171 posts
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Post by moelhywel on Mar 27, 2017 22:03:04 GMT
For those asking about the view from side seats I have found the Seatplan web site useful for checking out seating at various theatres. For the Theatre Royal go to seatplan.com/london/42nd-street/ but note that the seat reviews do refer to a previous show. Thanks for that, A23 still definitely looks like a bargain seat. Can't wait now to see it. |
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716 posts
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Post by theatre-turtle on Mar 27, 2017 22:14:49 GMT
I agree it's a 5*++++ production of a 3* show. There were several moments I gasped at how stunning the production was. The ensemble were totally in sync and all the performances I thought were very strong. It actually made me realise how underpowered the revival of Miss Saigon was in comparison. This production was just wow moment after wow moment. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend it to anyone, and I will definitely be going again. Personally though I prefer An American In Paris, which I think just has a bit more to it while also being a stunning production. 42nd Street is shallow, albeit gloriously and spectacularly shallow. Some observations:
- The book is seriously thin. I find it quite lazy that many of the big moments are just 'here's a song from the fake musical' - with no attempt to develop the plot of such fake musical
- The ending is pretty unsatisfying and unrealistic really and you never get to invest in these one dimensional characters. She chooses to go to the kids party? Great, how humble. Unless there's more depth to this it seems like a pretty pointless segment of dialogue. Her 'romances' with Billy and Julian couldn't be any shallower, and goes totally unresolved.
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50 posts
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Post by cmcphail on Mar 27, 2017 22:22:09 GMT
Got a lovely last minute £25 seat in the middle of the grand circle. I'm pretty sure the lady in row B directly down from me is going on theatre board at the moment. No badge though! That may have been me! I loved this. I've never seen anything like this before, and it was clear that a lot of effort has gone into creating something truly spectacular. I really hope that all of their work pays off and the show does well. I cannot wait to make a return visit from April, this time enjoying it from one of those lovely front row stalls seats. |
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716 posts
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Post by theatre-turtle on Mar 27, 2017 22:25:06 GMT
Got a lovely last minute £25 seat in the middle of the grand circle. I'm pretty sure the lady in row B directly down from me is going on theatre board at the moment. No badge though! That may have been me! I loved this. I've never seen anything like this before, and it was clear that a lot of effort has gone into creating something truly spectacular. I really hope that all of their work pays off and the show does well. I cannot wait to make a return visit from April, this time enjoying it from one of those lovely front row stalls seats. Right side block in seat 11 ish? You managed to avoid all the chattering tourists who were sat in the row above me  |
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50 posts
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Post by cmcphail on Mar 27, 2017 22:32:25 GMT
Right side block in seat 11 ish? You managed to avoid all the chattering tourists who were sat in the row above me That was me! Hello! Luckily they were easy enough to ignore from where I was, but we did get the phone offender in our row. I hope they didn't ruin the show completely for you! |
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Post by Deleted on Mar 27, 2017 22:41:13 GMT
Personally though I prefer An American In Paris, which I think just has a bit more to it while also being a stunning production. 42nd Street is shallow, albeit gloriously and spectacularly shallow. The original credit in the libretto was pretty much an admission of the lack of book, calling it "lead ins & crossovers", i.e. bits that set up songs and comedy skits to cover scene changes.* The economics of a show like this need to be finely balanced. It demands spectacle so you have to throw money at it, with a bigger cast and such, meaning that you need a large capacity venue to keep your ticket costs down. Make it too big, though, and you struggle to stay afloat with a high weekly nut; make it too small, and you have no spectacle so box office suffers and you don't cover running costs. * the latter is a term from vaudeville. |
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2 posts
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Post by ktp1973 on Mar 28, 2017 9:29:49 GMT
Trying to book a row A stalls £15 seat for any date after previews. The end ones are available however when add to basket, they say no longer available. Any idea why?
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2,302 posts
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Post by Tibidabo on Mar 28, 2017 9:57:16 GMT
I've taken ages to book 2 of these £15 row A tickets. In case anyone else is trying, I had to put them in my basket one at a time - if I tried to put 2 into the basket at the same time a message came up telling me that they were no longer available. Trying to book a row A stalls £15 seat for any date after previews. The end ones are available however when add to basket, they say no longer available. Any idea why? Had the same problem - hope that helps. And welcome to the board ktp1973! |
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21 posts
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Post by sushisamba on Mar 28, 2017 10:00:20 GMT
I had some lovely £15 seats in the centre of row A on 5 April, but I've realised I have a Chelsea match that night (v Man City) so I can no longer go (oh the constant struggles of being a musical loving chelsea fc fan!). Fortunately I have managed to swap them to another night for what looks like one of the last pair of £15 tickets, however they're now seats A23/24 and apparently have a slightly restricted view and legroom. Does anyone have any experience of these seats? I appreciate at this price I can hardly complain, though I'd be keen to hear what the view is like. Thanks!
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4,021 posts
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Post by Dawnstar on Mar 28, 2017 19:57:31 GMT
I agree it's a 5*++++ production of a 3* show. There were several moments I gasped at how stunning the production was. The ensemble were totally in sync and all the performances I thought were very strong. It actually made me realise how underpowered the revival of Miss Saigon was in comparison. This production was just wow moment after wow moment. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend it to anyone, and I will definitely be going again. Personally though I prefer An American In Paris, which I think just has a bit more to it while also being a stunning production. 42nd Street is shallow, albeit gloriously and spectacularly shallow. Some observations:
- The book is seriously thin. I find it quite lazy that many of the big moments are just 'here's a song from the fake musical' - with no attempt to develop the plot of such fake musical
- The ending is pretty unsatisfying and unrealistic really and you never get to invest in these one dimensional characters. She chooses to go to the kids party? Great, how humble. Unless there's more depth to this it seems like a pretty pointless segment of dialogue. Her 'romances' with Billy and Julian couldn't be any shallower, and goes totally unresolved.
Sticking quite a long comment under a spoiler just in case
Oh yes, I was actually trying to work out during the show on Saturday what the plot of "Pretty Lady" could be to fit in all the songs we hear from it but couldn't think of anything that could plausibly fit them all. I wonder if the book writer actually did come up with a plot for it? Maybe a journalist could interview him & ask, as he's involved in this production. Or maybe he told the cast in rehearsals. Though I can't imagine they would have been the sort of rehearsals where everyone sat around for hours discussing their characters' back stories & motivations! More like "Everyone under 50, tap shoes on now!"
Thinking about the show over the last few days, I think one of the problems I had with it is that none of the songs actually show or allow for any real character illumination or development. This is partly because so many of them are from "Pretty Lady", and the characters in that are never established, but I think the almost total lack of solos compounds it. Looking at the song list in the programme, there are precisely 2 numbers in the whole show listed as being done by just 1 character. 1 of those is Marsh's short repries of the title song at the end and the other, which Dorothy sings after she's thrown Pat Denning out, then segues into a full production number, leaving it unclear if she was singing it as a true reflection of her feelings or just practicing it for the show. When Peggy was waiting at the station for her train I thought for a moment she was finally going to get a solo but no, eveyone else pitcehs up & the whole company does Lullaby of Broadway. (Incidentally, why is singing a song about a girl being up all night supposed to persuade Peggy to start in the show? Unless she suffers from terrible insomnia I can't see the attraction!) Surely somewhere in an over 2 hour show the leading lady could be allowed 1 solo song? She could do with an "I Want" song, as I believe they're called, near the beginning, then something when she gets fired, and maybe something just before Pretty Lady opens too.
I agree on the 'romances'. Billy gets practically no time to establish himself as a character anyway, to make us care whether he gets Peggy or not. Marsh gets more stage time but there's no indication he's attracted to Peggy till he kisses her in rehearsals near the end. I know some shows manage to be succesfuly with out a romance as the backbone of the plot but a convincing romance is probaly the easiest & most commonly-used way of having a decent story arc.
[/spoiler] Personally though I prefer An American In Paris, which I think just has a bit more to it while also being a stunning production. 42nd Street is shallow, albeit gloriously and spectacularly shallow. The original credit in the libretto was pretty much an admission of the lack of book, calling it "lead ins & crossovers", i.e. bits that set up songs and comedy skits to cover scene changes.* The economics of a show like this need to be finely balanced. It demands spectacle so you have to throw money at it, with a bigger cast and such, meaning that you need a large capacity venue to keep your ticket costs down. Make it too big, though, and you struggle to stay afloat with a high weekly nut; make it too small, and you have no spectacle so box office suffers and you don't cover running costs. * the latter is a term from vaudeville. "Make it too small" - I'm now having visions of 42nd Street being done in a pub theatre with a cast of a dozen actor-musicians. Mind boggling, & not in a good way! I've taken ages to book 2 of these £15 row A tickets. In case anyone else is trying, I had to put them in my basket one at a time - if I tried to put 2 into the basket at the same time a message came up telling me that they were no longer available. Trying to book a row A stalls £15 seat for any date after previews. The end ones are available however when add to basket, they say no longer available. Any idea why? Had the same problem - hope that helps. And welcome to the board ktp1973 ! I just tried to book A1 for a date in July & it's worked alright. The confirmation email came through instantaneously. |
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1,281 posts
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Post by theatrefan77 on Mar 28, 2017 21:23:31 GMT
Saw this last night and it was great fun. Yes, the book is very poorly written and the characters are one dimensional but it's such a fantastic feel good spectacle that you soon forget all its flaws. Loved the amazing choreography and the over the top costumes. It's one of the campest thing I've ever seen on stage and loved every minute of it.
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Post by Mr Snow on Mar 28, 2017 22:27:41 GMT
The set is practically the same as the original, only the backdrops are a new. The wall or dressing rooms and train car are the same. I was looking at the brochure for the original UK tour and there was a huge bird cage type frame with the girls all holding ropes of flowers. Not sure what number it was used for. I have an original program.... somewhere? So pleased they kept the opening but in my memory the cast were dressed in b+w? Also checking the coins they carried on were larger and resonated more? And Catherine Zeta Jones dress was pleated so she just sasshayed about the stage. Be interested if the program confirms? Put me down as another with a huge grin ear to ear. And the audience tonight were wild for it. Roars,llike when someone scores in a sports arena greeted many of the moves. One to remember. |
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581 posts
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Post by princeton on Mar 28, 2017 22:54:16 GMT
IIRc - the 'birdcage' was from the middle section of Dames (where this production has added Keep Young and Beautiful). There are a lot more musical numbers this time round - in addition to the aforementioned Keep Young and Beautiful, neither With Plenty of Money and You nor Boulevard of Broken Dreams were in the last Drury Lane production. The 42nd routine is a lot longer (it ended with Peggy dancing along after 'Billy' had been short - so no big staircase) and the amazing post bows routine is also new. I think all except the Boulevard were in the 2001 Broadway revival.
Obviously it's a show which is all about the big numbers - and the ensemble here are magnificent - but it does mean that the dialogue scenes (particular the comedy ones) are played at such a fast pace that they become almost meaningless. I remember laughing out loud at lines which just didn't register this time around.
But when all is said and done it's about those routines - it's bigger and brasher than in the 80s - and at a time of increasingly threadbare revivals it's a reminder that sometimes size matters! I'm very glad that we haven't had to endure the Menier Chocolate Factory version!!
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581 posts
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Post by princeton on Mar 28, 2017 22:59:38 GMT
Also I saw the last production several time with many different casts - and Catherine Zeta Jones was the one Peggy not to wear the curly wig. Instead she had a short dark bob - I don't know whether it was a wig or her natural hair but it made her look very different to her predecessors in the role.
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581 posts
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Post by princeton on Mar 28, 2017 23:04:54 GMT
And here's a recording of the title song and dance - 42nd Street from the Original London production - including different (and definitely more dramatic) ending.
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4,176 posts
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Post by anthony40 on Mar 29, 2017 5:25:11 GMT
I've been humming In The Shadows and Shuffle Off To Buffalo at work for the past few days since seeing this win Saturday night.
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1,103 posts
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Post by mallardo on Mar 29, 2017 6:07:01 GMT
I've been humming In The Shadows and Shuffle Off To Buffalo at work for the past few days since seeing this win Saturday night.
Ha. I've been humming You're Getting To Be a Habit With Me - can't get it out of my head.
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Post by crabtree on Mar 29, 2017 7:36:56 GMT
If you are unfamiliar, which I doubt, with the original movies from where are these numbers originate, there is a great Busby Berkeley 9 disc box set which as way of a further treat contains a disc with all the numbers together. This is regularly watched, and watched. Some are so inventive and surprisingly racy.
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716 posts
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Post by theatre-turtle on Mar 29, 2017 8:21:48 GMT
If you are unfamiliar, which I doubt, with the original movies from where are these numbers originate, there is a great Busby Berkeley 9 disc box set which as way of a further treat contains a disc with all the numbers together. This is regularly watched, and watched. Some are so inventive and surprisingly racy. I think we can firmly classify this as a jukebox musical right? |
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Post by Mr Snow on Mar 29, 2017 9:50:04 GMT
If you are unfamiliar, which I doubt, with the original movies from where are these numbers originate, there is a great Busby Berkeley 9 disc box set which as way of a further treat contains a disc with all the numbers together. This is regularly watched, and watched. Some are so inventive and surprisingly racy. I think we can firmly classify this as a jukebox musical right? Possibly. I think all the songs are Dubin and Warren, but the big advantage to me, is the casat are not attempting to mpersonate others singing. Certainly its a loose adaptatin of a classic movie. (That said, I do wonder if Miss Eastons preparation involved listening to a lot of Barbra's records? Perhaps she always sounded like that?) |
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Post by Mr Snow on Mar 29, 2017 9:59:23 GMT
I've been humming In The Shadows and Shuffle Off To Buffalo at work for the past few days since seeing this win Saturday night.
Ha. I've been humming You're Getting To Be a Habit With Me - can't get it out of my head.
If if helps, it’s a song that has been parodied with other lyrics Heres one by Alan Sherman Though you once were the best bunny at the Playboy Club, You're getting to be a rabbit with me I just sit there and stare as you hop from shrub to shrub You're getting to be a rabbit with me When I proposed to you that evening last spring, You said you'd be my mate So I went out and bought a two-carat ring, And both of them you ate! Then your ears grew an inch, and your nose began to twitch, And I noticed your tail was attached permanently So I keep you in the back yard, in a wooden hutch, 'Cause you're getting to be a little too much Like Bugs Bunny, You're getting… However Google is failing me because there’s another version where “getting to be a rabbit” has other connotations and eventually this persistence has the singer reluctantly concluding the song with “…Can’t take it.” |
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1,103 posts
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Post by mallardo on Mar 29, 2017 10:35:55 GMT
Re You're Getting To Be A Habit With Me, the original lyrics are interesting in that the "habit" referred to is, very openly, a drug habit.
"Every kiss, every hug
Seems to act just like a drug"
or:
"Let me stay in your arms
I'm addicted to your charms"
or, especially:
"I used to think your love
Was something I could take or leave alone,
But now I couldn't do
Without my supply"
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Post by Mr Snow on Mar 29, 2017 12:12:35 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Mar 29, 2017 16:04:25 GMT
I am seeing for the 4th time on Saturday evening
🤗🤗👯👯
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Post by Deleted on Mar 29, 2017 18:24:56 GMT
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