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Post by Lopsided on Feb 18, 2019 10:37:24 GMT
I couldn't see another thread for this. It took me by surprise this morning, but public booking is now open for this. No seating plan yet, but I got a £12.50 seat figuring that sightlines will be pretty good wherever they put me.
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127 posts
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Post by theatrenewbie on Jun 21, 2019 15:33:20 GMT
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Post by vickyg on Jun 24, 2019 15:07:30 GMT
I've booked for this immediately after leaving Death of a Salesman. The few notes sung/hummed by Sharon D Clarke were plenty for me to get the debit card out! Haven't been to the theatre at the Kiln since the refurb and I too have booked a £12.50 seat. Having seen a pic of the seats I don't see how it could be a bad view...
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Post by xanady on Jun 24, 2019 16:20:40 GMT
Showing my age but saw the Clarke Peters directed tour of this in the wonderful city of Manchester around 1990ish.Programme will be in loft somewhere.It was a very cool and classy revue-type evening of blissful and timeless music.Highly recommended from memory.
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Post by winonaforever on Jun 24, 2019 17:36:21 GMT
I got my tickets as soon as they went on sale; I'm a huge fan of Sharon (and of all the songs in this show)
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Post by raiseitup on Jul 22, 2019 22:02:12 GMT
Blown away by this tonight. Great set, incredible band, timeless music and a flawless cast led by two of the finest musical theatre actors we have.
Sharon D Clarke steals the show in both acts, firstly with a spine-tingling rendition of Lover Man and then I was brought to tears by her performance of Wasted Life Blues.
Clive Rowe is just a joy to watch as always; Gemma Sutton and Debbie Kurup sing beautifully too.
We were in A14 and A15, which is right in front of Sharon's part of the set. The stage is at its highest for A13-15 and then is very low for the rest of the front row. No worries about legroom there either. I also think the side slips, particularly the lower slips will be a great view for this show.
I'll remember this one for a long time.
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841 posts
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Post by juicy_but_terribly_drab on Jul 23, 2019 0:43:58 GMT
I cannot wait to see this, I just need to figure out when I can squeeze it in!
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776 posts
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Post by latefortheoverture on Jul 23, 2019 2:21:54 GMT
WOW! Looks like I need to see this now....
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Post by raiseitup on Jul 23, 2019 11:34:01 GMT
We were in A14 and A15, No worries about legroom there. Interesting. That row has always been really cramped since the place opened. Maybe they finally moved the stage back an inch or five. For this show the front of the stage is a kind of zig-zag, so some seats have more legroom, others have less. But I don't think anyone in the front row would be too cramped.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 23, 2019 19:10:30 GMT
I thought simians were meant to have disproportionately long arms, not legs. I've yet to have any issues with the legroom in the front row of the Kiln to the point that I am honestly baffled when people accuse it of being cramped. I mean, maybe it's cramped compared to other front rows, but as theatre seats broadly go, it's perfectly fine.
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578 posts
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Post by lou105 on Jul 23, 2019 20:20:54 GMT
Trying to plan this in. Could anyone who's been give an idea of running time please? Not on website yet.thanks
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Post by raiseitup on Jul 23, 2019 21:23:06 GMT
Trying to plan this in. Could anyone who's been give an idea of running time please? Not on website yet.thanks It was 2 hours and 5 mins, including an interval last night.
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Post by vickyg on Aug 3, 2019 9:31:45 GMT
I saw this last night and wow... just... wow. I loved it. Sharon D Clarke is the queen of everything.
We were upgraded from side circle to stalls and there were still a good few empty seats in the stalls which is such a shame as it’s such an experience to see performances of this quality in such an intimate venue.
I was worried that I wouldn’t like the music as jazz does nothing but make me angry but with the exception of small parts of one or two songs, I was transfixed. So many thumbs up for this!
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Post by winonaforever on Aug 3, 2019 13:28:34 GMT
I saw it a couple of days ago and will definitely go again. I've always wanted to see the show (listened to the OCR a million times) and I practically worship Sharon. It was sheer bliss from beginning to end for me...
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523 posts
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Post by vabbian on Aug 6, 2019 22:47:10 GMT
This was divine, so much talent on that small stage!
Sharon steals the show, obviously.
£10 young persons tickets, already booked to go back.
Does anyone know any good bars/clubs in London that do similar blues/cabaret performances like in the show?
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Post by winonaforever on Aug 7, 2019 6:20:23 GMT
I'm going again this afternoon 😊
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Post by juicy_but_terribly_drab on Aug 10, 2019 21:33:02 GMT
This was one of my favourites of the year. It turned out I knew the main four from various things when I originally only recognised Sharon and Gemma. What a cast! Incredible vocalists, truly thrilling to listen to. I'm almost certain I'll be back to this one again.
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Post by Snciole on Aug 11, 2019 12:37:29 GMT
The circle right side seats are awful. I was not upgraded, along with a restless row of audience members who could only see a third of the stage. I enjoyed the performances but I found the lack of story to be engaged in really frustrating along with not being able to see so I left at the interval.
It is a shame but I have written a stinking email to Kiln and tagged them on Twitter. Their front of house staff seemed terrified to move people despite it being quite empty. Just awful service from a theatre that boasts of its cheap tickets.
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Post by dlevi on Aug 14, 2019 17:15:47 GMT
I saw this this afternoon and thought it was only Ok - except for Sharon Clarke's 2nd act stunner which was truly magnificent. But for the rest, I felt it was all rather tiresome in terms of trying to be "about" something. The addition of the bartender and the rent boy was peculiar more appropriate to a cruise ship than a theatre. The band was fine but I just don't understand the fuss.
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Post by vickyg on Aug 14, 2019 17:46:45 GMT
The circle right side seats are awful. I was not upgraded, along with a restless row of audience members who could only see a third of the stage. I enjoyed the performances but I found the lack of story to be engaged in really frustrating along with not being able to see so I left at the interval. It is a shame but I have written a stinking email to Kiln and tagged them on Twitter. Their front of house staff seemed terrified to move people despite it being quite empty. Just awful service from a theatre that boasts of its cheap tickets. When I went the right side circle wasn’t upgraded either. It’s a shame, particularly if there are vacant seats but I can think of a lot worse than being asked to sit in the seats you booked...
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841 posts
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Post by juicy_but_terribly_drab on Aug 14, 2019 18:28:22 GMT
The circle right side seats are awful. I was not upgraded, along with a restless row of audience members who could only see a third of the stage. I enjoyed the performances but I found the lack of story to be engaged in really frustrating along with not being able to see so I left at the interval. It is a shame but I have written a stinking email to Kiln and tagged them on Twitter. Their front of house staff seemed terrified to move people despite it being quite empty. Just awful service from a theatre that boasts of its cheap tickets. When I went the right side circle wasn’t upgraded either. It’s a shame, particularly if there are vacant seats but I can think of a lot worse than being asked to sit in the seats you booked... Are you talking about the right side facing the stage or facing the audience? I was on the left side of the circle facing the stage and I assumed the view on the opposite side would have been much better since it seemed the rooms on that side were further in from the wall than Sharon's. I had to lean very far in to see her or anyone who went to the piano.
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Post by Snciole on Aug 14, 2019 20:51:57 GMT
Right side facing the stage so could see Sharon and the band (there are worse sights. She's a babe) but I missed a lot and I couldn't connect with the show at all. There is no acknowledgement from Kiln how bad these seats are at all.
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Post by lonlad on Aug 14, 2019 21:22:08 GMT
Saw it tonight and was pleasantly surprised -- the show remains as sliver-thin as it ever was but this may be the best production it has received, especially the sh*t-hot band. The audience took AGES to warm up but were with it by the end, and Clive Rowe was in very good voice, which hasn't always been the case with some of his recent appearances. Sharon of course is nonpareil, and Debbie and Gemma are each game in their own way -- Debbie gets the better material of the two and looks as if she is having a ball with it. The story such as it is, is idiotic and should just be scrapped: the music doesn't need a narrative.
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2,379 posts
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Post by robertb213 on Aug 28, 2019 16:40:43 GMT
This was divine, so much talent on that small stage! Sharon steals the show, obviously. £10 young persons tickets, already booked to go back. Does anyone know any good bars/clubs in London that do similar blues/cabaret performances like in the show? Zedel are pretty good for that sort of thing... www.brasseriezedel.com/live-at-zedel
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2,379 posts
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Post by robertb213 on Aug 28, 2019 16:43:55 GMT
The vocals in this are sublime - musically it's not my cup of tea (it does us all good to try new things every once in a while, right!), but worth seeing for the performances alone. Also nice and short at only just over 2 hours.
Also, for the bargain-hunters, the back row of the circle is a steal for £15. Great view, lovely legroom, and fine for sound. Preferable to the circle slips I'd say, who all looked like they had to lean forward at various times.
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4,038 posts
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Post by kathryn on Aug 28, 2019 16:48:23 GMT
Just saw it this afternoon! Fabulous work from the cast - didn’t bother myself figuring out what the ‘story’ was meant to be, in all honesty, as it’s really just an excuse to sing some sultry songs.
I enjoyed it a lot - not as much as the woman next to me, who was foot-tapping away, making the seats rock with her enthusiasm, and generally reacting noisily to everything. She was with a friend who must have been something to do with either the Tricycle-that-was or the Donmar production, as they were searching the programme for her to be name-checked before the show, and were greeted by a woman with a lanyard afterwards. ‘Did you hear us screaming?’ they asked her. I’m pretty sure everyone heard you, I didn’t say on my way past her to the door.
But that was a minor irritation compared to the phone ringing - and not being turned off - at the start of Sharon D Clarke’s big emotional number in the second act. Eventually an older chap on the front row got up and left - though he apparently didn’t manage to turn it off or answer the damn thing right away, because we could still hear it faintly from outside the auditorium!
Ugh.
All in all that I enjoyed it as much as I did is a testament to the quality of the cast!
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2,379 posts
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Post by robertb213 on Aug 28, 2019 17:53:19 GMT
Just saw it this afternoon! Fabulous work from the cast - didn’t bother myself figuring out what the ‘story’ was meant to be, in all honesty, as it’s really just an excuse to sing some sultry songs. I enjoyed it a lot - not as much as the woman next to me, who was foot-tapping away, making the seats rock with her enthusiasm, and generally reacting noisily to everything. She was with a friend who must have been something to do with either the Tricycle-that-was or the Donmar production, as they were searching the programme for her to be name-checked before the show, and were greeted by a woman with a lanyard afterwards. ‘Did you hear us screaming?’ they asked her. I’m pretty sure everyone heard you, I didn’t say on my way past her to the door. But that was a minor irritation compared to the phone ringing - and not being turned off - at the start of Sharon D Clarke’s big emotional number in the second act. Eventually an older chap on the front row got up and left - though he apparently didn’t manage to turn it off or answer the damn thing right away, because we could still hear it faintly from outside the auditorium! Ugh. All in all that I enjoyed it as much as I did is a testament to the quality of the cast! I heard that phone from the circle! At first I thought it was some strange background tune that was meant to fit into the arrangement of the song, but then I saw the guy get up! Some people eh 😂
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Post by n1david on Aug 28, 2019 22:42:27 GMT
There really isn't a story, it's just a revue. I enjoyed it very much, some great songs and very good performances - of course, Sharon and Clive foremost amongst them.
Not sure I'd call this a musical as such, it really is just a great selection of songs - having said that, this music isn't my normal listening pleasure, but could go with this in this format.
Enjoyable, but not sure it's necessarily what I'd call "theatre".
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Post by sf on Aug 29, 2019 9:31:22 GMT
But that was a minor irritation compared to the phone ringing - and not being turned off - at the start of Sharon D Clarke’s big emotional number in the second act. Eventually an older chap on the front row got up and left - though he apparently didn’t manage to turn it off or answer the damn thing right away, because we could still hear it faintly from outside the auditorium! There was another phone that went off a little later in the second act - right behind me (I was sitting in the front row, at the opposite end from the gentleman whose phone rang and rang). The owner dealt with it fairly quickly, but it was still annoying. The show is what it is - a slender framework on which to hang a stack of really terrific songs. The singing is spectacular, the band is superb, it may well be as thrilling a musical experience as you'll find in a theatre this year, and anyone who goes to this show looking for a musical with a plot is likely to come away disappointed. For me, it was more than worth the money (and the train journey), and in 'Kitchen Man' it was great, after seeing Sharon D. Clarke play a couple of really dour roles over the last couple of years, to be reminded of how funny she can be. There's no commercial case for it, but this is one of those productions where I really wish someone would make a cast album.
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Post by tmesis on Sept 1, 2019 11:13:57 GMT
I thought this was going to be terrific - in the end it was just OK.
First of all I should say that I have been playing most of these songs (mainly on piano) for around 50 years and I know and love their intricacies very well.
Let's start with what I liked. Lovely atmospheric set, fabulously natural sound balance and an outstanding pianist and MD in Mark Dickman who musically stole the show from everyone else. Sharon D Clarke was predictably superb; the show was worth seeing for her alone. The reason why she was so good defined why the rest of the cast were to some extent unsatisfactory; ie. she got the style of vocal delivery right for the bluesy material. If you listen to the greatest exponents of this sort of stuff like Bessie Smith, Billie Holiday and to a certain extent Ella Fitzgerald, Dinah Washington, Lena Horne and Louis Armstrong, they're quite minimalist in their approach to the songs, just relying on their fabulous sense of rhythm, understanding of the natural arc in a musical phrase and spot-on pitching of the notes. Next best was Debbie Kurup - she did a very good version of Billy Strayhorn's masterpiece Lush Life, one of the most difficult songs of this type to sing in the repertoire. Next was Clive Rowe. He is one of my favourite music theatre artists but he is really not a natural at this stuff. The songs sat uncomfortably within his vocal range and he was at his best when singing falsetto. He also gave the songs way too much histrionics. In the latter regard Gemma Sutton was truly awful, over-emoting at every opportunity. She gave a quite shocking performance of Vernon Duke's wonderful 'Taking a Chance on Love' - a song that is so immaculate that, as greats like Sinatra have shown us, you need to to do very little to pull it off. She distorted the melody ridiculously and her intonation completely suffered to point where she was singing in a different key to the band at the end. In this regard the show was like the recent Ain't Misbehavin' at Southwark Playhouse where most of the singers were trying way too hard to 'interpret' the songs.
There are singers out there who could do this show justice - Anna-Jane Casey and Louise Dearman come to mind.
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