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Post by mrbarnaby on Feb 4, 2024 17:32:42 GMT
Is it me or are too many first preview cancelled? Seems like a lot over the past year haha. Yes - especially given the length of get-in time that they seem to have had for this one. I'm sure I saw a post elsewhere on line that showed them putting the set up at the beginning of this week. Considering it's not a 'new' production, you would think it would pretty much just sit in place and be ready to open on time. Oh yes. It’s just that simple. |
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Post by Jon on Feb 4, 2024 17:46:19 GMT
It may not be a new production but it's a new theatre that has differences to the previous theatre the show has been in so it's not as simple as taking the old set and plonking onto the GL stage.
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Post by erik24601 on Feb 5, 2024 11:28:34 GMT
Yes - especially given the length of get-in time that they seem to have had for this one. I'm sure I saw a post elsewhere on line that showed them putting the set up at the beginning of this week. Considering it's not a 'new' production, you would think it would pretty much just sit in place and be ready to open on time. Oh yes. It’s just that simple. I'm assuming some sarcasm there....! I didn't mean overnight or anything like the touring set but they started the get-in last week and it wasn't meant to open until this week, something's obviously a bit amiss. Most new productions can get in on a Sunday/Monday, tech for 3 days and open on the Thursday. I would love to know more though as it does look like a complex set - is anybody involved on this board? |
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Post by mrnutz on Feb 10, 2024 9:51:34 GMT
Was anyone in for the new first night yesterday?
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Post by ShoreditchTom on Feb 10, 2024 11:40:50 GMT
Yep I was there and it was in good shape for a first preview.
The set does look a little cramped at the Gillian Lynnne though - makes you realise just how big the Olivier is! The band are on two levels too whereas I think they may have only been on one at the National. A few very minor sound issues here and there (mainly singers/speakers not being turned up enough in the mix) and a few overloud FOH radios going off at quiet moments (Gillian Lynne always seems to have this problem as happened quite a bit in Crazy for You too!) but I'm sure all that will get sorted.
All the comedy and pathos landed and I'm sure as the cast settle in they will just get better and better.
An immediate standing ovation from the whole house at the end.
And the bars were doing incredible business, way more busy than Crazy for You - will be interesting to see if that holds up for the whole run or was just a first night preview thing! There were also some camera people doing vox pops for audience reactions on the way out but no flyers to push the soundtrack and/or socials or badges or bottles of Henderson's Relish being given out to build buzz - again more missed marketing opportunities!!
I'm back tonight too courtesy of more £10 seats from National Theatre Friday Rush!
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Post by mrnutz on Feb 10, 2024 11:55:01 GMT
Yep I was there and it was in good shape for a first preview. The set does look a little cramped at the Gillian Lynnne though - makes you realise just how big the Olivier is! The band are on two levels too whereas I think they may have only been on one at the National. A few very minor sound issues here and there (mainly singers/speakers not being turned up enough in the mix) and a few overloud FOH radios going off at quiet moments (Gillian Lynne always seems to have this problem as happened quite a bit in Crazy for You too!) but I'm sure all that will get sorted. All the comedy and pathos landed and I'm sure as the cast settle in they will just get better and better. An immediate standing ovation from the whole house at the end. And the bars were doing incredible business, way more busy than Crazy for You - will be interesting to see if that holds up for the whole run or was just a first night preview thing! There were also some camera people doing vox pops for audience reactions on the way out but no flyers to push the soundtrack and/or socials or badges or bottles of Henderson's Relish being given out to build buzz - again more missed marketing opportunities!! I'm back tonight too courtesy of more £10 seats from National Theatre Friday Rush! Thanks for the report! I'm in on Wednesday (also on a £10 NT ticket!) after my Thursday opening night plan got scuppered. |
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Post by jamb0r on Feb 10, 2024 17:45:32 GMT
What sort of seats were they offering in the NT Friday rush? Debating whether to try for that or the £30 TodayTix rush
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Post by ShoreditchTom on Feb 10, 2024 23:47:40 GMT
So I was in Side Stalls row N last night (not too far down the row for the view to become restricted) and Central Stalls row R tonight a few in from end of row (really great view) - both were £10 Friday Rush Tickets.
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Post by Jay on Feb 11, 2024 0:05:37 GMT
I was there on Friday for the first preview. I actually prefer the set here compared to the National as it’s more analogous to the Crucible. How Rachael Wooding wasn’t nominated for an Olivier still confounds me. She’s the heart and soul of this show and her ‘After the Rain’ is pure musical theatre.
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Post by mrbarnaby on Feb 11, 2024 14:45:24 GMT
Oh yes. It’s just that simple. I'm assuming some sarcasm there....! I didn't mean overnight or anything like the touring set but they started the get-in last week and it wasn't meant to open until this week, something's obviously a bit amiss. Most new productions can get in on a Sunday/Monday, tech for 3 days and open on the Thursday. I would love to know more though as it does look like a complex set - is anybody involved on this board? With respect- you don’t know what you’re talking about. This isn’t a tour This isn’t a play. It’s a musical. They can’t just get in and open 5 days later. That’s ridiculous. |
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Post by erik24601 on Feb 11, 2024 21:16:12 GMT
I'm assuming some sarcasm there....! I didn't mean overnight or anything like the touring set but they started the get-in last week and it wasn't meant to open until this week, something's obviously a bit amiss. Most new productions can get in on a Sunday/Monday, tech for 3 days and open on the Thursday. I would love to know more though as it does look like a complex set - is anybody involved on this board? With respect- you don’t know what you’re talking about. This isn’t a tour This isn’t a play. It’s a musical. They can’t just get in and open 5 days later. That’s ridiculous. With respect, I know far more than you realise with over 25 years in the industry and know of many musicals which are already existing productions which have done get-ins and opened in the West End 5 days later. This isn’t a new show. It’s just a slight redesign to fit a different stage. Please don’t tell me what I do and don’t know without knowing anything about me or my experience. |
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Post by mrbarnaby on Feb 11, 2024 21:29:45 GMT
With respect- you don’t know what you’re talking about. This isn’t a tour This isn’t a play. It’s a musical. They can’t just get in and open 5 days later. That’s ridiculous. With respect, I know far more than you realise with over 25 years in the industry and know of many musicals which are already existing productions which have done get-ins and opened in the West End 5 days later. This isn’t a new show. It’s just a slight redesign to fit a different stage. Please don’t tell me what I do and don’t know without knowing anything about me or my experience. Please let us know which shows exactly you are talking about? What you don’t appear to know is that they built a NEW set for the Gillian Lynne Theatre. And it’s the most challenging theatre to actually get a set into as everything has to go in and out of an elevator. This is a big musical with a new cast, in the west end. They cannot tech and open in 5 days. |
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Post by mrnutz on Feb 12, 2024 8:58:50 GMT
I've just put a £10 NT Rush ticket for this on Wednesday evening (14th) on the Noticeboard.
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Post by corblimey on Feb 13, 2024 23:34:28 GMT
Saw the show tonight from Front Stalls.
Have to say I don’t think it has the same punch that the NT production had ,the sound not great either.
The cast will get better I am sure but wasn’t over impressed in anyone apart from Rachael Wooding tonight.
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Post by theatre2023 on Feb 14, 2024 22:33:09 GMT
This show is painful - three hours of my life I’ll never get back. Somehow someone forgot that you actually need a story to make for a successful musical … not a baneful and excruciatingly long performance about essentially nothing.
And let’s throw in a ridiculous death for the sake of because the authors are that lazy.
It’s days are seriously numbered. |
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Post by mrbarnaby on Feb 15, 2024 0:17:08 GMT
This show is painful - three hours of my life I’ll never get back. Somehow someone forgot that you actually need a story to make for a successful musical … not a baneful and excruciatingly long performance about essentially nothing.
And let’s throw in a ridiculous death for the sake of because the authors are that lazy.
It’s days are seriously numbered. And yet it got rave reviews, sold out at the NT and won the Olivier for Best Musical. |
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Post by amyja89 on Feb 15, 2024 1:15:57 GMT
Saw this when it was at the National, and didn't love it. {Spoiler - click to view}
Forgive me for lack of character name knowledge... I was completely baffled by the ending of the lesbian character and her ex getting back together. For the entire show that relationship is coded as very much toxic and that the separation was the best thing for the protagonist, but for some reason the overbearing forcefulness of the ex (bordering on stalking behaviour for me) results in a reunion? I was genuinely shocked. Don't know if it's because I'm a gay woman myself, but there didn't seem to be anyone else around me who was reacting to that conclusion in the same way! |
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Post by 141920grm on Feb 15, 2024 2:09:03 GMT
This show is painful - three hours of my life I’ll never get back. Somehow someone forgot that you actually need a story to make for a successful musical … not a baneful and excruciatingly long performance about essentially nothing. did we watch a completely different show? there are *at least* 6 stories over the 3 timelines, separated by generations (at first) but beautifully converging in the same flat/estate/city, which tells another deeply important story in itself, shaping and being shaped by the stories that inhabit the place. all deftly weaving in and out of each other, brought along by the flow of the musical numbers. and i could go on about the technical brilliance of the choreography, etc.! 3 simultaneous move-ins, dinnertimes, without losing the pace of each story. SO many things happened, the show was over before i knew it :/ (but it’s ok because i have plans to return already, lol) |
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Post by shownut on Feb 15, 2024 7:11:44 GMT
This show is painful - three hours of my life I’ll never get back. Somehow someone forgot that you actually need a story to make for a successful musical … not a baneful and excruciatingly long performance about essentially nothing.
And let’s throw in a ridiculous death for the sake of because the authors are that lazy.
It’s days are seriously numbered. I am right there with you. Enjoyed the first 15 minutes but other than that, found it to be pretentious, over-wrought garbage. My loathing of this show knows no bounds.... |
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Post by theatre2023 on Feb 15, 2024 7:27:19 GMT
“ And yet it got rave reviews, sold out at the NT and won the Olivier for Best Musical.”
I know … and yet all of that “theatrical community praise” is going to make zero difference in keeping the show alive.
( and potentially shows just how divorced the critics are from the average theatre goer ) Not necessarily a bad thing but certainly will reinforce the notion that an Olivier award does not a commercially successful show guarantee.
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Post by theatre2023 on Feb 15, 2024 7:34:51 GMT
This show is painful - three hours of my life I’ll never get back. Somehow someone forgot that you actually need a story to make for a successful musical … not a baneful and excruciatingly long performance about essentially nothing. did we watch a completely different show? there are *at least* 6 stories over the 3 timelines, separated by generations (at first) but beautifully converging in the same flat/estate/city, which tells another deeply important story in itself, shaping and being shaped by the stories that inhabit the place. all deftly weaving in and out of each other, brought along by the flow of the musical numbers. and i could go on about the technical brilliance of the choreography, etc.! 3 simultaneous move-ins, dinnertimes, without losing the pace of each story. SO many things happened, the show was over before i knew it :/ (but it’s ok because i have plans to return already, lol) What stories ? They were beyond dull:
*an unplanned pregnancy
*an ex lesbian lover
*and a miner losing his job
( and for good measure throw in a ridiculous knife attack for no other reason than because we need something else to add in the dying minutes of the show )
Three hours of nothing much happening.
We didn’t have sufficient content for one good story so we diluted it even further into three tepid sub plots - and then throw lots and lots of ensemble into the mix to try and mask the fact the story is so severely lacking. The cast is also ridiculously large - it would appear the National had to spend its excess budget somewhere |
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Post by 141920grm on Feb 15, 2024 8:02:32 GMT
If you're so determined the show isn't for you, then I won't waste my time in debate and shall leave you to hate the show in peace. Good day!
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Post by TallPaul on Feb 15, 2024 8:42:39 GMT
This isn't a spoiler. Harry wasn't a miner.
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Post by drmaplewood on Feb 15, 2024 9:02:51 GMT
The show is a lot of things but pretentious is a new one on me.
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Post by Mark on Feb 15, 2024 9:26:30 GMT
I went on Monday. I’ll agree with an earlier comment that it didn’t quite have the same punch it did for me as it did the two times I saw it at the NT. Something was missing but I can’t put my finger on what that was. Maybe the sound mix wasn’t quite as good (seemed quiet at points), or maybe the cast aren’t quite there yet as an ensemble. I’m going to wait and try to see it again later on in the run.
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