349 posts
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Post by kimbahorel on Mar 15, 2019 13:41:25 GMT
Don't know where to post this so I thought I would start a thread for it. A talking point. I have been sitting in ashow before with very confused people trying to work out who is on stage. Because the cast board for the show is in the corner of the entrance foyer. I went to School of Rock the board is digital and it was wrong. There are places like Arts Theatre are very open with their posts about covering. Then you have Les Mis who get rid of the announcements.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 15, 2019 13:45:14 GMT
Oh don't you love the Wicked cast board. It lists all members of the company IN THE BUILDING but not those who are performing. And most of the time, the information hasn't been typed in properly and you have the wrong performer listed next to a role.
And as the screen is too small to list the full company, some of the ensemble names drop off the bottoms and you don't even know who is conducting anymore.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 15, 2019 13:45:40 GMT
I remember when pre-show announcements used to inform the audience of an understudy. Doesn't seem to happen much these days.
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5,160 posts
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Post by TallPaul on Mar 15, 2019 13:55:32 GMT
I remember when pre-show announcements used to inform the audience of an understudy. Doesn't seem to happen much these days. Many, many years ago I was at a performance of South Pacific in Manchester. You should have heard the very loud groan when it was announced that Bertice Reading would not be performing. Imagine being her understudy and hearing that? |
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5,062 posts
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Post by Phantom of London on Mar 15, 2019 13:59:04 GMT
Musicals can be easier to guess who is who, if you have a comprehensive programme with a song list and listed who is singing that song helps.
Even though I go to the theatre a lot, it can be a real struggle working out who is who, especially if you are far back.
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352 posts
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Post by Raven on Mar 15, 2019 14:02:16 GMT
I have seen other people post for Company and the Gielgud appears to use signs to tell the audience when an understudy is on. On the post I saw, it was when Patti wasn't performing, so whether or not they only do this for the leads or not I don't know.
Obviously, there will be instances where there is a cast change at the last minute due to injury/illness, but the theatres should ensure as much as possible that cast boards are accurate so the right performers get the recognition and credit they deserve and the audience receives the correct information. |
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1,324 posts
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Post by londonmzfitz on Mar 15, 2019 14:10:07 GMT
I remember when pre-show announcements used to inform the audience of an understudy. Doesn't seem to happen much these days. Many, many years ago I was at a performance of South Pacific in Manchester. You should have heard the very loud groan when it was announced that Bertice Reading would not be performing. Imagine being her understudy and hearing that? Pirates of Penzance with Tim Curry, the last matinee, announced it would be the understudy. Near blooming riot. |
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1,110 posts
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Post by alicechallice on Mar 15, 2019 15:19:39 GMT
I remember when pre-show announcements used to inform the audience of an understudy. Doesn't seem to happen much these days. Many, many years ago I was at a performance of South Pacific in Manchester. You should have heard the very loud groan when it was announced that Bertice Reading would not be performing. Imagine being her understudy and hearing that? Maureen Lipman has a good anecdote about hearing the audience's disappointed groan when she was going on for Diana Rigg in Jumpers at the National in the '70's. |
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Post by Deleted on Mar 15, 2019 15:42:38 GMT
Free cast list on all seats before you let the audience in. Simple.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 15, 2019 15:46:34 GMT
Free cast list on all seats before you let the audience in. Simple. That's a fair bit of money every night for a lot of it to end up in the bin. And a lot of environmental waste as well. As well as somone having the time/information in time to print that many- not really feasible if someone is off last minute etc. |
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Post by Deleted on Mar 15, 2019 15:48:31 GMT
In line with the general deterioration in the behaviour of audiences, perhaps the most up to date way to find out who's on stage is to just shout out "Oi! Who the f*** are you?"
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1,936 posts
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Post by wickedgrin on Mar 15, 2019 15:53:00 GMT
I think it is very disrespectful to the artist not to be credited. The cast board is sometimes not accurate or in a good location. A small A4 sheet pinned up at the box office or at the theatre entrance can easily be missed. Not everyone buys a programme for a slip to be inserted.
What happened to the pre-curtain announcement. This always used to happen. "Due to the indisposition of Artist A the role of Character B will be played by Artist C". I know there used to be some groans but at least everyone knew. Why have they stopped this?
Sometimes at long running shows though, I suppose the announcement could go on forever with a long list of covers/alternates/understudies on!!
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Post by Deleted on Mar 15, 2019 16:15:50 GMT
I think it is very disrespectful to the artist not to be credited. The cast board is sometimes not accurate or in a good location. A small A4 sheet pinned up at the box office or at the theatre entrance can easily be missed. Not everyone buys a programme for a slip to be inserted. What happened to the pre-curtain announcement. This always used to happen. "Due to the indisposition of Artist A the role of Character B will be played by Artist C". I know there used to be some groans but at least everyone knew. Why have they stopped this? Sometimes at long running shows though, I suppose the announcement could go on forever with a long list of covers/alternates/understudies on!! I guess the "turn ya f***ing phones off" takes precedent these days. |
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Post by Deleted on Mar 15, 2019 16:22:29 GMT
If there were to be a referendum on such a matter, I would vote for an announcement before the curtain rises. Eco-friendly too.
I did not know I had seen Cecelia Noble’s understudy in Nine Night until we were leaving. There were maybe two 4 sheet up on the way in, which we’d missed in the general melee to get to seats. The understudy was brilliant, so I am not annoyed I saw her, but I am annoyed I didn’t know it wasn’t Ms Noble until after.
I wonder if it’s deliberate on the part of theatres, especially when there is star casting, to keep it quiet in case people want refunds?
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879 posts
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Post by daisy24601 on Mar 15, 2019 16:54:23 GMT
I understand the dropping of the live announcements due to the groans, even thought they are probably the best solution. I have seen a few good notices, such as at Come From Away, I wasn't even looking but I saw two boards stating an understudy being on.
Les Mis on the other hand, their tiny A4 notices, not even in places where you're going to spot them, especially when it's so crowded seem pointless. The board with the full cast on faces in the way from the entrance so most people will walk past that without noticing it. It's all about placement! Wicked also, that board is in the entrance but so high up most people won't see it.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 15, 2019 17:26:34 GMT
Maybe detailed announcements of cast changes after the house lights have gone down would help the people who decide to leave the bar nanoseconds before the show is due to start usually to disturb a full row of audience members
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Post by Deleted on Mar 15, 2019 17:38:47 GMT
I remember when pre-show announcements used to inform the audience of an understudy. Doesn't seem to happen much these days. This! It doesn't happen at all lately. Just A4 paper sheets in random places. |
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514 posts
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Post by Deal J on Mar 15, 2019 17:47:40 GMT
As a counter-example, I remember a performance of Sweeney Todd in Chichester, after which a woman said to her companion that she was upset as she’d been really looking forward to seeing Michael Ball. She HAD seen him - she just hadn’t recognised him!
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Post by Deleted on Mar 15, 2019 18:11:13 GMT
Free cast list on all seats before you let the audience in. Simple. That's a fair bit of money every night for a lot of it to end up in the bin. And a lot of environmental waste as well. As well as somone having the time/information in time to print that many- not really feasible if someone is off last minute etc. A decent printer could knock them out in 10/15 minutes on recycled paper and they could easily have recycle bins inside the theatres. It would annoy me actually, having to get rid of thr bit of paper, but then I’m not actually fussed about who is acting on stage most of the time. |
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Post by Deleted on Mar 15, 2019 18:13:45 GMT
That's a fair bit of money every night for a lot of it to end up in the bin. And a lot of environmental waste as well. As well as somone having the time/information in time to print that many- not really feasible if someone is off last minute etc. A decent printer could knock them out in 10/15 minutes on recycled paper and they could easily have recycle bins inside the theatres. It would annoy me actually, having to get rid of thr bit of paper, but then I’m not actually fussed about who is acting on stage most of the time. +1 |
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Post by sophie92 on Mar 15, 2019 19:37:49 GMT
Theatre Royal Haymarket uses multiple paper notices along the routes to all levels. Heathers fans didn’t seem to understand that if they took them all for mementos before the show started, the rest of the audience wouldn’t know that there were understudies on (or care that the theatre would have to print more if needed again)
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Post by winonaforever on Mar 16, 2019 7:45:16 GMT
Theatre Royal Haymarket uses multiple paper notices along the routes to all levels. Heathers fans didn’t seem to understand that if they took them all for mementos before the show started, the rest of the audience wouldn’t know that there were understudies on (or care that the theatre would have to print more if needed again) Oh yes, I've seen them boasting about that on Twitter. Idiots. |
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Post by winonaforever on Mar 16, 2019 15:10:15 GMT
They did make an announcement at Les Mis on Monday but it was because the understudy took over after the interval!
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1,972 posts
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Post by sf on Mar 16, 2019 16:02:42 GMT
An understudy was on for one of the leads at the performance I saw of Allelujah at the Bridge last summer, and they didn't announce it. I had a back-and-forth with them on Twitter afterwards, and was distinctly unimpressed; first they told me they'd placed notices in the lobby, which they hadn't, and then they told me they didn't always have time to announce an understudy going on, which is a load of bull. The fact that they couldn't be bothered to announce the understudy's appearance shows massive disrespect for their cast, and for actors in general. He was very, very good, and he deserved proper credit.
Also, the woman who, after the second tweet, responded by email is apparently unable to spell the word 'performance', which is not impressive in someone who works for a theatre.
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Post by oxfordsimon on Mar 16, 2019 16:09:31 GMT
I think it is very disrespectful to the artist not to be credited. The cast board is sometimes not accurate or in a good location. A small A4 sheet pinned up at the box office or at the theatre entrance can easily be missed. Not everyone buys a programme for a slip to be inserted. What happened to the pre-curtain announcement. This always used to happen. "Due to the indisposition of Artist A the role of Character B will be played by Artist C". I know there used to be some groans but at least everyone knew. Why have they stopped this? Sometimes at long running shows though, I suppose the announcement could go on forever with a long list of covers/alternates/understudies on!! The show I have running this week in Oxford had exactly that situation last night. Our lead was ill and the understudy went on. Theatre only wanted to put up a sign. I insisted we made an announcement out of respect to the audience as well as the understudy (who did a fabulous job) |
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