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Post by talkingheads on Jun 9, 2018 16:20:35 GMT
For curiousity how many people here believe that going to a show you go to the show and not to see actors in the show? And actors I don't mean just the very famous leads - I mean any of the cast. All the people I have known and met from going theatre have all gone to see actors in shows. I have been to see shows - just to see the show then gone back because I liked actors performances then gone to see them in the next show they did. There are some shows I probably wouldn't have gone to if an actor I liked hadn't have been in it. I will say that I go to see actors sometimes. I booked Height of the Storn for example because it'll mean getting to see Eileen Atkins performing. But generally I go by the writer. Beyond that I'll look at the plot and see if it sounds interesting. I haven't had tge slightest interest in seeing Quiz for instance because I just can't help but feel a play about a bloke that cheated on Millionaire is worth West End money. |
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Post by talkingheads on Jun 9, 2018 16:20:56 GMT
For curiousity how many people here believe that going to a show you go to the show and not to see actors in the show? And actors I don't mean just the very famous leads - I mean any of the cast. All the people I have known and met from going theatre have all gone to see actors in shows. I have been to see shows - just to see the show then gone back because I liked actors performances then gone to see them in the next show they did. There are some shows I probably wouldn't have gone to if an actor I liked hadn't have been in it. I will say that I go to see actors sometimes. I booked Height of the Storm for example because it'll mean getting to see Eileen Atkins performing. But generally I go by the writer. Beyond that I'll look at the plot and see if it sounds interesting. I haven't had tge slightest interest in seeing Quiz for instance because I just can't help but feel a play about a bloke that cheated on Millionaire is worth West End money. |
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Post by Deleted on Jun 10, 2018 8:04:24 GMT
I would never ask for a refund upon finding out that I’m seeing an understudy. At the end of the day, you pay to see the show, not the star performer. It even says on most websites “the producer can not guarantee the appearance of any particular artist”
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Post by Deleted on Jun 10, 2018 8:24:02 GMT
I would never ask for a refund upon finding out that I’m seeing an understudy. At the end of the day, you pay to see the show, not the star performer. It even says on most websites “the producer can not guarantee the appearance of any particular artist”
I think we’ve already established that some do, some don’t...
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Post by ptwest on Jun 10, 2018 8:59:38 GMT
In my opinion I echo those that say this is a marketing issue but also whether the "star" being off is planned or unplanned. I remember being very annoyed with Evita due to the fact that the entire marketing push was around Elena Roger and how incredible she was going to be. Of course I booked my ticket entirely to see ER and it was only a few days later that the alternate schedule was published and I was to get to see the alternate instead. I did feel cheated by this, there was a regular schedule and it was known, the producers just decided to hold onto that information a little longer than they could- there was no point asking for a refund because I'd already booked train tickets and only come down to London a few times a year. But had I been able to see the next performance I certainly would have tried. There is a massive difference between circumstances beyond control e.g illness, and a planned absence. If the show is marketed around the name then those known absences should be clearly publicised. A lot of shows do this now I notice.
Every show is going to market its stars as obviously a good performance is a selling point, but if the marketing is totally around the lead and it is an unpublicised planned absence then I do feel that people have a case. To be fair there have been countless times where the person I have gone to see has been off, and apart from a couple of cases, the understudies have been wonderful.
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Post by ellie1981 on Jun 10, 2018 9:25:18 GMT
I must say the only time I was really disappointed in the performance of an understudy was The Bodyguard at The Dominion. I don’t know who it was, but Rachel John was playing Nikki that night and had a much stronger voice with a nicer quality to it than the one that was supposed to be the superstar.
Also away from understudies but on a similar note for musicals centering around the music industry - one of the reasons I thought Motown The Musical was a bit odd was that the Berry Gordy character is the lead. The Gordy performance was a lot more accomplished than that of others, so when he’s merely writing Reet Petite and then it flashes into Jackie Wilson performing for real, it doesn’t look right that Berry sounds better than him. Does that make sense?
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Post by duncan on Jun 10, 2018 9:30:58 GMT
I wonder what would have happened with Martine M and her no shows at My Fair Lady at Dury Lane? I saw MFL when Martine was off and so was her understudy - the first time I got to experience the delight of the 3rd choice, who just so happened to be someone called Kerry Ellis, who I think retired after that run. |
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Post by BurlyBeaR on Jun 10, 2018 11:26:31 GMT
I’m surprised no one has mentioned Amber Riley. She was wheeled out at every high profile opportunity to publicise Dreamgirls, singing the hugely well known song from it all over the place. YouTube ads were released of her rehearsing it. Thousands of people booked to see that artist in that show off the back of that very specific marketing. To suggest that those people were wrong to expect to see her on a scheduled performance is a bit much and I don’t care what disclaimers are on the website.
Yes i I know she and many of the cast were ill and that wasn’t their fault, but it wasnt the customer’s either. I thought Sonia Friedman’s handling of that, and the Funny Girl debacle was appalling and I have formed my own conclusions about her and her company as a result.
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Post by apubleed on Jun 14, 2018 19:05:01 GMT
I’m surprised no one has mentioned Amber Riley. She was wheeled out at every high profile opportunity to publicise Dreamgirls, singing the hugely well known song from it all over the place. YouTube ads were released of her rehearsing it. Thousands of people booked to see that artist in that show off the back of that very specific marketing. To suggest that those people were wrong to expect to see her on a scheduled performance is a bit much and I don’t care what disclaimers are on the website. Yes i I know she and many of the cast were ill and that wasn’t their fault, but it wasnt the customer’s either. I thought Sonia Friedman’s handling of that, and the Funny Girl debacle was appalling and I have formed my own conclusions about her and her company as a result. Great examples! The thing Friedman should understand is that it might end up hurting their commercials in the long term. If you have an audience of hundreds of people that feel ripped off and scammed, how likely are they going to recommend their family and friends to see the show and potentially put themselves in the same situation? They could potentially lose less money just rebooking the audience for another date. |
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