42nd Street at Theatre Royal, Drury Lane

You saw this??

tonyloco  I am so jelus... need details. Detailed details. Puppy-dog-eyes-pretty-please?

I agree that often a standing ovation is forced in that once those at the front stand then those behind feel obliged to, to see the stage. I think that while I do want the cast to know my appreciation, where I have really enjoyed it , a standing ovation is not always the best way. The constant standing ovations at some shows almost devalues what they are.

Slight distraction from the Standing Ovation chat. Im now able to sit down and write some thoughts about my trip to 42nd Street on Wednesday.

From reading this thread I'd come to expect a spectacle and whilst the show was impressive I don't think I'd consider it spectacular. I don't know what it is about matinees but I alway seem to walk away feeling a little shortchanged - this was no different after Wednesdays afternoon performance.
My visit to 42nd Street was really helped by having read and digested the majority of the book 'Razzle Dazzle' by Michael Riedel, which chronicles the history of Broadway from 1900 to present day. The original production of Michael Bennett's 42nd Street is talked about in great detail so I felt really endowed with salient knowledge for a trip to show.
Unfortunately from the off the tone of the performance was set and not to a good key. The opening (tap) number was more alike to the Grand National had it been ran on concrete than a perfectly synchronised rendition of the tap choreography. From then on the show was riddled with imperfections that distracted and disappointed. Sound Ops missed a number of lines during the show and ramped up the tap mic's to the point of feedback during the Final, Staircase, number. Lighting missed - and completely ballsed up - some cues at the top of the second act leaving the cast on stage to break character, looking at each other in confusion.
Phillip was on as Billy who was great, however even in row C of the Stalls I felt like his vocal was lost at times. Sound ops need to gain up this channel when he's on as Billy.
With a little soft spot for Charlie & the Chocolate Factory at Drury Lane, I was happy to instantly recognise Jasna playing Maggie as Mrs Gloop. She was great throughout. Bruce's Abner was tollerable and humerous despite his thick Western American accent fading to almost nothing through the show.
I loved that (most) the pianos were real and Oscar (Paul Knight) was taking his cues from the MD. The temptation to have dummy pianos must have been strong for the creatives, so credit on that.
The dance routines seemed to tighten up through the show and by the time the final was up they were regimented and precise.
Watching 42nd Street for the very first time, I couldn't fail to notice the parallels between the Peggy/Dotty dynamic in this show and the Christine/Carolottta dynamic in Phantom. Especially including Abner in the mix it's easy to see where ALW & Richard Stilgoe got their influence from for the book (not novel).
Wonderful to see such a huge stage so full of cast and ensemble but, like a lot of matinee performances, it took a while for the show to warm up on a cold Wednesday afternoon.

It shouldn't happen anywhere in the auditorium. Thats the point of having microphones and a decent PA. Gareth Owen's Sound Design is normally spot on with most shows but there were a few moments where it let the show down in 42st.

Completely forgot to mention the weird part of one song, cant remember which, one of the brass was in completely the wrong key, or had picked up an instrument in the wrong pitch, either than or some weird alarm was going off that no-one responded to.

^Oh tonyloco, would you mind awfully if I unread that post? 

Still, never mind. One day la Streisand is going to play me in the story of my life. Just you wait....

The sound is not always the best. Wednesday was indeed a prime example where Philip was poorly mic'd and Chris Howell lost his altogether. By the 2nd Half they had corrected Phillip's mic and the sound was better.

I was on the far right and apart from Chris Howell's mike problems I found the sound absolutely fine.

Wheres my best source of decent priced tickets for this on a Weds matinee? Thx

So I went back to see this on Thursday, with the TodayTix rush. Sat in N36 in the stalls, which was further back than I was hoping for, but a good view all the same. This was the second time I've seen Tom Lister as Julian, with the first being in May I believe - I've seen Norman twice since. After seeing Norman I remember coming out immediately impressed and, this time, I had the same reaction to Tom, so I was definitely happy with that. Also, I was really happy to see Philip Bertioli as Billy. I remember seeing Funny Girl and Philip was on for Nick Arnstein (if I am correct, he only ever went on twice for the role and I saw his first 'go' at the character), and I thought he was really impressive. I've seen Philip as Pat twice, so seeing him to a bit more onstage with Billy was really pleasing. Philip and Stuart, in my opinion, are incomparable as whilst Stuart goes for the elaborate characterisation, which I do like, I also liked the way Philip made Billy simply charming, and a genuinely nice person. The only down-side to Philip's portrayal, in comparison to Stuart's, is the sound-level (which I would say is more a sound desk issue, anyway). I just felt like Philip was 'blending in' a bit too much, whereas I've found, previously, I could definitely hear Stuart's voice.
Overall, my high expectations of Philip as Billy, mostly based off his performance in Funny Girl, were more than met and I definitely want to go back and see him play the part again whilst Stuart is recovering. Fingers crossed he gets the part at cast change, because he's definitely good enough.

As far as I can remember you are correct, I saw his second 'go'. I was so annoyed when I got home from central London to discover that he was on on the Monday night. I would have been able to go had I checked twitter before I got on the tube. Learnt a lesson then! Would have preferred seeing his first show with Natasha (and probably got a better seat) but I'm still really glad he got a second go and I was able to see him play Nick. I'm still sad I never saw him play Eddie, I don't think he did many of them either, a couple at the most? However I am very happy that I have managed to see him play Billy a few times, and maybe a few times more?

It really is a shame though that they don't seem to get his levels right and he gets lost. That definitely wasn't a problem in Funny Girl, then again they were used to him singing one his own when he was in the ensemble. However after a few weeks of being on as Billy you'd have thought they would have improved things.

Is that the unofficial word on the 42nd Street?