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Post by zahidf on Oct 18, 2018 9:56:39 GMT
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Post by stevejohnson678 on Oct 18, 2018 10:30:22 GMT
As soon as I saw Jethro Compton Productions were behind this, I knew I'd be booking. His company has done some tremendous stuff at the Edinburgh Fringe.
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Post by poster J on Oct 18, 2018 10:57:50 GMT
I can't imagine this working as a musical - it seems much more suitable material for a play!
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Post by Deleted on Oct 18, 2018 16:30:17 GMT
Oooo it's a great film, so I'm certainly intrigued!
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Post by Someone in a tree on Oct 18, 2018 18:21:33 GMT
These Tree are made of blood was incridible. Must buy tickets
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Post by zahidf on Oct 18, 2018 18:59:58 GMT
It's a very interesting season at Southwark next year
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Post by distantcousin on Oct 23, 2018 10:10:42 GMT
I'm very intrigued, although almost all films that I've loved I've hated when turned into musicals! Or at the very least found them mediocre by comparision to the films....
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Post by manu on Feb 27, 2019 12:20:36 GMT
New artwork and casting announcement for the world premiere of this new musical
Cast: Matt Burns, Rosalind Ford, Joey Hickman, Philippa Hogg, James Marlowe
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Post by Dawnstar on Feb 27, 2019 19:06:26 GMT
It's a musical? I'd assumed it was a play! Thinking about going to see it now James Marlowe is in it. I'e not seen teh film so at least I won't have any comparisons issues.
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Post by stevejohnson678 on May 8, 2019 12:12:39 GMT
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Post by Seriously on May 8, 2019 19:20:45 GMT
It's a nice song, but it worries me when a director says "The way we've dealt with the ageing is by using the audience's imagination".
Surely that's the whole point of mounting a show like this, to come up with a clever new way of overcoming the inherent staging difficulty?
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Post by distantcousin on May 8, 2019 19:35:55 GMT
So it's all set in Ireland?
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Post by alece10 on May 8, 2019 19:45:34 GMT
So it's all set in Ireland? I thought he said at the start of the video Cornwall.
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Post by Someone in a tree on May 8, 2019 19:50:59 GMT
It's a nice song, but it worries me when a director says "The way we've dealt with the ageing is by using the audience's imagination". Surely that's the whole point of mounting a show like this, to come up with a clever new way of overcoming the inherent staging difficulty? Can't they just fill his head with talc and shake it out as the story progresses?!
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Post by jampot on May 9, 2019 21:47:54 GMT
Just saw this in Salisbury...I thought it was excellent from top to bottom...It just works on every level...Great creativity...The music is spot on throughout...Would love a cd...Not to be missed!
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Post by partytentdown on May 13, 2019 11:07:27 GMT
Hi, hope it's ok to mention here, I have two tickets to this on Wednesday which I can't use, see noticeboard!
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Xanderl
Member
Not always very high value in terms of ticket yield or donations
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Post by Xanderl on May 13, 2019 11:08:46 GMT
Hi, hope it's ok to mention here, I have two tickets to this on Wednesday which I can't use, see noticeboard! Southwark will swap tickets to a different date if that's any help!
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Post by westendcub on May 15, 2019 21:55:41 GMT
What a 1st night preview, was so wonderful to be there for this.
I have big love for Cornwall & was swept away there tonight (clever small set & stunning lighting design) to well crafted folk musical.
This is an actors musician piece & blends well (I can’t imagine it not being and a band) as being a folk tale it’s cast of five narrate & take in characters throughout.
I don’t want to spoil too much in how they tell it (I wasn’t a fan of the film but this excelled & give it meaning for me) as it was so beautifully crafted & effecting. Yes, for me this produced many tears (I certainly wasn’t alone).
One of those I can see having more life, a cast album hopefully....it’s all just a matter of time!!
Oh and yes big deserving standing ovation, in fact they all looked shocked that the clapping didn’t stop & came back! It’s a great experience in a small space.
Loved it & plan to try get to this again but predict some good reviews at the weekend (press night is Friday!).
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Post by paddy72 on May 15, 2019 22:12:52 GMT
Also saw this tonight and whilst I can’t say I’d rave about the production itself I am certainly not going to be negative. Not least because where else can you get to see and hear a whole completely new musical and all for an embarrassingly little ticket price of just £14. Way to little to pay for so much quality work. I really hope it gets a bigger showcase. It’s classic Matthew Warchus material so how about The Old Vic.
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Post by Steve on May 16, 2019 11:35:23 GMT
I loved this too last night. "Six" crossed with "Once" crossed with F Scott Fitzgerald, makes for a show that is as much a folk rock gig, as a musical, and which hits the same bitter-sweet spots that "Once" does about how precious and how little time we have. Some spoilers follow. . . Forget the film. That film was a very free adaptation of the Fitzgerald, integrating original material relating to race, ballet dancing and some very creepy scenes of Cate Blanchett cuddling her former lover who has become a baby. This adaptation is equally free, sets the story in Cornwall, avoids the creepiness, excises the unpleasantness of the Fitzgerald (Fitzgerald's Benjamin Button was a cad), and focuses squarely on the best thing about the story: that this guy knows when he's going to die and feels life acutely. By focusing on "time," and it's scarcity, this show squarely hits that "Once" style plaintive-celebration of the preciousness of people, places, and moments: gifting us with piquant folk rock earworms about us having only "A little bit of life," and of life being "A Matter of Time." In particular, the song "Home" feels like peak Glen Hansard. The actor musicians are so talented that you could easily mistake the first half of this show for one of those early raucous life-affirming Mumford and Sons gigs, where the boys wore flat caps and overalls (they do here too) and danced and sang with Laura Marling. The effect here was the same: audience members unable to resist tapping their toes, and bouncing up and down in their seats. The lack of actual story beats and drama in the first half accentuates the sense of being at a "Six" style gig. But if the first half lacks actual story, the second half is stuffed with it, as one wonderful dramatic moment follows another. And this is where a musical shift towards "Once" style ballads infuses the folk rock with meaning, resulting in a heady and successful mix of music and story, even if you had to wait too long for the latter. The actor-musicians are all extremely likeable and direct themselves towards the audience, drawing them in to life's shared celebration, but thankfully there is no audience participation as such. Matthew Burns, Joey Hickman and Phillippa Hogg are effectively joyous, funny and raucous throughout, while Rosalind Ford and, mostly, James Marlowe, carry the dramatic weight wonderfully. Marlowe is the key ingredient, as his openness, honesty, vulnerability and gravitas, as Benjamin Button, preserves the show's seriousness, and innoculates it against becoming twee. Overall, great fun for "Six" and "Once" fans, of which I am one. 4 stars.
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Post by CG on the loose on May 16, 2019 18:52:21 GMT
Thanks Steve - this had been off my radar, until now! Booked
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Post by Dawnstar on May 16, 2019 19:37:01 GMT
Overall, great fun for "Six" and "Once" fans, of which I am one. 4 stars. Oh dear, I'm seeing this on Saturday & I really dislike what I've heard of Six so this doesn't encourage me.
Can anyone give any information on the seating arrangement for this? I've only been in the larger auditorium at Southwark before. Is the smaller one arranged as one block of seats or is it thrust/traverse/in the round? Given the seating is unreserved do I need to arrive really early to get a decent seat or would the view be fairly similar from all the seats?
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Post by paddy72 on May 16, 2019 23:11:42 GMT
Dawn star, seating is on three sides of a thrust stage (more of a small platform). Go for the centre block. Only on the far ends of the two side blocks and at the rear might you feel a little behind the action. You get two bums per bench so it’s not a squeeze and yes it is a small space. They usually let you in about 15 mins before and it’s all very civilised. Generally the last in are those who’ve been buying drinks at the bar. Hope you enjoy the show.
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Post by showgirl on May 17, 2019 3:57:56 GMT
A poser for me as very different as they are, I loved both Once and Six (the latter is still my stand-out "musical" of a decade), but I absolutely loathed, detested and hated the film, which was so abysmal that even now, simply thinking of it makes me angry. Hence it had never occurred to me to consider seeing this, yet the above comments are causing me to waver - so how on earth do I decide?
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Post by jampot on May 17, 2019 6:25:34 GMT
A poser for me as very different as they are, I loved both Once and Six (the latter is still my stand-out "musical" of a decade), but I absolutely loathed, detested and hated the film, which was so abysmal that even now, simply thinking of it makes me angry. Hence it had never occurred to me to consider seeing this, yet the above comments are causing me to waver - so how on earth do I decide? Go! Its brilliant..I would pay double to see it again and ive seen it twice...
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Post by Steve on May 17, 2019 16:38:53 GMT
Can anyone give any information on the seating arrangement for this? I've only been in the larger auditorium at Southwark before. Is the smaller one arranged as one block of seats or is it thrust/traverse/in the round? Given the seating is unreserved do I need to arrive really early to get a decent seat or would the view be fairly similar from all the seats? Dawnstar,
It's thrust for this, like the current main house set up, but much smaller. I got there with 15 minutes to go and there was a long queue already, snaking right through the space into the furthest room. As it happened, I got a front facing seat anyway, as early arrivers are loathe to sit right next to one another, and typically leave single spaces free out of politeness to each other. If you have a choice, go for front facing seats, but not the most central ones, so as to avoid characters staged in the centre from blocking your view of musicians and actors behind them.
As regards your aversion to "Six," be aware that the celtic folk rock style of this show is very different to the varied pop music styles of "Six." What you are dealing with here is cellos and violins plucked for fun, accordians, insistent percussion and drums, happy clappy people in flat caps and bowlers, and the periodic sudden drop out of all instrumentation to allow communal acapella to establish an unmediated direct human connection between yourself and music.
The purpose of my "Six" comparison is to point out that this does not feel like a conventional musical, but like a gig. Like in "Six," you may feel like you stumbled into a pop concert by accident, and specifically, in this case, a Mumford and Sons style celtic folk concert.
The second act does involve more conventional storytelling, which is where the show starts to feel like "Once."
Showgirl,
"Benjamin Button" can seem a silly story, as people don't live backwards, so what's the point? And here, it feels even sillier than the film (at first) because they don't have the special effects to suggest how a fully grown old man (they use an adult sized puppet lol) can be born of a woman.
But don't let the film bother you. Here, the folk rock covers up the thin dramatisation of the early story, and the Cornwall setting, and all-new-plot-developments of the second half, really make this feel completely different to the film.
The only connection between this and the film is that a man does live his life in reverse. If you can get over the silliness of that conceit, then I feel that this show does a MUCH better job than the film of making the case for the preciousness of every minute of our short lives.
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Post by Dawnstar on May 17, 2019 17:55:02 GMT
As regards your aversion to "Six," be aware that the celtic folk rock style of this show is very different to the varied pop music styles of "Six." What you are dealing with here is cellos and violins plucked for fun, accordians, insistent percussion and drums, happy clappy people in flat caps and bowlers, and the periodic sudden drop out of all instrumentation to allow communal acapella to establish an unmediated direct human connection between yourself and music.
The purpose of my "Six" comparison is to point out that this does not feel like a conventional musical, but like a gig. Like in "Six," you may feel like you stumbled into a pop concert by accident, and specifically, in this case, a Mumford and Sons style celtic folk concert.
It certainly would be an accident: I've never been to a gig/pop concert in my life! I'm not really sure what Celtic folk rock sounds like either. Riverdance? Oh well, if I go in with low expectations then they're more likely to be at least met.
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Post by distantcousin on May 17, 2019 18:29:40 GMT
Great to read this. I am definitely put off. Loved the film. HATED Once - one of the worst shows I've ever seen, and from what I saw of "Six", it didn't look like my cup of tea. I'll save me money on this one!
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Post by jampot on May 17, 2019 19:09:14 GMT
Great to read this. I am definitely put off. Loved the film. HATED Once - one of the worst shows I've ever seen, and from what I saw of "Six", it didn't look like my cup of tea. I'll save me money on this one! Six isnt my cup of tea either and for me makes no connection to this piece..Just simple lovely folk music telling an enchanting story. Done on a small but very creative scale with great performers...Take the tissues..
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Post by Dawnstar on May 18, 2019 22:25:11 GMT
I found this really interesting. While on one level it's specifically about a man living in reverse, it's also about how to live your life in general. Excellent performances from the five cast-cum-musicians. Folk music isn't a genre that I listen to but I found the score pleasant & thought a couple if songs had lovely melodies. The only thing I wasn't keen on were the puppets but then I have a general dislike of puppets. Oh and I wasn't quite sure why the role of Elowen was split between 2 actresses when Benjamin was played by 1 actor but I guess the creative team must have had a reason. I was pleased to see James Marlowe again & to see Joey Hickman, whose name I know from him being the MD for TCAABR but who I've not seen in anything before.
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