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Post by daniel on Dec 3, 2016 11:11:24 GMT
Hmmm how odd. Didn't notice anything unusual about the set when I saw it in Birmingham. Do we know anything about a cast change yet? Jon Robyns is leaving for The Wedding Singer soon, so it'll be getting a new Eddie. Surely others will be going too... Just wondering. New cast members are rehearsing at the moment, I don't know who is leaving or when, but I guess there should be an announcement soon! |
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Post by talkstageytome on Dec 3, 2016 11:16:02 GMT
Oooh exciting,thanks for the info!
Didn't overly love the show but it'll be the last show to come to my uni city before I graduate so I may very well see it. I do enjoy seeing multiple casts and maybe with a new cast I'll get more out of it. Loved Jon Robyns though and he's leaving soooo....
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Post by Deleted on Dec 3, 2016 11:28:14 GMT
Jon Robyns leaves December 17th, to be replaced by current cast member Joe Vetch, with Lewis Cochrane taking over as the Male On Stage Swing.
Rosemary Ashe leaves January 14th, to be replaced by Liz Kitchen.
All other cast members set to stay through the end of the tour it appears according to the website but obviously some of the ensemble may well be leaving too.
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Post by Michael on Dec 3, 2016 22:24:05 GMT
I did see the same show as the two Daniels but felt completely different. I love Sister Act, but this production should not have been staged. Too much was changed and altered, and not for good. I wonder who came first up with this stupid actor/musician thing (excluding Once of course where it makes sense). What a completely stupid idea. Eddie singing I could be that guy in a park and bums with instruments accompany him? Seriously? How stupid is that? The church is broke, but all of a sudden they have expensive musical instruments? And the nuns, who can't sing at all (the flat singing was completely overdone), can play their instruments? Seriously? I am going to boycott every future actor/musician show. I want a proper band/orchestra. Alexandra Burke? It was my first time seeing her on stage, and I can only quote BurlyBeaR: Oh dear. Oh dear oh dear oh dear. Completely exaggerated portrayal that turned Deloris into a caricature, extremely bad pronunciation and her voice is way too low for this part. The rest of the cast with the exception of Jon Robyns wasn't much better either. I think they focused too much on finding someone who knows how to play this or that instrument. I even considered leaving in the interval, but stayed as I wanted to hear Life I Never Led, my favourite song from Sister Act. Of course, it was underdelivered as well, so I could have left in the interval with a quiet conscience. So in short, I was the one constantly rolling his eyes and shaking his head. Oddly, everybody else seemed to love it - standing ovations at the end, cheers and laughter and so on. |
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Post by BurlyBeaR on Dec 3, 2016 22:49:46 GMT
Oh dear.....
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Post by BurlyBeaR on Dec 3, 2016 22:50:32 GMT
Did she have her finger in her ear Michael? |
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Post by Deleted on Dec 3, 2016 22:51:11 GMT
I did see the same show as the two Daniels but felt completely different. I love Sister Act, but this production should not have been staged. Too much was changed and altered, and not for good. I wonder who came first up with this stupid actor/musician thing (excluding Once of course where it makes sense). What a completely stupid idea. Eddie singing I could be that guy in a park and bums with instruments accompany him? Seriously? How stupid is that? The church is broke, but all of a sudden they have expensive musical instruments? And the nuns, who can't sing at all (the flat singing was completely overdone), can play their instruments? Seriously? I am going to boycott every future actor/musician show. I want a proper band/orchestra. Alexandra Burke? It was my first time seeing her on stage, and I can only quote BurlyBeaR : Oh dear. Oh dear oh dear oh dear. Completely exaggerated portrayal that turned Deloris into a caricature, extremely bad pronunciation and her voice is way too low for this part. The rest of the cast with the exception of Jon Robyns wasn't much better either. I think they focused too much on finding someone who knows how to play this or that instrument. I even considered leaving in the interval, but stayed as I wanted to hear Life I Never Led, my favourite song from Sister Act. Of course, it was underdelivered as well, so I could have left in the interval with a quiet conscience. So in short, I was the one constantly rolling his eyes and shaking his head. Oddly, everybody else seemed to love it - standing ovations at the end, cheers and laughter and so on. Ah I'm sorry you didn't enjoy it as much as we did. Each to their own.  |
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Post by hitmewithurbethshot on Dec 3, 2016 23:07:40 GMT
Saw the matinee today with Joanna as Deloris, very enjoyable show and Joanna has an INCREDIBLE voice but I found her acting very OTT and cartoonish.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 3, 2016 23:28:36 GMT
Just came out from seeing the show tonight I did personally enjoy it quite a lot. Never seen the show or movie before but had a basic understanding of the story. Great performances all round - all actors give it their all. Jon Robyns is great in his role and am glad to finally see him in a show!! All the sisters are great too as are Rosemary Ashe and Karen Mann. Alexandra Burke is the best part of the show - absolutely amazing. Such a talented singer, I really hope she continues to star in musicals. So funny and also a great actress. Very different part to The Bodyguard too. She put LOADS of effort into the show too.Not sure the show would've been as good without her starring in it. The set was okay. It was just a church which I thought was abit boring. They could've exaggerated it abit more and used the space better but it was still good. Have seen worse sets. The show itself is good. Good and fun storyline. Did feel to drag a few times but this was only a FEW times. Also, felt abit silly at times for the sake of it. You could tel that was due to the direction though and not the book, just felt like it didn't need to be that silly. Again only small issues for a very good show. Would highly recommend seeing this just to witness the talented Alexandra Burke. Wouldn't see it again but glad I did!! 4 Stars  Oh and also waited at stage door for Alexandra, waited about 25 mins. Saw Jon Robyns and few others come out but didn't speak to them. Then they're was this group to buzzed at stage door saying they were "Alexandra's Guests" and went in so as it was 11:00 and we were tired, we left. Shame as really wanted to meet her but didn't want to wait a very long time. Would be interesting to see how long she took to come out |
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Post by d'James on Dec 4, 2016 5:55:52 GMT
George, the show 'survived' perfectly fine with unknown, subsequent Tony winners in the lead role. (In the original key too!)
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Post by Michael on Dec 4, 2016 5:58:38 GMT
Did she have her finger in her ear Michael? I was busy rolling my eyes and shaking my head so I haven't paid attention I'm afraid. Oh dear oh dear oh dear. Dearie me... you get the idea  |
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Post by HereForTheatre on Dec 4, 2016 8:12:19 GMT
Another vote for thinking it was great, and i saw it early in previews so should be even better now. Not getting the criticism at all. If you go to a musical like this and can't leave your brain at the door and just enjoy a show/production for what it is there is something wrong really. Yes, nuns playing instruments, yes nuns playing instruments, how silly. About as silly as a Las Vegas show girl pretending to be a nun and turning nuns who can't sing into a world beating choir in the first place. I just thought it was fun and entertaining and funny. People knew it was a actor/musician thing from the off, so i can't really buy complaints about that being what happened and how strange it was. I also found the cast fine, most of the main cast certainly weren't cast for their instrument playing abilities above anything else.
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Post by talkstageytome on Dec 4, 2016 8:37:15 GMT
For me, it just didn't come together though. Yes, it's a silly show but you still want coherency, fluidity, etc. I didn't mind the actor musician element, but I do still wonder WHY it was decided that actor-musicians would be playing nuns who can't sing. Like... of all the shows to put that element into, why this one? It didn't bother me but it still seems like a strange choice.
For me the faults mostly lay in the direction. It was all over the place. The Life I Never Led stands out as an example of pure oddness, with Dolores and Sister Mary Robert rolling around on the floor together really unnaturally. Oh, and the book itself dragged a bit too. Especially during the mother superior scenes / songs.
Glad people enjoyed it, and like I said, maybe I'll see it again later in the run, but in my eyes there was a lot that didn't work. I saw it in September and it stands out as one of the weaker things I've seen this year.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 4, 2016 8:41:44 GMT
George, the show 'survived' perfectly fine with unknown, subsequent Tony winners in the lead role. (In the original key too!) I know it did. I was simply stating that Alexandra Burke was the stand out of the show and in my opinion, i dont know if I would've thought this tour would've been as good without her. |
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Post by talkstageytome on Dec 4, 2016 8:50:15 GMT
When the tour was announced I was hoping for Rachel John. Wasn't she an understudy in the last tour? She'd have been excellent, no doubt!
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Post by Michael on Dec 4, 2016 9:27:47 GMT
HereForTheatre the problem I have is that this production turned a funny show into a stupid one. Many jokes were overdone and it was exaggerated to an extent that made me hate the show and, as I've said before, I was constantly rolling my eyes and shaking my head. Having seen former productions of Sister Act makes you realise how bad this one is. And re the actor/musician thing: If they're too cheap to pay a band, they should also half the ticket prices. So in short: it's a crappy production of a good show that made me want to leave in the interval.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 4, 2016 16:53:50 GMT
The end of Act 1 and the finale were my favourite parts.
Also, has the line "you are still a negro right?" always been in the show? I wasn't sure how it came across funny?....
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Post by BurlyBeaR on Dec 4, 2016 20:59:04 GMT
Alexandra Burke is the best part of the show - absolutely amazing. Such a talented singer, I really hope she continues to star in musicals. So funny and also a great actress. A great actress? That's a bit of a stretch isn't it? She was very good at the head-wobble/waving index finger side to side/black chick being sassy type of stuff (cue loads of queens in audience whooping because all of that is dead funny, right? 🙄) but that was about all. Unless things have had a major turnaround since Manchester AB is not a great actress. She is an engaging performer with a decent voice when she can hit it, but that's about all really. |
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Post by d'James on Dec 4, 2016 21:20:21 GMT
When the tour was announced I was hoping for Rachel John. Wasn't she an understudy in the last tour? She'd have been excellent, no doubt! Rachel John was understudy in London for the last few months, although she never went on. It was all a bit odd, Debbie Kurup left in the June but was drafted back in as a standby but never went on either. Landi Oshinowo was the only one who went on as Deloris (other than Patina obviously) in the last few months. The end of Act 1 and the finale were my favourite parts. Also, has the line "you are still a negro right?" always been in the show? I wasn't sure how it came across funny?.... That was added in the Broadway rewrite. |
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Post by universetipping on Dec 5, 2016 0:58:31 GMT
HereForTheatre the problem I have is that this production turned a funny show into a stupid one. Many jokes were overdone and it was exaggerated to an extent that made me hate the show and, as I've said before, I was constantly rolling my eyes and shaking my head. Having seen former productions of Sister Act makes you realise how bad this one is. And re the actor/musician thing: If they're too cheap to pay a band, they should also half the ticket prices. So in short: it's a crappy production of a good show that made me want to leave in the interval. Just a thought but maybe we actually enjoyed the stupid and overdone jokes because they were funny... and horror of horrors...it's a musical comedy! The source material or original show were hardly profound. It's also slightly patronising to imply that somehow we've been duped into enjoying this production just because you've seen other productions and liked them more. It's a matter of opinion, and opinions differ. I'm not sure that the primary reason for the use of actor musicians is cost- of course it's cheaper, but I think Craig wanted to do something different with the show. Like it or not, it does showcase a hugely talented cast. There's also a four piece band (plus musical director). |
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Post by Michael on Dec 5, 2016 7:22:39 GMT
Just a thought but maybe we actually enjoyed the stupid and overdone jokes because they were funny... and horror of horrors...it's a musical comedy! The source material or original show were hardly profound. There are two different funnies: I really like funny (as in funny funny), but I found this show to be stupid funny, and that's something I can't stand (hence the eye-rolling and head shaking). None of the jokes were clever or intelligent and they just went for the easy laughts. It's also slightly patronising to imply that somehow we've been duped into enjoying this production just because you've seen other productions and liked them more. It's a matter of opinion, and opinions differ. I just pointed out that I had the impression that those board members who had seen other productions of Sister Act before did not enjoy this one that much, and those who hadn't did. I'm not sure that the primary reason for the use of actor musicians is cost- of course it's cheaper, but I think Craig wanted to do something different with the show. I'm all for doing something different if it adds something or makes something better or more enjoyable. But you really shouldn't change something just for the sake of changing something. If it's not broke, don't fix it. Like it or not, it does showcase a hugely talented cast. As I've said, apart from Jon Robyns, I didn't find the cast that good tbh. I thought they chose instrumentalist over actor/singer. There's also a four piece band (plus musical director). That doesn't make it better tbh... |
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Post by hayley1212 on Jan 10, 2017 16:55:49 GMT
Is this worth seeing. Heard it's going into the west end?
Does anyone know when the tour finishes.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 10, 2017 17:05:21 GMT
Is this worth seeing. Heard it's going into the west end? Does anyone know when the tour finishes. Tour finishes August, I believe? Surprised if it went to the West End. I would see it, just to see Alexandra as she is amazing as Delores, fun night out but not a groundbreaking show |
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Post by talkstageytome on Jan 10, 2017 17:20:52 GMT
It was fine but I didn't love it. Some good songs strung together with a meandering plot.
Jon Robyns was my fave cast member and had a great song, but he's left now.
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Post by Michael on Jan 10, 2017 17:31:23 GMT
I rather the theatre stayed dark than housed this production of Sister Act. On the other hand, if they got a new Deloris and got rid of the stupid actor/musician thing and hired a proper orchestra, I might see it again.
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