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Post by danb on Apr 18, 2024 12:07:24 GMT
The ‘Next To Normal’ section was great. Gave a good cross section of the show (although perhaps a little ‘light’). It has made me want to see it, and Jack Wolfe is a total star. If they bring ‘Tommy’ over here from Broadway he would be my choice for the lead.
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Post by stageysmitty on Apr 19, 2024 7:39:31 GMT
When is Grace’s last perf in hadestown? End of August |
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Post by blamerobots on Apr 21, 2024 20:30:33 GMT
Saw the matinee today. Madeline is great!! I sure hope she takes over when Grace leaves.
It feels much more comfortable now the cast have gotten into a rhythm compared to the two previews I saw. Donal especially I thought was struggling in the previews (one If It's True had me really worried for his voice) but he totally comes out on top now. His accent fits the role for me completely. It sure is a challenging sing...
I agree with the comments about Hades... though I think a baritone voice can be entirely justified if the right character is brought to the role. Hades' first line is truly a make or break. I thought that Zachary and Christopher (who I saw today) felt too stiff and constricted... to top the legacy of those before requires a unique interpretation.
It's one thing to have the range, but it's another thing to truly OWN the character.
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Post by unseaworthy on Apr 21, 2024 21:52:30 GMT
Spoke to Allie Daniel at stage door - she said she had another year with the show (so another extension is planned) plus she has two weeks covering for Hermes!
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Post by littlefan on Apr 21, 2024 21:54:52 GMT
Spoke to Allie Daniel at stage door - she said she had another year with the show (so another extension is planned) plus she has two weeks covering for Hermes! Any idea which two weeks? I'd quite like to see her Hermes! |
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Post by Matt on Apr 22, 2024 9:17:25 GMT
Spoke to Allie Daniel at stage door - she said she had another year with the show (so another extension is planned) plus she has two weeks covering for Hermes! Any idea which two weeks? I'd quite like to see her Hermes! Isn’t Waylon first cover? |
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Post by unseaworthy on Apr 22, 2024 19:52:06 GMT
Sorry, I should have asked which two weeks she was covering, I would love to see her do it too!
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Post by Dave B on Apr 24, 2024 11:36:34 GMT
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Post by theatremiss on Apr 27, 2024 22:09:35 GMT
Grace wasn’t on tonight. It didn’t bother me as I didn’t really like her performance in Sunset. Happy to have seen this show but won’t be going back anytime soon. I struggled to hear what some cast members were saying/singing as their pronunciation was off. I’ve no issue at all with accents but I want to know what they are saying. If I hear “La La La La” one more time I think I’ll rip my ears off
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Post by blamerobots on Apr 27, 2024 23:23:13 GMT
Grace wasn’t on tonight. It didn’t bother me as I didn’t really like her performance in Sunset. Happy to have seen this show but won’t be going back anytime soon. I struggled to hear what some cast members were saying/singing as their pronunciation was off. I’ve no issue at all with accents but I want to know what they are saying. If I hear “La La La La” one more time I think I’ll rip my ears off Totally understandable, I can't stand the Epic leitmotif and the quite unimaginative 'La's. Seems like a holdover for how long the development of this show has been.
I think Grace missing so many shows is a massive let-down, but at the same time it's a challenging sing. I wonder how much of it is preserving her voice for an upcoming job of hers.
I like the accents, but I admit if you told me that a production was gonna make a decision like that maybe a year ago, before this opened, I'd be way more sceptic. It's an American show.
Where did you sit? Whilst the accents can make some words sound wildly different (Donal has some issue enunciating when he's belting high, but who wouldn't), there's definitely some gaps in the sound system at the Lyric that they've yet to improve/patch up. When I sat on the far right of the Grand Circle, it was like audio mud. I could barely make out some lyrics.
I thought that the sound system was changed/upgraded for Thriller Live, but that's an assumption.
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Post by Matt on Apr 28, 2024 6:54:17 GMT
Grace wasn’t on tonight. It didn’t bother me as I didn’t really like her performance in Sunset. Happy to have seen this show but won’t be going back anytime soon. I struggled to hear what some cast members were saying/singing as their pronunciation was off. I’ve no issue at all with accents but I want to know what they are saying. If I hear “La La La La” one more time I think I’ll rip my ears off Totally understandable, I can't stand the Epic leitmotif and the quite unimaginative 'La's. Seems like a holdover for how long the development of this show has been.
I think Grace missing so many shows is a massive let-down, but at the same time it's a challenging sing. I wonder how much of it is preserving her voice for an upcoming job of hers.
I like the accents, but I admit if you told me that a production was gonna make a decision like that maybe a year ago, before this opened, I'd be way more sceptic. It's an American show.
Where did you sit? Whilst the accents can make some words sound wildly different (Donal has some issue enunciating when he's belting high, but who wouldn't), there's definitely some gaps in the sound system at the Lyric that they've yet to improve/patch up. When I sat on the far right of the Grand Circle, it was like audio mud. I could barely make out some lyrics.
I thought that the sound system was changed/upgraded for Thriller Live, but that's an assumption.
Pretty sure Grace had the week booked off as holiday. |
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Post by dollybm on Apr 28, 2024 7:42:41 GMT
Yes this week has been a scheduled holiday for Grace.
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Post by theatremiss on Apr 28, 2024 14:33:20 GMT
Grace wasn’t on tonight. It didn’t bother me as I didn’t really like her performance in Sunset. Happy to have seen this show but won’t be going back anytime soon. I struggled to hear what some cast members were saying/singing as their pronunciation was off. I’ve no issue at all with accents but I want to know what they are saying. If I hear “La La La La” one more time I think I’ll rip my ears off Totally understandable, I can't stand the Epic leitmotif and the quite unimaginative 'La's. Seems like a holdover for how long the development of this show has been.
I think Grace missing so many shows is a massive let-down, but at the same time it's a challenging sing. I wonder how much of it is preserving her voice for an upcoming job of hers.
I like the accents, but I admit if you told me that a production was gonna make a decision like that maybe a year ago, before this opened, I'd be way more sceptic. It's an American show.
Where did you sit? Whilst the accents can make some words sound wildly different (Donal has some issue enunciating when he's belting high, but who wouldn't), there's definitely some gaps in the sound system at the Lyric that they've yet to improve/patch up. When I sat on the far right of the Grand Circle, it was like audio mud. I could barely make out some lyrics.
I thought that the sound system was changed/upgraded for Thriller Live, but that's an assumption.
I was sat row C of the stalls. Hermes was almost impossible to understand at times. I get the strong Caribbean accent but I didn’t understand a lot of what she was saying as she didn’t finish off words. Also too much expecting the audience to clap at every opportunity, even pausing for it which was grinding my gears a lot. They could have cut a good 10 mins off the show if they’d just got on with it. I know most people love this, but I didn’t, but I didn’t hate it. |
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Post by blamerobots on Apr 28, 2024 14:53:43 GMT
Totally understandable, I can't stand the Epic leitmotif and the quite unimaginative 'La's. Seems like a holdover for how long the development of this show has been.
I think Grace missing so many shows is a massive let-down, but at the same time it's a challenging sing. I wonder how much of it is preserving her voice for an upcoming job of hers.
I like the accents, but I admit if you told me that a production was gonna make a decision like that maybe a year ago, before this opened, I'd be way more sceptic. It's an American show.
Where did you sit? Whilst the accents can make some words sound wildly different (Donal has some issue enunciating when he's belting high, but who wouldn't), there's definitely some gaps in the sound system at the Lyric that they've yet to improve/patch up. When I sat on the far right of the Grand Circle, it was like audio mud. I could barely make out some lyrics.
I thought that the sound system was changed/upgraded for Thriller Live, but that's an assumption.
I was sat row C of the stalls. Hermes was almost impossible to understand at times. I get the strong Caribbean accent but I didn’t understand a lot of what she was saying as she didn’t finish off words. Also too much expecting the audience to clap at every opportunity, even pausing for it which was grinding my gears a lot. They could have cut a good 10 mins off the show if they’d just got on with it. I know most people love this, but I didn’t, but I didn’t hate it. Mmhm, I dislike the practice of wringing out claps. It was worse at the National; they paused at the end of the first Wait for Me to get some extra claps then stopped again after the small outro bit.
Row C!? Definitely not a sound issue then!  |
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Post by theatremiss on Apr 28, 2024 15:06:40 GMT
I was sat row C of the stalls. Hermes was almost impossible to understand at times. I get the strong Caribbean accent but I didn’t understand a lot of what she was saying as she didn’t finish off words. Also too much expecting the audience to clap at every opportunity, even pausing for it which was grinding my gears a lot. They could have cut a good 10 mins off the show if they’d just got on with it. I know most people love this, but I didn’t, but I didn’t hate it. Mmhm, I dislike the practice of wringing out claps. It was worse at the National; they paused at the end of the first Wait for Me to get some extra claps then stopped again after the small outro bit.
Row C!? Definitely not a sound issue then! Probably my old ears |
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Post by forfivemoreminutes on Apr 28, 2024 15:47:59 GMT
Mmhm, I dislike the practice of wringing out claps. It was worse at the National; they paused at the end of the first Wait for Me to get some extra claps then stopped again after the small outro bit.
Row C!? Definitely not a sound issue then! Probably my old ears must be, her accent isn’t difficult to understand at all - she’s very well spoken |
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Post by eliza on Apr 28, 2024 15:48:01 GMT
I saw this last week. I went in with no previous knowledge but loved it and loved the music. I agree I struggled to understand what they were singing sometimes, particularly at the beginning and when there were lots of voices at once. My friend and I both said at the interval that we hadn't always been clear on what was happening as we couldn't really clearly hear them.
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Post by theatremiss on Apr 28, 2024 15:50:10 GMT
must be, her accent isn’t difficult to understand at all - she’s very well spoken I never said there was a problem with her accent. I said pronunciation was off |
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Post by forfivemoreminutes on Apr 28, 2024 15:53:14 GMT
must be, her accent isn’t difficult to understand at all - she’s very well spoken I never said there was a problem with her accent. I said pronunciation was off please elaborate on what the difference is |
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Post by danb on Apr 28, 2024 16:13:45 GMT
As someone who was neutral about this show, from a decent side stalls seat, I would say that the sound design was very good. The assorted accents didn’t jar exactly but stopped the piece feeling like a cohesive whole as it felt like everyone was doing their own show. I’ve said already that I thought Hermes the strongest, due in the main to her inhabiting her character fully, including the patois accent. The show felt on its solidest ground when she was leading it.
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Post by blamerobots on Apr 28, 2024 16:45:30 GMT
must be, her accent isn’t difficult to understand at all - she’s very well spoken I never said there was a problem with her accent. I said pronunciation was off Do you mean enunciation? As in making sure you pronounce your consonants. |
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Post by theatremiss on Apr 28, 2024 18:53:57 GMT
I never said there was a problem with her accent. I said pronunciation was off please elaborate on what the difference is As someone else has mentioned after me, I should have said enunciation, which is to do with the clarity of the way someone forms a word, pronunciation is how syllables are emphasized within a word. So her enunciation was off. |
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Post by theatremiss on Apr 28, 2024 18:54:13 GMT
I never said there was a problem with her accent. I said pronunciation was off Do you mean enunciation? As in making sure you pronounce your consonants. Yes sorry I did |
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Post by capybara on May 2, 2024 19:27:09 GMT
I found watching Hadestown a curious viewing experience. While it’s a show that I really don’t connect with, I was certainly able to appreciate the spectacle that Anais Mitchell has created.
I loved Rachel Hauck’s set design and clearly the highlight of this piece is when Orpheus sings ‘Wait for Me’ and the set transforms. That was a wonderful moment of theatre. Donal Finn did a good job as Orpheus but the character really is a bit of a wet lettuce, isn’t he?
Grace Hodgett-Young was excellent as Eurydice and sang beautifully. However, I just found it hard to believe in the intensity of their relationship. In fact, it was quite hard to garner any sort of feeling for the characters beyond indifference.
Melanie La Barrie (Hermes) and Zachary James (Hades) injected some much-needed energy and charisma into the show and I was lucky enough to see Lauren Azania on as Persephone. I actually thought she ended up being the character you most felt any sort of empathy for.
Mitchell’s score is enjoyable enough in the moment, aided by the excellent band performing live on stage, but it never really catches alight. So, while I do see why some people are so passionate about Hadestown (I did enjoy it and there are some good individual performances), it isn’t quite for me.
Three stars.
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Post by darreno on May 3, 2024 6:51:50 GMT
Was at this again yesterday afternoon and somehow it gets better with every watch! Went for row F this time, which I feel is absolutely perfect for what I like.
We had Simon Oskarsson on for Orpheus and Lauren Azania on for Persephone, both of whom were very good.
Every time I see this show I find a new bit to love, and this time I was attending with some friends who LOVED it, and will definitely become regulars.
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