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Post by Deleted on Mar 29, 2019 16:06:32 GMT
Also they had to close the Shaftesbury for a few days IIRC as the giant parrot made the roof unstable!
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315 posts
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Post by westended on Mar 29, 2019 16:20:50 GMT
Does anyone know anything about ‘Return to the Forbidden Planet’
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Post by Deleted on Mar 29, 2019 16:31:20 GMT
Does anyone know anything about ‘Return to the Forbidden Planet’ Deffo not a flop. Beat Miss Saigon to Best Musical at the 1989 (or 1990?) Olivier's and ran at the Cambridge for 2 or 3 years. Great fun. Like must shows got cheaper and cheaper with each subsequent tour. Think it's creator Bob Carlton recently passed away? Sad as he wouldn't have been very old. He also wrote From A Jack To A King which was a flop and I think played at The Ambassador's(?) a couple of years after RTTFP. Didn't see it sadly. |
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Post by Deleted on Mar 29, 2019 16:58:24 GMT
Directed an am-dram production of RTTFP some twenty-odd years ago.It is Shakespeare’s Tempest set to mainly Rock n Roll music in outer space...it is bonkers..for the robot we adapted a tin man outfit from The Wizard Of Oz...we made the creature that attacks the ship out of bubble wrap and had a crew member up a ladder in the wings lower it down on a giant fishing rod and shake it around to simulate the creeping menace...what a lark!
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Post by Deleted on Mar 29, 2019 21:36:20 GMT
In case anyone thought I’d made it up here’s Boney M’s Disco Backstop
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Post by Deleted on Mar 29, 2019 22:42:01 GMT
1st equal "flop" with Moby Dick and possibly Closer To Heaven (though think perhaps the latter was only intended to be a limited run). Moby Dick was a lot of fun and i think that same production today could get quite the following. It's a shame it folded so quickly, but great that they released the Live recording, which really does capture the atmosphere of the show. If only people could still see the 'live' 3D effect now lol. I still have my 3D glasses. Closer To Heaven was only intended to be a limited run, but even then it still closed a lot quicker than they expected. I think there is a good musical in there somewhere, but the book needs to be completely rewritten. Jonathan Harvey has been open about it not being a great experience for him. I love the score and play it often on spotify. The Almighty Remix of Positive Role Model is great listening at the gym! |
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Post by horton on Mar 30, 2019 9:33:14 GMT
I'm a Moby survivor- there was so much politics surrounding this show- and a massive loss of nerve/ crisis of faith from certain people, but I think it could have/ should have continued its run. It was definitely finding its audience and it was comparatively cheap to run.
Closer to Heaven has a great score, but again, politics and scheduling really messed this up. There was also a knock-on to Taboo but such stories are not told (sorry to be a bore but some things you just don't). But clearly yes, the book did not go with the score. I've always wondered what Lee Hall could have done with it.
Same with Taboo- that score is a landmark but its book needs to make up its mind what it wants to be.
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Post by partytentdown on Mar 30, 2019 10:16:34 GMT
I enjoyed that Taboo revival a few years back in Brixton but never saw the original. I know there were huge issues with it on Broadway.
Anyone got any tales?
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Post by Deleted on Mar 30, 2019 10:54:56 GMT
1st equal "flop" with Moby Dick and possibly Closer To Heaven (though think perhaps the latter was only intended to be a limited run). Moby Dick was a lot of fun and i think that same production today could get quite the following. It's a shame it folded so quickly, but great that they released the Live recording, which really does capture the atmosphere of the show. If only people could still see the 'live' 3D effect now lol. I still have my 3D glasses. Closer To Heaven was only intended to be a limited run, but even then it still closed a lot quicker than they expected. I think there is a good musical in there somewhere, but the book needs to be completely rewritten. Jonathan Harvey has been open about it not being a great experience for him. I love the score and play it often on spotify. The Almighty Remix of Positive Role Model is great listening at the gym! Yeah I love Moby Dick and am SO glad it got recorded, the CD is great. Or rather that they released the recording they had. I do think for short running shows getting a CD is even MORE important as the only solid reminder that they did indeed exist. Gutted to have never seen the original version. Did finally catch it at The Union and even greatly scaled down was a lot of fun. Closer To Heaven I actually liked the book. It's very niche though. When I saw it I was a young gay boy who had just arrived to London so at the time I found it highly relevant! But it was totally of it's time. I don't think it would mean much in 2019! LOL - the Almighty Remix of PRM is indeed brilliant. Shame it was ditched for The Union run. Out of interest what has Jonathan Harvey said about it? I had thought (well, assumed I guess, confess I don't really know) that it was his story and the Pet Shop Boys were the hired help to set it to music. |
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Post by Deleted on Mar 30, 2019 10:59:31 GMT
I enjoyed that Taboo revival a few years back in Brixton but never saw the original. I know there were huge issues with it on Broadway. Anyone got any tales? The original is on DVD. I really liked the original version, small scale, great score, a brilliant performance from Euan Morton. Dramatically it had a quirky charm but the Broadway version threw money at it, changed the book and lost all of that (from seeing press reels it did have some fun spectacle though). I haven’t looked at it for ages but I recall the picture quality on the DVD wasn’t the greatest. |
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Post by Deleted on Mar 30, 2019 11:04:08 GMT
Closer To Heaven was only intended to be a limited run, but even then it still closed a lot quicker than they expected. I think there is a good musical in there somewhere, but the book needs to be completely rewritten. Jonathan Harvey has been open about it not being a great experience for him. I love the score and play it often on spotify. The Almighty Remix of Positive Role Model is great listening at the gym! Closer To Heaven I actually liked the book. It's very niche though. When I saw it I was a young gay boy who had just arrived to London so at the time I found it highly relevant! But it was totally of it's time. I don't think it would mean much in 2019! LOL - the Almighty Remix of PRM is indeed brilliant. Shame it was ditched for The Union run. Out of interest what has Jonathan Harvey said about it? I had thought (well, assumed I guess, confess I don't really know) that it was his story and the Pet Shop Boys were the hired help to set it to music. As far as I can recall the impetus was from Tennant and Lowe, who wanted to write a non jukebox musical, they chose Harvey to write it. |
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Post by Deleted on Mar 30, 2019 11:06:07 GMT
Closer To Heaven I actually liked the book. It's very niche though. When I saw it I was a young gay boy who had just arrived to London so at the time I found it highly relevant! But it was totally of it's time. I don't think it would mean much in 2019! LOL - the Almighty Remix of PRM is indeed brilliant. Shame it was ditched for The Union run. Out of interest what has Jonathan Harvey said about it? I had thought (well, assumed I guess, confess I don't really know) that it was his story and the Pet Shop Boys were the hired help to set it to music. As far as I can recall the impetus was from Tennant and Lowe, who wanted to write a non jukebox musical, they chose Harvey to write it. Ahhhh ok. Makes sense I guess, PSB were just coming down from the height of their fame. |
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Post by Deleted on Mar 30, 2019 11:50:07 GMT
Closer To Heaven I actually liked the book. It's very niche though. When I saw it I was a young gay boy who had just arrived to London so at the time I found it highly relevant! But it was totally of it's time. I don't think it would mean much in 2019! LOL - the Almighty Remix of PRM is indeed brilliant. Shame it was ditched for The Union run. Out of interest what has Jonathan Harvey said about it? I had thought (well, assumed I guess, confess I don't really know) that it was his story and the Pet Shop Boys were the hired help to set it to music.
Jonathan Harvey talked about it very briefly HERE. It was my understanding that he never got the chance to work on it as they were rehearsing it.
The PSB albumn 'Nightlife' contains some of the original versions of Closer To Heaven tracks; Vampire, Closer To Heaven and In Denial - with Kylie Minogue. For years i tried to find the Almighty Mix of 'My Night', although it was never released commercially, i'm sure its out there somewhere!
Taboo - The DVD quality really lets the show down, but the commentary DVD is worth a watch too, for all the back stage gossip! The score is still one of the best original scores in a very long time, though i prefer the OBC recording. I like the changed made to the score and it has a fantastic cast. Out of Fashion with all the male leads is genius.
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Post by oxfordsimon on Mar 30, 2019 12:03:58 GMT
I saw Taboo a couple of times and really enjoyed it. It has some really effective numbers - at least in the original and touring versions. The Broadway version ruined it.
I have been hoping that the original (or something close to it) would be released for wider production - as I would love to get my hands on it.
Petrified is probably my favourite number from the score - it never fails to move. Stranger in the World has a similar effect.
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Post by horton on Mar 30, 2019 12:27:16 GMT
Taboo suffered from never deciding whether it wanted to be a Boy George/ 80s biomusical, or an imagined boy comes to the big bad city tale. Either would be fine, but together it was a muddle.
Closer to Heaven never had the time it needed to develop- especially as some people had to leave the project for other commitments.
Theatremonkey- how could you not love whales made of umbrellas and singing cuddly seals? Not to mention the gents' costumes...
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Post by Deleted on Mar 30, 2019 12:39:08 GMT
Really disliked "Moby Dick" (unfortunate that the title is cockney rhyming slang, too). "Closer to Heaven" I think suffered a bit from Arts Theatreitis. Got caught in the ownership / developer problems as well as the fact the theatre was back then in even worse condition than now. The Union Theatre version was a hit, of course, and one of the ladies in that is now an excellent lead in the "Fame" tour. I dug my Closer To Heaven programme out recently and was amazed that it was produced (not sure if wholly or in part) by Really Useful. Not sure if ALW himself had any involvement; for a time at least the company did have producing interests not lead by The Lord himself. |
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Post by partytentdown on Mar 30, 2019 20:33:20 GMT
Does anyone remember The Umbrellas of Cherbourg?
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Post by distantcousin on Mar 30, 2019 20:48:57 GMT
I enjoyed that Taboo revival a few years back in Brixton but never saw the original. I know there were huge issues with it on Broadway. Anyone got any tales? The original is on DVD. I really liked the original version, small scale, great score, a brilliant performance from Euan Morton. Dramatically it had a quirky charm but the Broadway version threw money at it, changed the book and lost all of that (from seeing press reels it did have some fun spectacle though). I haven’t looked at it for ages but I recall the picture quality on the DVD wasn’t the greatest. I discovered Taboo via the DVD, and loved it.
It was actually the sound quality that's worse than the picture quality, I found.
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1,972 posts
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Post by sf on Mar 30, 2019 21:31:19 GMT
Does anyone remember The Umbrellas of Cherbourg?
I loved the production and the performances. The English translation (by Sheldon Harnick, lyricist of She Loves Me and Fiddler on the Roof) is spectacularly awful, and absolutely fails to capture the mundane romanticism of the French text.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 30, 2019 22:33:49 GMT
Having seen her on Pointless Celebrities tonight, Hannah Waddingham reminded me of another huge Shaftesbury flop, Lautrec.
I remember it looking gorgeous, using lots of draping cloths and scenery constantly moving. I know it was Hannah's break out role and that she had the best song in the show, Look Into My Eyes. It also starred Jill Martin and Sevan Stephan (whose name i had to look up) But apart from that, i remember very little about it. I did have a soundboard recording on cassette, but i think i lost that years ago.
Anyone else see it?
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Post by Deleted on Mar 30, 2019 22:37:21 GMT
how could you not love whales made of umbrellas and singing cuddly seals? Not to mention the gents' costumes... You mean the gents' costumes that came off at the end?  Whats not to love about a musical based on a liteary classic, ending with male strippers getting their kit off?? |
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Post by Deleted on Mar 30, 2019 23:53:29 GMT
Does anyone remember The Umbrellas of Cherbourg? Which production? There have been two versions, one in 1980 at the Phoenix and the more recent Emma Rice directed one. I loved the staging of the latter and, as much as Carly Bawden was excellent, the leading man was very weak. The real problem with the production was the decision to interpolate the narrator character played by Meow Meow, it’s a fragile story and having that sort of knowing commentary destroyed it. If you’d removed her character (and replaced the leading man) it would have worked a whole lot better. |
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Post by Deleted on Mar 31, 2019 0:00:06 GMT
Having seen her on Pointless Celebrities tonight, Hannah Waddingham reminded me of another huge Shaftesbury flop, Lautrec. I remember it looking gorgeous, using lots of draping cloths and scenery constantly moving. I know it was Hannah's break out role and that she had the best song in the show, Look Into My Eyes. It also starred Jill Martin and Sevan Stephan (whose name i had to look up) But apart from that, i remember very little about it. I did have a soundboard recording on cassette, but i think i lost that years ago. Anyone else see it? One of those shows which I saw and couldn’t believe it was a flop. It all worked well, with the exception of some anodyne lyrics, but nobody eanted to see it. In the stalls I counted about sixty people on the Saturday matinee I attended. |
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Post by horton on Mar 31, 2019 6:05:41 GMT
I was sad Lautrec had no cast recording- or even very many production shots.
But whilst on the subject of the high-speed flop- did ANYONE here see Out of the Blue? I went on a brief holiday and missed the entire run!
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Post by Deleted on Mar 31, 2019 10:57:03 GMT
I was sad Lautrec had no cast recording- or even very many production shots. But whilst on the subject of the high-speed flop- did ANYONE here see Out of the Blue? I went on a brief holiday and missed the entire run! Err, me again, I did. A show about the aftermath of the atomic bomb dropped on Nagasaki. Written by a well known Japanese composer, where it had apparently been well received. This version, in an English translation and in a new production, was not. It was confusing (and I’m fan of theatre which deliberately makes the audience work). it wasn’t the audience members fault here it was just an unfocused narrative with a seemingly ad hoc structure not fitted to a new audience. The production muddled things where it could have clarified and the fact that it was sung through made matters worse. The music was actually pretty decent and the best aspect of the show. There was a very rare double CD that sneaked out in tiny numbers (Stage Door Records reissued a much easier to find single CD version). Publicity was pretty much non existent, I think it struggled along for less than three weeks. |
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