The Bridges of Madison County (Menier summer musical)

This was exactly the same problem I faced.  I just called the box office and they sold me one of the pair without any questions, leaving a single seat.  I don't get why you can't do it online if the box office are happy to let you leave a single seat.

No problem, happy to help. I agree, it really annoys me too.

I'm in F48 but I'm not seeing the show til mid Aug so that's not much help to you, sorry.

Had to contact Menier to sell on my ticket (which they’ll only do it it sells out) as there’s just no chance of me making the last train home with the 8pm start time and running time. I was so looking forward to it but now had to cancel trains etc too.

Just my immediate thoughts tapped out on my phone:

It’s a good score and a good story, but it is too long.

The leads are great actors (Jenna Russell I thought was incredible), and I believe in them, but the score was too much for them both at certain points. When we got to One Second and a Million Miles, I got all tense because I was worried ‘the big song’ wasn’t going to work. It did work (just), and they get away with it overall, but it’s not the right vocal part for either of them unfortunately.

Trevor Nunn (and the designer I don’t know the name of) has done well designing and using the space, I liked the direction throughout.

The orchestra are on fire, don’t know how many players there are but they sound excellent, kudos to the orchestrator and music director.

In the end I enjoyed myself, but I can see why this didn’t run for years on Broadway, it’s not perfect, and I don’t think this version of it is stellar enough to push through the same problems it would have had in the US. I don’t see it transferring and I don’t think the reviewers will be particularly kind. If the leads really warm into the vocal score it would make me feel a lot better, we’ll see.

To those there this evening - are we still looking at 3hours run time as I’m on a booked train after Saturday’s matinee out of Euston so fear I may have to leave at interval

I tried so hard to love this but failed to connect completely. Such a long story. That didn't need to be nearly 3hrs.

Jenna Russel is good in this. She plays it well, but can tell this score doesn't sit too comfortably with her voice. There were some high notes where nothing came out other than a slight buzz! Other than this, she does a good job. On the other end is Edward Baker-Duly, a complete mis-cast in my opinion. I found him very creepy and cringeworthy. His voice isn't nothing special, parts of this nice score he sounded like a dying cat. I hate to be rude, but he really isn't up to the job. Dale Rapley, again ok, but struggled with the score! The two male leads were completely mis-cast, and bring this show down. I do think with stronger leads it could be 100x better show.

Have to echo above, Shanay Holmes, has one song. And she absolutely kiss it. The only person to be able to sing a challenging song in this show *comfortably* cannot wair do

The set worked, but looked pathetic at points. I got sick of the kitchen unit and fridge slowly coming round on revolves. Getting rid of that would shave a nice amount of time off! A few hiccups with it; Jenna had to slide the wooden shutter to get off-stage as they didn't open. A lot of banging and crashing again. And don't get me started on the 'truck!

I imagine seeing this with KOH would've been starters and mains.

The band sounded incredible; sound of the score was stunning, that can't be denied.

Trevor Nunn obviously wants this to do well; but with them two male leads, I can't seeing faring the best sadly.

Thin critics will take lukewarm reception to this.

Oh! I was coming back here to say the opposite. Having a listen to the (excellent) Broadway cast album this morning it strikes me how good the score is, and I think it captures real moments of beauty. All of those moments are basically in the second act. 

It's almost like what it really needed was for the writers to come together with a new director and sort of tear it apart and reconstruct it. Within the show there's definitely something really special, but it hasn't yet been yielded. I keep thinking about the end, and how it really did tug at my emotional core somehow, and I just want the rest of the show to lead up to that better.

Shanay Holmes was also superb as the Narrator in Joseph at Kilworth house last summer. Her diction and stage presence were both exceptional. Would like to see her in the role again at some future time, ideally in London ....

Sorry to hear that. I travel long distances by train using advance tickets to see matinees but have learnt always to allow 60-90 minutes between the likely finish time and my booked train back to London. Most musicals are between 2 hr 15 and 2 hr 45 including the interval so Bridges at 2 hr 50ish isn't that super-long really. It's the addition of a 3.30pm start time that's the biggest problem. A matinee not finishing till almost 6.30pm is crazy.

You might still be able to amend your advance ticket to a train an hour or two later but it will come at a cost - £10 + the difference between what you've paid and the new ticket. I would ideally be booking a train departing from Euston about 7.30pm although the London Bridge tube entrance is only a few minutes walk from the theatre and the Northern Line tube journey takes 12-14 minutes. I'd say if a show finished at Menier at 6.20pm you'd probably reach Euston about 6.45pm and would make a 7.00pm departure.