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Post by shownut on Oct 27, 2022 10:58:54 GMT
Yes, I noticed that, too: a political divide where one wouldn't necessarily have expected it. God only know what Quentin Letts will say ! After his 5 star review of that POS known as Andrew Lloyd Webber's CINDERELLA, I have become less interested in his POV.....and I say that as an ALW fan. |
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Post by shownut on Oct 27, 2022 11:01:20 GMT
Could this be the current frontrunner for Best New Musical at the Olivier Awards (No doubt Bonnie & Clyde will win the WOS Awards) It's worthy competitor will more likely be THE BAND'S VISIT. |
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Post by Being Alive on Oct 27, 2022 11:24:36 GMT
I think across the board the reviews seemed ever so slightly more favourable to The Band's Visit.
Understated very rarely wins here though, as opposed to on Broadway, so I would say Tammy Faye is probably in the lead as it stands.
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Post by c4ndyc4ne on Oct 27, 2022 11:31:58 GMT
I think across the board the reviews seemed ever so slightly more favourable to The Band's Visit. Understated very rarely wins here though, as opposed to on Broadway, so I would say Tammy Faye is probably in the lead as it stands. and you can already picture katie brayben's big performance on the RAH stage powering them home |
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Post by shownut on Oct 27, 2022 11:44:28 GMT
Another **** from Financial Times
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Post by Fleance on Oct 27, 2022 12:19:28 GMT
Fours now from the standard, independent, guardian, time out, WOS - I think it's a sturdy hit with a few shortcomings! the angry press just clearly had the energy to vent last night.
It wouldn't surprise me if the ridiculous Post review of Tammy Faye has more to do with pandering to Murdoch's evangelical base in America than it does with a true vision of an objective reviewer. Perhaps that political agenda also informs The Times (London) review, also owned by Murdoch, though not quite so trashy as the Post? |
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Post by shownut on Oct 27, 2022 12:28:06 GMT
It wouldn't surprise me if the ridiculous Post review of Tammy Faye has more to do with pandering to Murdoch's evangelical base in America than it does with a true vision of an objective reviewer. Perhaps that political agenda also informs The Times (London) review, also owned by Murdoch, though not quite so trashy as the Post? I agree and posted something along those lines earlier. The opinion divide so far does appear to be along political lines...lets see if NYTimes or other mainstream US reviewers break that pattern. |
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Post by lonlad on Oct 27, 2022 12:35:02 GMT
4 stars just in from The Arts Desk, londontheatre.co.uk, and Sarah Hemming in the FT
Those few early reviews are looking like real outliers.
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Post by BurlyBeaR on Oct 27, 2022 12:53:26 GMT
Could it be that this one is for…….. THE MASSES? 😏
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Post by lonlad on Oct 27, 2022 13:13:19 GMT
Or that it's actually just very very good - which it is !
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Post by juicy_but_terribly_drab on Oct 27, 2022 13:44:16 GMT
Could it be that this one is for…….. THE MASSES? 😏 Don't right-wing newspapers have much better circulation than left-wing publications? So perhaps quite the opposite if they're apparently the ones giving this poor reviews. Sorry to say but looks like we've got another show that's just too high brow for those lowly masses! |
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Post by BurlyBeaR on Oct 27, 2022 13:50:34 GMT
I thought it was a load of camp old tomfoolery!
(I haven’t seen it)
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Post by c4ndyc4ne on Oct 27, 2022 14:09:25 GMT
In a way I think this is done a disservice by opening at the Almeida – where critics expect a certain 'kind' of production – more akin to Spring Awakening.
A straight West End bow might have suited it better, as had reportedly been originally planned. Waiting for the New York Times review!
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Post by kathryn on Oct 27, 2022 14:14:07 GMT
Could it be that this one is for…….. THE MASSES? 😏 😄 Think some people are missing the in-joke! |
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Post by samuelwhiskers on Oct 27, 2022 15:32:06 GMT
I thought it was a load of camp old tomfoolery! (I haven’t seen it) [Insert Saturday Night Live "Accurate" gif here] |
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Post by Fleance on Oct 27, 2022 16:17:23 GMT
The New York Times has weighed in with a sensible review: www.nytimes.com/2022/10/27/theater/tammy-faye-review-almeida.htmlHere's a quote. I can cut and paste if the pay wall prevents anyone from reading the full review:
Review: Praise the Lord for ‘Tammy Faye’
A new musical about the life of the televangelist Tammy Faye Bakker, composed by Elton John, makes spectacular entertainment from a righteous subject.
LONDON — Praise the lord for “Tammy Faye,” the new musical that opened Wednesday at London’s Almeida Theater. Telling the unlikely story — for the English stage at least — of the American televangelist Tammy Faye Bakker, the show has a heart as big as the title character’s bouffant hairdo, and runs through Dec. 3.
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Post by shownut on Oct 27, 2022 16:29:15 GMT
And that NYTimes review all but ensures that investors will be chomping at the bit to invest in an inevitable Broadway run.
Looking forward to seeing what next steps this show takes and hoping they announce something soon. Makes sense that they would do an ad splurge in the Sunday papers and announce a West End tranfer date/theatre then? Would be silly to put it off much longer if they already have a theatre in place.
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Post by catw on Oct 27, 2022 17:08:33 GMT
I don’t think some of the negative reviews are far off, I know there are Tammy musical evangelists here, but there is something to be said about the recent trend in UK musical theatre, so many surface level adaptations and biopics. I actually think there is a really outstanding show in Tammy, I just hope improvements can be made for the eventual transfer. It’s not a perfect 5 star show for me but it could be. I think a more developed West End design will be great too.
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Post by singingbird on Oct 27, 2022 17:48:49 GMT
I'm seeing this on Wednesday and I'm really valuing all the intelligent, perceptive discussion here, as it means I'm able to adjust my expectations before going in, and will probably enjoy it more as a result.
I often find that I have a pre-conceived notion of a show and when what I see onstage doesn't match that I end up feeling frustrated. It's not fair of me to expect the creative team to have made the show I would have made - and getting such wonderful feedback on this board helps me know what I'm going to.
In the case of Tammy Faye, I was expecting (I'm not sure why) something very dark, where the upbeat music and staging would be used as an ironic commentary on a very black story of manipulation, and unsavoury characters. Something very surreal and quite disturbing. Now I know it won't be that I can hopefully enjoy it for what it is!
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Post by kathryn on Oct 27, 2022 18:01:44 GMT
From the Variety Review
Question: do I just have a different idea of what musical theatre composing should be? Is the music not meant to be an expression of the characters in the story, to set them in time and place and tell you something about who they are, rather than the composer? I wouldn’t really expect to be hearing Elton John the pop/rock artist in a musical about Lions in Africa or County Durham miners on strike in the 80s. (Though I’d also argue that the music in both of those musicals is memorable!)
Tammy Faye is actually more recognisably Elton John-ish (though possibly only if you know his early, country-and-gospel influenced work) than Billy Elliot is. But I’ve always thought it a good thing that you’d not recognise Billy Elliot as ‘written by Elton John’ if you didn’t already know it. Because the show isn’t about him.
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Post by Rory on Oct 27, 2022 18:29:15 GMT
Panel on Front Row just now unanimously think a transfer will happen, but to where?
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Post by Rory on Oct 27, 2022 22:42:42 GMT
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Post by viserys on Oct 28, 2022 6:55:55 GMT
From the Variety Review Question: do I just have a different idea of what musical theatre composing should be? Is the music not meant to be an expression of the characters in the story, to set them in time and place and tell you something about who they are, rather than the composer? I wouldn’t really expect to be hearing Elton John the pop/rock artist in a musical about Lions in Africa or County Durham miners on strike in the 80s. (Though I’d also argue that the music in both of those musicals is memorable!) Tammy Faye is actually more recognisably Elton John-ish (though possibly only if you know his early, country-and-gospel influenced work) than Billy Elliot is. But I’ve always thought it a good thing that you’d not recognise Billy Elliot as ‘written by Elton John’ if you didn’t already know it. Because the show isn’t about him. I think what the reviewer is going for is not that he expected it to sound more like Elton John the rock/pop artist but more... specific to the story. There is a certain generic musical theatre sound (which was lampooned in Spamalot with "The song that goes like this") where the song(s) could be part of any show. One composer who's really awful at this is Frank Wildhorn, whose generic power ballads sound exactly the same all over the many shows he's churned out without giving them an individual sound/voice. However, I find it strange to accuse Elton John of this, who did give Lion King and Billy Elliot fairly distinctive tunes rooted in Africa and Northern England. Can't speak for Tammy Faye yet. |
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Post by mrbarnaby on Oct 28, 2022 7:16:20 GMT
Elton didn’t write the African sounding songs in Lion King. He wrote the pop songs like Circle of Life, can you feel the love tonight etc..
Lebo M wrote the rest I believe.
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Post by viserys on Oct 28, 2022 7:23:25 GMT
Elton didn’t write the African sounding songs in Lion King. He wrote the pop songs like Circle of Life, can you feel the love tonight etc.. Lebo M wrote the rest I believe. I know that, but I still feel that those songs have a certain African undertone to it. You couldn't drop "Can you feel the love tonight" into Billy Elliot, nor could you drop "Solidarity" into Lion King. |
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