really didn't enjoy much of this. I was actually looking forward to it and very pleased to see all levels open and quite full. However, by the interval there wasn't much hope. Some parts I really did enjoy and laughed heartily at, along with the rest of the audience, and the scene at the end where Jess' parents allow her to flee the nest is really quite touching - and I must add that Jess' father was fantastic and possibly my favourite of the night.
For the rest of the show, however....oh dear. The music is so bland and at times so terribly dreary. Not really one good song in there, and definitely not full of any memorable tunes. The dance-break during the engagement party and the wedding itself were probably the only highlights. The lyrics were just plain dreadful. Horribly pedestrian, completely uninspiring, as bland as the music and sometimes just unnecessary ("thar' she blows?!). All characters were about as stereotypical as you could get. Sometimes this paid off but many times just felt cringed and forced. Middle-aged white woman who can't pronounce what appears to be a very simple Indian name and an Indian mother who needs to go home and "fry 200 samosas". Absolutely hated the end of Act 1, possibly the most anti-climactic end to an act I've ever seen and the Beckham appearances are dreadfully tacky. The first I can maybe get on board with in what is Jess' dream-like sequence, but not-so-much the one at the end. And it never seemed to end!! It's such a long show and I was unfortunately bored throughout much of it. A girl who wants to play football and parents that don't want her to play football. Stretched over 3 hours. Most of the football tricks were passable, but the projection felt so amateur.
Thought Jess was very sweetly played by Natalie Dew, she got the balance just right - though at times her dancing was completely out of time with the ensemble. Lauren Samuels was perfectly fine as Jules, neither dull nor outstanding. I'm a big fan of Jamie Muscato and adored him in Dogfight - and maybe it's a character choice - but he looked completely bored, though his singing was, of course, fantastic. Sophie Louise-Dann was hugely funny (when is she not?) in a, as everyone else has said, terribly underwritten role with a pointless song. We had the understudy for Pinky, she was doing her best and it's obvious there is a very good role written there, but she didn't completely find it.
Even with all that, I'm happy to have seen it to have formed my own opinion. And also to have seen what great value for money the upper circle is - a fantasticly clear and close view! Confirmed my trip to the Guys & Dolls transfer even more so.
