527 posts
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Post by Hamilton Addict on Jan 3, 2017 16:37:19 GMT
Has anybody stage doored for this? I would've loved to have met Amanda Holden and the rest of the cast but I doubt thy would've come out after a show? However, I did see a few pictures on twitter and Instagram of people with the cast but judging by Paul O Grady without makeup on and the fact it is light, they probably waited for them to enter the stage door before the show No one came out when I went, but this was most likely due to the fact it was Christmas Eve. I did see a sign outside one of the exits saying that autographs cannot be signed before or after the show, but this might be ignored by the cast in some occasions. |
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Post by partytentdown on Jan 6, 2017 11:19:34 GMT
Loved it! You can see your ticket money right there on stage, but it’s very cleverly designed that they can roll out these sets and costumes again in other venues over several years, no doubt.
For me Holden was the weak link – struggled with some of the songs and I suspect some high notes were on tracks. She also has a strange lisp that I’ve never noticed before.
Clary and O’Grady comedy gold – about 98% of their lines are pure smut. O’Grady clearly suffering and didn’t sing the big Salvation Army number that I believe is usually his – it was sung by another actor (understudy perhaps?). On that note, it would be interesting to know what would happen if one or more of the ‘names’ were off sick – so much is centred around their personalities that it would be a real struggle to do with more than one understudy.
The flying effects are spectacular – genuinely hard to work out how they’re done.
One disappointment – is this the whitest cast in London? Not even a hint of any ethnic diversity, a blindingly white company! Sounds an awful thing to say but usually there’s at least an effort to cast a token black or Asian chorus member! It made me wonder what it must be like to watch this is a person of colour and see not one person like you on stage.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 6, 2017 12:41:22 GMT
Not even a hint of any ethnic diversity, Paul O'Grady is Scouse. |
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Post by Deleted on Jan 6, 2017 14:55:11 GMT
Having looked at online cast lists and headshots, there do appear to be a couple of possibly ethnically ambiguous ensemble members in Cinderella, so no, it's not the whitest cast in London, as the Half A Sixpence cast is almost aggressively white.
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571 posts
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Post by westendwendy on Jan 6, 2017 15:59:57 GMT
What's wrong with aggressively white? Mowtown, Lion king and Dreamgirls are aggressively black.....Why should there have to be a token Asian or black person in the chorus? To meet a quota? It should be best person on the audition day whether they are Scouse, African, green or whatever. PC Britain and BAME representation is not always a good thing! I didn't even notice....
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Post by Deleted on Jan 6, 2017 16:03:26 GMT
You might want to consider googling "systemic racism", 'cos right now you're just kinda embarrassing yourself.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 6, 2017 16:59:07 GMT
Not half as much as you with your " 'cos" and "kinda"...
Seriously, what on earth did you do before Google existed?
Ever ready to stick a label on someone or something...
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Post by bramble on Jan 6, 2017 21:14:44 GMT
Thank goodness for Julian Clary and Paul O'Grady. They are excellent But please what is Amanda Holden like? Talentless wonder. Much too long but fun.
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Post by partytentdown on Jan 6, 2017 21:59:14 GMT
What's wrong with aggressively white? Mowtown, Lion king and Dreamgirls are aggressively black.....Why should there have to be a token Asian or black person in the chorus? To meet a quota? It should be best person on the audition day whether they are Scouse, African, green or whatever. PC Britain and BAME representation is not always a good thing! I didn't even notice.... Looking back on this thread today, all you've done is moan about the show, criticise it and other users. Why are you here if all you can be is negative? You can disagree with my point and I always listen to an argument, but you're being deliberately provocative and borderline racist. 'PC Britain' is not a thing, 'aggressively black' is not a thing - these are nasty, pointed phrases of the kind that are now apparently perfectly acceptable to bandy about in this Brexitty world. I was sitting in front of a black family with a couple of young girls. It just made me wonder what it must be like for them, possibly attending the theatre for the first time (like me along ago, which inspired me to be as passionate about it as I am) and wonder why there was nobody that looked like them up there in a cast of, what, 30? You may not have 'even noticed', but I bet they did. |
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Post by CG on the loose on Jan 6, 2017 23:36:14 GMT
O’Grady clearly suffering and didn’t sing the big Salvation Army number that I believe is usually his – it was sung by another actor (understudy perhaps?). Christopher Howells... he did the same tonight as Brother Aloysius, rather wonderfully, I thought! |
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Post by Deleted on Jan 11, 2017 18:43:13 GMT
Bit of a random question but the "What are the chances" song during the ballroom scene. is that an actual song? if so what is the correct name for it?
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422 posts
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Post by carmella1 on Jan 11, 2017 22:03:45 GMT
I believe it is an original song for the pantomime.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 11, 2017 22:12:36 GMT
I believe it is an original song for the pantomime. I thought as much, thank you  |
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Post by westendwendy on Jan 12, 2017 2:01:42 GMT
What's wrong with aggressively white? Mowtown, Lion king and Dreamgirls are aggressively black.....Why should there have to be a token Asian or black person in the chorus? To meet a quota? It should be best person on the audition day whether they are Scouse, African, green or whatever. PC Britain and BAME representation is not always a good thing! I didn't even notice.... Looking back on this thread today, all you've done is moan about the show, criticise it and other users. Why are you here if all you can be is negative? You can disagree with my point and I always listen to an argument, but you're being deliberately provocative and borderline racist. 'PC Britain' is not a thing, 'aggressively black' is not a thing - these are nasty, pointed phrases of the kind that are now apparently perfectly acceptable to bandy about in this Brexitty world. I was sitting in front of a black family with a couple of young girls. It just made me wonder what it must be like for them, possibly attending the theatre for the first time (like me along ago, which inspired me to be as passionate about it as I am) and wonder why there was nobody that looked like them up there in a cast of, what, 30? You may not have 'even noticed', but I bet they did. My aggressively black comment was in reasonse to the agressively White comment of the poster before. I am all for diversity and developing theatre that reaches out to the masses on every level but whether it is The Sound Of Music or Cinderella I do not think that adding a black performer on the end of the chorus line would or should make the show more "acceptable". How far do you go to please everyone who is watching for the first time? I agree as the show was staged in London it was a very white cast considering white people make up 48 percent of the capital but that was the talent they cast and that lies with the producers. There are dozens of other shows were BAME talent represents 90 percent. What next? A black Blood Brothers? That's not racist, that's just historically correct that it should be a white cast in the same way Dreamgirls or Mowtown should be about African Americans. I'm not being nasty, I'm just being factually correct, |
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Post by talkstageytome on Jan 12, 2017 8:16:24 GMT
We've had this discussion before. In depth. It's frustrating that we have to keep explaining why diversity is important and why a majority black cast for something like Dreamgirls or Mowtown (where it DIRECTLY influences the story or addresses issues of race) is wildly different to a majority white cast for Cinderella where race has no baring on the story whatsoever.
I also really don't buy this 'historical accuracy' thing at all. People bandy about the term when, for example, Les Mis casts a non white actor in any role, as if the population of France was 100% white a few hundred years ago. Which it wasn't.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 12, 2017 8:41:56 GMT
We've had this discussion before. In depth. It's frustrating that we have to keep explaining why diversity is important and why a majority black cast for something like Dreamgirls or Mowtown (where it DIRECTLY influences the story or addresses issues of race) is wildly different to a majority white cast for Cinderella where race has no baring on the story whatsoever. I also really don't buy this 'historical accuracy' thing at all. People bandy about the term when, for example, Les Mis casts a non white actor in any role, as if the population of France was 100% white a few hundred years ago. Which it wasn't. This is what I agree with so much. Look at Hamilton for example, the Schlyler Sisters are white but in the show they aren't. Any show can have a diverse cast in my opinion, it does depend on WHO is best for the part but there are plenty of black actors and actresses |
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Post by theatremadness on Jan 12, 2017 11:36:50 GMT
"Historical accuracy" is probably the most stupidly pathetic excuse for having an all-white cast. Theatre is *not* a documentary. Even if it's based on real people/events. It's make believe. It's playing. It's acting. It. Ain't. Real. And audiences are cleverer than having to make sure that if people were white in the history they're telling, then they better be white on stage, too.
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Post by partytentdown on Jan 12, 2017 11:53:58 GMT
Cinderella is set in a made up time and place. If anything, it should be the most mixed cast in the west end because it's not tied to any location or history. Strange that someone decided to make it pretty much exclusively white.
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Post by partytentdown on Jan 12, 2017 12:00:02 GMT
Looking back on this thread today, all you've done is moan about the show, criticise it and other users. Why are you here if all you can be is negative? You can disagree with my point and I always listen to an argument, but you're being deliberately provocative and borderline racist. 'PC Britain' is not a thing, 'aggressively black' is not a thing - these are nasty, pointed phrases of the kind that are now apparently perfectly acceptable to bandy about in this Brexitty world. I was sitting in front of a black family with a couple of young girls. It just made me wonder what it must be like for them, possibly attending the theatre for the first time (like me along ago, which inspired me to be as passionate about it as I am) and wonder why there was nobody that looked like them up there in a cast of, what, 30? You may not have 'even noticed', but I bet they did. My aggressively black comment was in reasonse to the agressively White comment of the poster before. I am all for diversity and developing theatre that reaches out to the masses on every level but whether it is The Sound Of Music or Cinderella I do not think that adding a black performer on the end of the chorus line would or should make the show more "acceptable". How far do you go to please everyone who is watching for the first time? I agree as the show was staged in London it was a very white cast considering white people make up 48 percent of the capital but that was the talent they cast and that lies with the producers. There are dozens of other shows were BAME talent represents 90 percent. What next? A black Blood Brothers? That's not racist, that's just historically correct that it should be a white cast in the same way Dreamgirls or Mowtown should be about African Americans. I'm not being nasty, I'm just being factually correct, Are you suggesting there were no black people in 1960s Liverpool? Where in that story is race ever mentioned? Dreamgirls and Motown are stories driven by racial issues, from the perspective of black people. How far do you go to please everyone watching for the first time? Well if you're producing Cinderella, you find some talented BAME actors for your mix. And I don't believe this 'the cast were the most talented people who auditioned' nonsense. Try harder. |
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Post by johartuk on Jan 12, 2017 16:29:10 GMT
Can this discussion please be given its own thread? That way everyone who wishes to discuss the subject can, without derailing other threads (as is happening here).
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Post by Deleted on Jan 12, 2017 16:47:29 GMT
Can this discussion please be given its own thread? That way everyone who wishes to discuss the subject can, without derailing other threads (as is happening here). There is a diversity thread in the general chat |
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Post by Deleted on Jan 14, 2017 10:28:13 GMT
Just read in The Stage newspaper that Whoopi Goldberg was the original fairy before negotiations fell through as she realised she needed to be with her family at Christmas!!
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Post by Tibidabo on Jan 14, 2017 10:45:52 GMT
Oh. My. Goodness! Now wouldn't THAT have been The Perfect Panto? ( @burlybear that was rhetorical, no answer necessary!  ) Edit: tried to tag using instructions on FAQs - I is flummoxed.  |
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Post by Deleted on Jan 14, 2017 11:02:20 GMT
Really? Makes you wonder what went through the Casting Director's mind when they thought that clearly the natural replacement for Oscar winning Superstar Whoopi Goldberg was.... err, Amanda Holden.....
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1,936 posts
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Post by wickedgrin on Jan 14, 2017 11:06:22 GMT
Desperation?
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