198 posts
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Post by l0islane on Feb 4, 2019 13:28:46 GMT
They’re put some big names behind But I’m A Cheerleader. They’ve put Christina & Rob from BOOH in Killer Queen too- so i’m very happy with my purchases! I think only Christina is in Killer Queen, they are both in The Astonishing Return of… The Protagonists?
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Post by Deleted on Feb 4, 2019 13:41:08 GMT
I find the casting for The Other Palace so boring these days. Like, yes, these performers are all reliable and great performers, but they always use the same performers all the time. Why can't they switch it up and not have the same performers again and again? I like to refer to many of these performers as "The Paul Taylor-Mills gang". 😂😂 Exactly. I find it hilarious that he wrote that this is the best casting they have done for ages and that 'it's going to break the internet'. What a joke. It's the same old jobbing actors going round and round. I do find the way he sometimes goes about social media... interesting.
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Post by happytobehere on Feb 4, 2019 14:01:28 GMT
They’re put some big names behind But I’m A Cheerleader. They’ve put Christina & Rob from BOOH in Killer Queen too- so i’m very happy with my purchases! I think only Christina is in Killer Queen, they are both in The Astonishing Return of… The Protagonists? Oh yeah- I think my overexcited mind must’ve read them both & just put them together! Just Christina for Killer Queen is still great for though!
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Post by winonaforever on Feb 4, 2019 15:01:22 GMT
I got my tickets ages ago and I was most excited for But I'm a Cheerleader. I'm REALLY excited now! Also just booked for a couple more, so will see 4 of them altogether.
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396 posts
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Post by djp on Feb 4, 2019 22:46:07 GMT
I find the casting for The Other Palace so boring these days. Like, yes, these performers are all reliable and great performers, but they always use the same performers all the time. Why can't they switch it up and not have the same performers again and again? I like to refer to many of these performers as "The Paul Taylor-Mills gang". 😂😂 I would prefer casting the people who are known to be great - if they are available because of the paucity of top roles at present use them. Diversity for the sake of it often means dross.
Indeed the problem with this show is that by the time they said who was in it, which determines whether its worth a trip to see, the Carrie fans were jamming the phone lines and selling that one out- so anyone who wants to see who else is in in it can't.
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396 posts
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Post by djp on Feb 4, 2019 22:52:53 GMT
Just booked in for one of the Nightcaps. I’ve never been in the Other Palace Studio before, where would be the best place for me to sit to get a good view but also not be too close? (being at the front makes me anxious!) Upstairs, nice seats,unobstructed view, table to put a drink on.........
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396 posts
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Post by djp on Feb 4, 2019 23:19:59 GMT
I'd be intrigued to see if any of those could see a full-scale production at some point pending how successful these workshops are? I've wanted to see a full-scale production of First Date for a while now, I like the score alot! in a logical profession,or Economics 101 course , yes. Judging by it being sold out within minutes the Cheer Leader would probably have filled out the main theatre now , even without being properly staged.
But the WE follows the British economic model . Its not very good at spotting good shows, developing successful workshops, or bringing in good tours, or even using people its identified as very good to the full, or at all, or selling the better new shows. Its often prefers rehash no 101, foreign imports and capital, nuts name casting,or something truly bad that gets backed. First class reviews in a musical often mean a first class ticket to America, or TV,or nothing. And when it does back a good new idea for a one-off show ,it often casts it with a weaker cast for its long run.
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659 posts
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MT Fest
Feb 5, 2019 17:15:07 GMT
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Post by westendcub on Feb 5, 2019 17:15:07 GMT
Well I’m very good I had booked ‘But I’m a Cheerleader’ upon announcement, cracking cast & ultra not surprised it suddenly sold out.
I had booked ‘Killer Queen’ in announcement already but now booked ‘Bloody Bloody Jessica Fletcher’ & superhero one as they start straight after (didn’t notice that before!!).
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438 posts
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Post by Rukaya on Feb 6, 2019 18:50:46 GMT
Standing tickets have gone on sale for But I'm A Cheerleader, if anyone wanted to see it and missed out
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Post by andrew on Feb 6, 2019 19:29:03 GMT
Standing tickets have gone on sale for But I'm A Cheerleader, if anyone wanted to see it and missed out Thanks for that! The weirdest thing happened and I managed to buy a normal seated ticket for Tuesday. Idk if it was a system glitch or something but it was red instead of yellow and it doesn't say standing anywhere. It could be a return maybe, because after my purchase it only shows standing tickets available.
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Feb 7, 2019 13:55:24 GMT
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Post by mrbluesky on Feb 7, 2019 13:55:24 GMT
Nabbed a ticket for both First Date and But I’m a Cheerleader, quite excited by them! Might try and catch Luke Bayer’s Nightcap as well, there’s something about him that I find really likeable
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532 posts
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Post by andrew on Feb 13, 2019 16:06:33 GMT
Did anyone go to AA?
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Post by winonaforever on Feb 13, 2019 17:36:50 GMT
No, but I just saw Nerds.
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438 posts
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Feb 13, 2019 20:52:00 GMT
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Post by Rukaya on Feb 13, 2019 20:52:00 GMT
Saw Nerds last night, AA tonight. Nerds was fun but I'm not sure it's a show I'd rush to see a full production of, whereas AA tonight I REALLY enjoyed. Ironically it was one that I felt meh about when the festival was first announced but the casting sold it for me, and now I'm very glad I didn't miss it. Similar situation with Nerds actually, the cast sold it for me.
Really liked the vignette style of AA and would be intrigued to see how they all come together (or not!) in act 2, some cracking tunes in there.
It'll be interesting to see what happens in the future of the shows featured in this festival. I'm booked for 4 more of the shows so will report back!
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1,037 posts
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Post by jgblunners on Feb 13, 2019 21:22:24 GMT
I saw both Nerds and AA tonight, and preferred the former. I think that was partly down to how it was presented (a cut-down version of the full show, whereas AA was mostly act 1 material so didn't really have a conclusion) and partly down to the style of the piece (AA quite crude, a 'we'll shock you into laughing' kinda show but not as intelligent as Book of Mormon, Nerds more 'laugh at this silly pun' comedy). Both had their flaws and their strengths, and it definitely made me want to see more of both. Looking forward to the rest of the workshop shows - I'm booked in for all of them!
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540 posts
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Feb 16, 2019 9:44:21 GMT
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Post by freckles on Feb 16, 2019 9:44:21 GMT
Saw First Date and was a bit disappointed. Was simply a reading - very raw, with scripts in hand and little evidence of any preparation. I wasn’t expecting full staging by any means, I knew it would be only 45 mins, and appreciate it was a cheap ticket. But it all seemed a bit half-hearted and didn’t make me encouraged to book any more They were begging us to stay for Porn afterwards (that sounds funny!) so that one clearly hadn’t sold well. A shame, MTFest sounded a good idea as a concept, but I left feeling that the venue was just trying to make an easy few quid for minimal effort. I suspect the interview type events would be more entertaining, should have gone to one or two of those instead.
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Post by robertb213 on Feb 16, 2019 14:14:10 GMT
I popped in for Porn The Musical last night - bonkers and not for the easily offended (a doctor singing about his PHD but wasn't referring to his credentials) but it has potential. The last 10 minutes weren't anywhere near as good as what comes before it but there were some catchy tunes. Liam Doyle, Sophie Isaacs and Dean John Wilson all as good as always. I'm back for First Date later.
Also stayed for the Louise Dearman Nightcap. She's such a bloody star. Lots of chat and stories mixed with 5 songs. PTM was too gushing and OTT for my taste but still worth the trip. Interesting to learn that Louise has been rejected by Les Mis multiple times. Got the impression she auditioned for Waitress as well. She was just normal and charming and lovely. And sang Defying Gravity and Bring Him Home (amongst others) which were just stunning.
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Feb 17, 2019 2:31:29 GMT
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Post by happytobehere on Feb 17, 2019 2:31:29 GMT
For anyone that’s attended a Nightcaps show: how was it? and what time do they end?
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687 posts
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Post by sophie92 on Feb 17, 2019 8:16:10 GMT
For anyone that’s attended a Nightcaps show: how was it? and what time do they end? They’re good! I’ve been to two so far (Evelyn Hoskins and Sophie Isaacs) - they last roughly an hour, maybe a bit less. 5 songs and the rest of the time chatting with Paul about various topics
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Feb 17, 2019 11:07:49 GMT
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Post by robertb213 on Feb 17, 2019 11:07:49 GMT
I've done Louise and Rob Houchen this week, both excellent. Louise was just over an hour I think, Rob was around 50 minutes. Lovely intimate atmosphere.
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821 posts
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Post by ensembleswings on Feb 17, 2019 17:13:16 GMT
Saw both AA and First Date this week, both enjoyable shows. The 40 mins of AA flew by, felt like it was over before it even began, think that was down to it mainly presenting act 1 material though. Be interested to see the production in full to see how everything fits together and concludes. First Date I absolutely loved, left the studio wishing I was free the next evening to see the reading again. It's definitely a show that I'll be booking for (be it a workshop or a fully staged version) if it ever makes it far enough over here.
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Feb 17, 2019 17:19:38 GMT
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Post by robertb213 on Feb 17, 2019 17:19:38 GMT
Completely agree on First Date, I really hope that comes back again in a fuller form soon 😀
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Feb 18, 2019 12:27:26 GMT
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Post by robertb213 on Feb 18, 2019 12:27:26 GMT
Victoria Hamilton-Barritt's nightcap is cancelled tonight. Now need to find something else on about 9ish!
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Feb 18, 2019 14:04:37 GMT
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Post by jgblunners on Feb 18, 2019 14:04:37 GMT
I was at Louise Dearman’s Night Cap on Friday and then saw Porn and First Date on Saturday evening.
Louise was an absolute delight - down-to-earth and funny. It was interesting hearing her talk about her experience with Les Mis auditions, and made me a little sad as it sounds like she thinks her window of opportunity for Fantine is closing. A nice set list, my highlights being Unexpected Song and Bring Him Home which were utterly gorgeous.
Porn was terrible. I’m sorry for being so blunt, but it was. The book wasn’t clever enough for an effective spoof comedy but also wasn’t interesting enough for a show trying to twist the cliches around and have some kind of message. The music was uninspired and lacked solid melodic structure. Perhaps most shockingly, barely any of the humour landed. Needs a radical re-think in my opinion.
First Date, on the other hand, was brilliant. The best yet of the taster menu shows, it was intelligent, well-structured, musically interesting, had well-defined characters that you cared about, and was rather funny too. So far it’s the only show for which I have immediately thought ‘I’d pay good money to see a full production of this.’
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Feb 19, 2019 20:31:35 GMT
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Post by westendcub on Feb 19, 2019 20:31:35 GMT
Well that was an hoot tonight I thought!!
I was a little worried when I had to queue outside for ‘But I’m a Cheerleader’ that it was going to be a bad scam downstairs but it was grand (I opted for the bar stalls - will try for them on Thursday!).
There’s loads of potential with BIAC, it had a good cast & was enjoyable!!
‘Bloody, Bloody Jessica Fletcher’ is a fun spoof show, it wouldn’t work as standalone but would work an comedy double bill & yes it’s one us gays would lap up!! I laughed a lot!
It was nice to see some cast stay & watch the 2nd show, saw some familiar faces in the audience too!!
Looking forward to returning on Thursday!!
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Feb 19, 2019 23:41:38 GMT
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Post by theatrelover123 on Feb 19, 2019 23:41:38 GMT
Does anybody happen to know the full casts for Cheerleader and Bloody Bloody tonight? I recognised loads but couldn’t place them all.
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Feb 20, 2019 4:42:42 GMT
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Post by sophie92 on Feb 20, 2019 4:42:42 GMT
Does anybody happen to know the full casts for Cheerleader and Bloody Bloody tonight? I recognised loads but couldn’t place them all. BIAC: Bronte Barbe, Carrie Hope Fletcher, Jamie Muscato, Jodie Jacobs, Matt Henry, Ben Forster, Stephen Hogan, Luke Bayer, Connor Lewis, Tom Dickerson, Jonathan Hermosa-Lopez, Jessie Angell, Emily Hammond BBJF: Harriet Thorpe, Steven Serlin, Russell Walker, Connor Byrne, Mark Anderson, Verity Rushworth, Jemma Alexander
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Post by jgblunners on Feb 21, 2019 23:35:06 GMT
Saw Bloody Bloody Jessica Fletcher and But I'm A Cheerleader yesterday - both really good but not quite as polished as First Date.
Jessica Fletcher was absolutely hilarious - I was particularly impressed by the variety of humour, there's a little bit of everything in there. The whole thing is a big spoof of Murder, She Wrote and it works brilliantly. There's plenty of fourth wall breaking, they handle the inherent sexism and racism of the period well, and references to Lansbury are woven in pretty smoothly. Harriet Thorpe was great but Mark Anderson stole the show for me, his comedic timing is perfect. I'm not even that big a fan of Murder, She Wrote, but I'd love to see more of this.
But I'm A Cheerleader had definite Heathers vibes to it (and not just because of the cast), but the music didn't feel quite as polished. There were some brilliant musical moments but it wasn't consistent - there was also stuff that really didn't work for me. The book has 'disneyfied' the film a bit - it feels much less surreal and psychedelic, much more like a teen drama. Some of the humour was also a bit cliche. I think they know their target audience and they know how to appeal to them, so in its current form it probably has the potential to go far, but I'd personally like to see a bit more grit. Bronté Barbé was sensational though.
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687 posts
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Post by sophie92 on Feb 21, 2019 23:43:53 GMT
I haven’t laughed as much as I did at Bloody Bloody Jessica Fletcher in ages. Just fantastic stuff and as jgblunners said, Mark Anderson completely stole the show (Jemma Alexander utterly unable to keep a straight face whilst sitting at the back of the stage came close though). I’ve had ‘Angela Lansbury Will Never Win an Emmy’ in my head since Tuesday!
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Post by Deleted on Feb 22, 2019 0:20:21 GMT
Out of the few I saw I think First Date has the most potential. They also seemed the most polished and most rehearsed cast which was surprising as the same cast performed Porn and you would have to question was that even rehearsed cause that was a car crash. Massive thumbs up for First Date though.
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