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Post by Someone in a tree on Feb 7, 2020 7:34:37 GMT
Saw it tonight and it really didn't do it for me. The singing is wonderful and the dancing is great (not the choreographies tho), the cast is truly first rate and deserves a much stronger creative team. The book is weak and so are most of the new songs (with the exception of Heartless in the second act), but it's a dream to have "When You Believe" sung by such fantastic vocalists. It's a gorgeous song, and luckily they reprise it like 75 times so you can fully appreciate it. The true problem here is the direction by Scott Schwartz, whose only achievement is reminding us what a sad thing nepotism is. He just wastes a lot of occasions without creating momentum, such as God's apparition, that passes by and goes without further notice. What bothered me is not the cheap look of the production (those of you who thought Aladdin looked cheap will have a fit watching this). I've never been one to care much about lavish sets, they tell more about the budget of the production than the skills of the designer. The problem of this production is a complete lack of imagination, creativity, and stage-craft. There is no idea, no vision behind it. We live in a time where the wildest fantasies can be recreated on screen with technology and money, live theatre should try doing something else. A rising platform is just that, tech and money, and to use only projections is such a waste of the medium. The only clever moment is the tenth plague, where he manages to do something simple but touching, the rest is just community theatre with a large budget. It really felt like a wasted occasion for me, especially since the cast is truly top notch. ** The tenth plague? Just how many plagues are there?!!! 😉 |
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Post by tonylony on Feb 7, 2020 9:27:15 GMT
The buzz is.... not good.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 7, 2020 9:36:40 GMT
When you only choose to link negative stuff, you can make anything look bad. The Buzz isnt as bad as you're trying to make out.
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Post by tonylony on Feb 7, 2020 9:37:06 GMT
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Post by viserys on Feb 7, 2020 9:42:45 GMT
I would guess that many people go in with pre-conceived notions what it SHOULD look like (in their opinion/imagination) so find themselves disappointed. See also: Frozen and the (lack of) ice castle.
I'd take these tweets with a pinch of salt. Maybe I'll also be bitterly disappointed. But another show set in Ancient Egypt worked just fine with modern looking costumes, minimalist stage sets and a smashing pop sound track. So I reserve judgement until I've seen this live.
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Post by tonylony on Feb 7, 2020 9:51:21 GMT
I would guess that many people go in with pre-conceived notions what it SHOULD look like (in their opinion/imagination) so find themselves disappointed. See also: Frozen and the (lack of) ice castle. I'd take these tweets with a pinch of salt. Maybe I'll also be bitterly disappointed. But another show set in Ancient Egypt worked just fine with modern looking costumes, minimalist stage sets and a smashing pop sound track. So I reserve judgement until I've seen this live. I agree. Problem is, i'm sure the general public coming to see this will expect epic sets and not interpretive dancing. As theater fans I think we're more open/willing to see the latter and use some imagination. So I guess the question is - will this sell? |
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Post by viserys on Feb 7, 2020 10:15:47 GMT
I would guess that many people go in with pre-conceived notions what it SHOULD look like (in their opinion/imagination) so find themselves disappointed. See also: Frozen and the (lack of) ice castle. I'd take these tweets with a pinch of salt. Maybe I'll also be bitterly disappointed. But another show set in Ancient Egypt worked just fine with modern looking costumes, minimalist stage sets and a smashing pop sound track. So I reserve judgement until I've seen this live. I agree. Problem is, i'm sure the general public coming to see this will expect epic sets and not interpretive dancing. As theater fans I think we're more open/willing to see the latter and use some imagination. So I guess the question is - will this sell? I agree, but I'd say it's only the theater fans who are now eagerly following the first feedback on Twitter and here on the forum. The general public may book blind or rely on the reviews when they come out (which may of course be bad!). That said, AFAIK it's only planned as a limited run anyway and hopefully curiosity will be big enough to sustain it for a few months, especially in summer tourist season. It's lucky that it doesn't have much competition at the moment in terms of new big fresh musical for a wide target audience. Guess we can only wait and see, although I assume that even if they tweak stuff during previews, the main things already being complained about (sets/projection) can't be changed anymore. As for the music being complained about, I dunno, right now there are some musicals being very popular whose music I don't care for at all. If the people who like that kind of music now complain about Prince of Egypt, there's hope for me  |
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Post by Deleted on Feb 7, 2020 11:25:13 GMT
I agree. Problem is, i'm sure the general public coming to see this will expect epic sets and not interpretive dancing. As theater fans I think we're more open/willing to see the latter and use some imagination. So I guess the question is - will this sell? I agree, but I'd say it's only the theater fans who are now eagerly following the first feedback on Twitter and here on the forum. The general public may book blind or rely on the reviews when they come out (which may of course be bad!). That said, AFAIK it's only planned as a limited run anyway and hopefully curiosity will be big enough to sustain it for a few months, especially in summer tourist season. It's lucky that it doesn't have much competition at the moment in terms of new big fresh musical for a wide target audience. Guess we can only wait and see, although I assume that even if they tweak stuff during previews, the main things already being complained about (sets/projection) can't be changed anymore. As for the music being complained about, I dunno, right now there are some musicals being very popular whose music I don't care for at all. If the people who like that kind of music now complain about Prince of Egypt, there's hope for me Agreed, *STAMP* :-) |
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Post by horton on Feb 7, 2020 15:19:49 GMT
I was hoping against hope that it would be well-staged.
This will be one of the great missed opportunities.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 7, 2020 16:25:01 GMT
This should have, and deserves, an epic staging. Not only because of the movie, but the music and also the venue. You dont do small and innovative storytelling at the dominion. It doesnt have to bem literal either, I wouldnt describe LOTR as traditional sets, they were imaginative but still epic with many wow moments.
Problem is Prince of Egypt is up against it from the start, the director just isnt good. His Hunchback of Notre Dame at the Papermill was severely lacking and I have a horrible feeling this will end up being a similar missed opportunity.
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Post by HereForTheatre on Feb 8, 2020 11:46:56 GMT
What sort of tickets are coming up on the rush?
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Post by Deleted on Feb 8, 2020 12:30:49 GMT
Swathes of tickets disappeared from the online booking plans for all of February.
Either it’s suddenly sold very well (possible) or huge amounts have gone to papering clubs for the first month to try and generate positive word of mouth.
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Post by showtoones on Feb 8, 2020 22:08:38 GMT
Swathes of tickets disappeared from the online booking plans for all of February. Either it’s suddenly sold very well (possible) or huge amounts have gone to papering clubs for the first month to try and generate positive word of mouth. Is it possible that they could go to agencies? Not sure how that works... |
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Post by jamb0r on Feb 8, 2020 22:24:31 GMT
I’ve booked rear circle seats with the secret hope that they would close the rear circle (like they did regularly for Bat out of Hell) if it wasn’t selling, resulting in an upgrade!
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Post by geweena on Feb 8, 2020 22:50:15 GMT
What sort of tickets are coming up on the rush? Got Circle F39 in rush for yesterday. Brilliant seat with complete view of the stage. |
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Post by Mark on Feb 8, 2020 23:00:03 GMT
What sort of tickets are coming up on the rush? I got P45 stalls on Thursday. Great seat |
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Post by Deleted on Feb 8, 2020 23:10:58 GMT
Heading home now after this evenings performance. Wow. I don’t disagree with the comments that were posted on Twitter but at the same time, this was an absolute treat.
They definitely need to shave some time off the duration. Whilst I was never once bored, when I left the theatre it seemed like days had passed by whilst being inside! 😂
The cast are phenomenal, especially the four leads. This is possibly one of the most incredible group of performers I’ve seen together in one show. The staging does leave a lot to be desired, true, but I do feel on the whole it works. The staging of the Red Sea scene is especially effective. I sincerely hope this succeeds, the entire auditorium was packed and the house full sign was out, but as others have said I can’t be sure how many paying customers there were. Most of the audience lapped it up and were very enthusiastic. It’s a huge barn to fill nightly, I just wish this continues for as long as possible.
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Post by david on Feb 8, 2020 23:20:44 GMT
I was at tonight’s performance. I was sat in the stalls D5. Overall, not a bad seat, though you do miss the far right of the stage. Thankfully, only very brief periods of the show are missed though the screen at the back of the stage is obscured so you do miss a bit of the projections. Despite these issues, I didn’t feel it was too detrimental to enjoying the show.
A great cast both in their acting and singing. I can’t really fault any of the performances from what I watched tonight Loved the lighting design and I thought the use of the video screens was effective, particularly during the plagues sequences. With respect to the score, the orchestra sounded great with the cast nailing When You Believe. Gary Wilmot despite not having much stage time was a joy to watch and listen to.
Where I would have criticism with this production is with its staging. Certainly, I’d agree with earlier posts that if you are after a big epic production, then this isn’t it. There were times when the vastness of the Dominion stage was evident due to the size of some of the sets. I think a missed opportunity here to really deliver a stunning set and use the Dominion stage to its full potential.
Programmes are £6 and I had a quick look preshow in the merchandise shop. Your normal stuff of magnets, t-shirts etc are available to buy.
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Post by tonylony on Feb 9, 2020 5:46:03 GMT
Well, there's some hope!
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Post by Someone in a tree on Feb 9, 2020 11:55:24 GMT
Despite Miss Trash saying it was magnificent her face does not say it |
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Post by TallPaul on Feb 9, 2020 12:31:30 GMT
Davis S Monge needs to work on his musical theatre chronology!
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Post by Dr Tom on Feb 9, 2020 14:47:52 GMT
Do we think those are all real tweets from real people? A lot of them look like variants on a theme.
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Post by intoanewlife on Feb 9, 2020 15:10:07 GMT
Thus far if it's been playing to capacity it's been seen by nearly 8,000 people.
Do you really believe every single one of them hated it just because a few people here did?
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Post by partytentdown on Feb 13, 2020 8:05:31 GMT
Afraid I didn't get on with this. Started 20 mins late due to epic box office queue (presumably lots of on the day discounts?) which made the whole thing even longer.
A set that was somehow both over technical and too basic, dwarfed by the size of the stage. Costumes that were strange. The ensemble are clearly talented but were given repetitive tasks and made to act out some theatrical clichés that wouldn't look out of place in amdram or college productions. And so many songs yet none that stick in the mind except THAT well known one, which takes well over 2 hours to get to.
And yet a standing ovation, so either I'm in the minority or there were lots of friends and fans in.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 13, 2020 9:12:54 GMT
interesting what you say about the songs as the movies songs were all strong in my view, in fact When You Believe for me is the most boring of them...possibly because of over exposure of it over the years
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