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Post by bobbievanhusen on Nov 2, 2022 23:42:01 GMT
Why don't they have the cast bow first and then do the final song, so the audience understand what they're meant to be doing? OR... they literally have that 'Applause' sign, have someone wave it about during the song to make it clear. It's a good final song and a nice touch to have Tammy greet everyone as they come back on, but a shame it's so muddled up with the do we or don't we applaud/are these or aren't they bows confusion! I saw a video of the last few bows recently on YT, ad they had definitely changed since the first performance, but they still have people bow in the song? It's too messy.Personally i'd scrap it, because when a song comes after the bows, it always feels like a forced standing ovation. That 'get up on your feet and clap along' number that's meant to send you out dancing into the streets. Nope. Will sit there with my arms folded thanks, regardless of how great the show was. It's an audience participation thing.
And I still think it sounds like 'take me to heaven' from Sister Act
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Post by cezbear on Nov 2, 2022 23:45:57 GMT
Why don't they have the cast bow first and then do the final song, so the audience understand what they're meant to be doing? OR... they literally have that 'Applause' sign, have someone wave it about during the song to make it clear. It's a good final song and a nice touch to have Tammy greet everyone as they come back on, but a shame it's so muddled up with the do we or don't we applaud/are these or aren't they bows confusion! I saw a video of the last few bows recently on YT, ad they had definitely changed since the first performance, but they still have people bow in the song? It's too messy.Personally i'd scrap it, because when a song comes after the bows, it always feels like a forced standing ovation. That 'get up on your feet and clap along' number that's meant to send you out dancing into the streets. Nope. Will sit there with my arms folded thanks, regardless of how great the show was. It's an audience participation thing.
And I still think it sounds like 'take me to heaven' from Sister Act
Oh I didn't realise it had already changed! The final song has the cast members coming back up the steps to do a little dance and greet Tammy but they don't bow, the actual bows are then after the song has finished. But it's still confusing because it's not until maybe the 3rd set of cast have done a little shimmy that the audience realise they're meant to be applauding those parts. It was a (well deserved) standing ovation but no one actually got up during the dance to dance and clap along, again it wasn't at all clear that would be welcome! |
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Post by bobbievanhusen on Nov 3, 2022 0:36:27 GMT
Oh I didn't realise it had already changed! The final song has the cast members coming back up the steps to do a little dance and greet Tammy but they don't bow, the actual bows are then after the song has finished. But it's still confusing because it's not until maybe the 3rd set of cast have done a little shimmy that the audience realise they're meant to be applauding those parts. It was a (well deserved) standing ovation but no one actually got up during the dance to dance and clap along, again it wasn't at all clear that would be welcome! Interesting. I wasn't sure what you meant by them greeting Tammy, but I think that is new. What happened on the first performance (if i'm remembering correctly...) was final line - blackout - Tammy Faye singing finale song whilst cast dance and bow during it, but there was no single bow for Katie Brayben and Andrew Rannells had to grab her to put her front and centre for a solo bow. It was very confusing. There didn't seem to be a visible end to the show between the blackout and finale song. Shouldn't it be final line - blackout - bows - finale song? That was definitely stop the confusion. |
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Post by Being Alive on Nov 3, 2022 0:48:57 GMT
Will do proper thoughts tomorrow as I'm still mulling it over - but those bows are one of the weirdest things I've ever seen on stage...who signed off on that?!
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Post by alece10 on Nov 3, 2022 8:29:48 GMT
I see the 1 star vote has now gone, presumably the person changed their mind on reflection or it was just a mistake in the first place.
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Post by musiqualetheater on Nov 3, 2022 9:03:33 GMT
Oh I didn't realise it had already changed! The final song has the cast members coming back up the steps to do a little dance and greet Tammy but they don't bow, the actual bows are then after the song has finished. But it's still confusing because it's not until maybe the 3rd set of cast have done a little shimmy that the audience realise they're meant to be applauding those parts. It was a (well deserved) standing ovation but no one actually got up during the dance to dance and clap along, again it wasn't at all clear that would be welcome! Interesting. I wasn't sure what you meant by them greeting Tammy, but I think that is new. What happened on the first performance (if i'm remembering correctly...) was final line - blackout - Tammy Faye singing finale song whilst cast dance and bow during it, but there was no single bow for Katie Brayben and Andrew Rannells had to grab her to put her front and centre for a solo bow. It was very confusing. There didn't seem to be a visible end to the show between the blackout and finale song. Shouldn't it be final line - blackout - bows - finale song? That was definitely stop the confusion. Last week, there were solo bows. But the whole bows during song thing was a mess, I’m sure they didn’t even bow and just stepped forward. |
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Post by singingbird on Nov 3, 2022 10:04:09 GMT
Wow. Just... wow. Not sure when I last saw a brand-new musical as good as this. I'm giving it five stars because, despite a couple of slightly weak points (the muddled bows, the slow-ish beginning, one or two jokes that weren't as sharp as they should be... e.g. the archbishop of Canterbury lines which weren't up to the standard of the humour elsewhere), everything else was just so so good. I've rarely enjoyed myself in a theatre so much, and it was such a great advert for the power of live performance.
Generally I prefer slower, quieter shows (e.g. The Band's Visit... can't believe I've just seen two 5 star shows in a row!) but this combined a huge amount of pizzazz and energy with really nuanced characters. On balance, I really respected that they didn't paint her as a villain. It's much more interesting to see a genuine, three-dimensional character with definite flaws but who is also well-meaning. She comes across as someone who is very naive and unexpectedly out of her depth, swimming in a pool with sharks. Very vulnerable, very human. I think the show dramatised one of the central problems I have with the idea of 'church', as opposed to Christianity, which is that, as soon as other humans get involved in your relationship with God, their egos and flaws get added to the mix, too. Everybody is a sinner, including (sometimes especially) those charged with upholding moral values.
Musically, this was spot-on. I thought Elton channelled the time and place perfectly - even down to the TV ident music. The harmonies, the instrumentation, everything was exactly right. I guess it is no surprise, as the timeline of Tammy's career matches the timeline of his rise and heyday perfectly, but it's rare to get such attention to period detail in a show, rather than just cliche and pastiche. The lyrics were clever and original, whilst feeling totally natural. The book was hilarious and genuinely nuanced - nothing was black and white. The direction and staging flawless and, to cap it all, what incredible performances.
This has it in it to be a modern classic and as much a part of the repertoire down the line as shows like Sweet Charity and Cabaret are now.
In many ways it is an old-school musical comedy/drama - it's not as structurally ground-breaking as I expected, but it is so deeply intelligent, has such heart and just hits very nearly every nail square on.
Btw, did anyone else think Zubin Varla's big act one solo was a natural successor to JCS's Gethsemane? And I also saw a small JCS reference in the brief guitar-riff soundtracked flogging moment!
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Post by Being Alive on Nov 3, 2022 11:26:46 GMT
Okay, thoughts.
Very much stuck between a three and a four star shows for this, but I think on reflection I have to stick with three, for a multitude of reasons.
The main one is the second act of this show is a complete misfire at just about every turn. It truly felt like a workshop production was being put on to test what works and what doesn't work, and the answer to me is...not a lot.
Musically, this show is all over the shop, and I think that is largely the fault of Jake Shears because the songs just objectively have terrible lyrics virtually throughout. Elton John's music is fine and evokes the right mood and era, but after a while all of the songs sound the same. When we finally get to the 11 o'clock number (If You Came To See Me Cry) I was ready for Brayben to truly let rip and sing to the rafters - which she does, but she has to do vocal gymnastics in order to sell the song, which to me means the song itself isn't solid enough. I didn't like the ending before getting onto the bows either - I feel like there's a song missing after Came To See Me Cry - some restructuring would get around this,
That said, it's undisputed that Katie Brayben will win her second Olivier for this - shes simply extraordinary. I only felt she could have been more extraordinary if some of the material she'd been given had been better grounded.
Andrew Rannells is good, but didn't leave much of a mark to me, and Zubin Varla is always great value for me and sings his face off in that Act 1 number that's very 'Javert in Les Mis'.
Lots of musical references and parallels in there is you know where to look for them - the end of Act 1 is the same set up as One Fine Day in Beautiful (probably not helped as a parallel by having Brayben delivering it after her performance as Carole King), Zubin's act 1 number is very Gethsemane/Stars esque, the ending is Hamilton etc etc - it's like the team saw stuff they liked and went...lets have that.
Liked Bunny Christie's design, although someone did say to me it looks a bit like a knock off of Curious Incident which I can now see - I wish the costume and make up has been better to be able to age Brayben up a bit over the years but with time restraints I get that it's not possible.
So like I said, 3 stars for me, but with a 5 star leading performance. A lot of what needs fixing for me will involve entirely throwing Act 2 out and starting again, which they aren't going to do. I just felt that I went to a musical called 'Tammy Faye' and I learnt nothing new about Tammy Faye, and she felt quite inconsequential to it all. James Graham's book leans into camp from the get-go (which is fine) but there are opportunities for him to go a bit deeper than it currently is for me.
Oh, and please sort out the bows - my friend I just sat there going...this is a mess what's happening.
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Post by robertb213 on Nov 4, 2022 23:12:30 GMT
Okay, thoughts. Very much stuck between a three and a four star shows for this, but I think on reflection I have to stick with three, for a multitude of reasons. The main one is the second act of this show is a complete misfire at just about every turn. It truly felt like a workshop production was being put on to test what works and what doesn't work, and the answer to me is...not a lot. Musically, this show is all over the shop, and I think that is largely the fault of Jake Shears because the songs just objectively have terrible lyrics virtually throughout. Elton John's music is fine and evokes the right mood and era, but after a while all of the songs sound the same. When we finally get to the 11 o'clock number (If You Came To See Me Cry) I was ready for Brayben to truly let rip and sing to the rafters - which she does, but she has to do vocal gymnastics in order to sell the song, which to me means the song itself isn't solid enough. I didn't like the ending before getting onto the bows either - I feel like there's a song missing after Came To See Me Cry - some restructuring would get around this, That said, it's undisputed that Katie Brayben will win her second Olivier for this - shes simply extraordinary. I only felt she could have been more extraordinary if some of the material she'd been given had been better grounded. Andrew Rannells is good, but didn't leave much of a mark to me, and Zubin Varla is always great value for me and sings his face off in that Act 1 number that's very 'Javert in Les Mis'. Lots of musical references and parallels in there is you know where to look for them - the end of Act 1 is the same set up as One Fine Day in Beautiful (probably not helped as a parallel by having Brayben delivering it after her performance as Carole King), Zubin's act 1 number is very Gethsemane/Stars esque, the ending is Hamilton etc etc - it's like the team saw stuff they liked and went...lets have that. Liked Bunny Christie's design, although someone did say to me it looks a bit like a knock off of Curious Incident which I can now see - I wish the costume and make up has been better to be able to age Brayben up a bit over the years but with time restraints I get that it's not possible. So like I said, 3 stars for me, but with a 5 star leading performance. A lot of what needs fixing for me will involve entirely throwing Act 2 out and starting again, which they aren't going to do. I just felt that I went to a musical called 'Tammy Faye' and I learnt nothing new about Tammy Faye, and she felt quite inconsequential to it all. James Graham's book leans into camp from the get-go (which is fine) but there are opportunities for him to go a bit deeper than it currently is for me. Oh, and please sort out the bows - my friend I just sat there going...this is a mess what's happening. I was about to post my thoughts but this is literally everything I was going to say 🤣 Katie is incredible but I'm decidedly lukewarm about the rest. It definitely started to drag in the second act and feels too long without seemingly saying much, too many clunky lyrics throughout, and I agree with whoever said the final song sounded like "Take Me To Heaven" from Sister Act, which I now have in my head rather than anything from Tammy Faye. Katie makes this show. Without her.... 🙄 |
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Post by dinah on Nov 5, 2022 20:01:08 GMT
Finally got round to seeing this and surprised to say it left me pretty cold overall. I think a big part of this was due to how restricted the view was from my seat and so I found it difficult to be engaged at times. I sat in a restricted view seat for Spring Awakening without issue but missed quite a lot on stage this time. I wouldn't recommend sitting at the back right of the circle even if the tickets are only £10.
I didn't know too much about Tammy Faye other than the basics and still feel like I don't know much about her. Although I found it funny at times, I never felt any sort of emotional connection with the characters or show.
I did enjoy quite a few of the songs and am sure I'll be listening back once there's a cast recording. I don't think I would see this again if/when it transfers.
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Post by vickyg on Nov 5, 2022 23:19:58 GMT
Just home from seeing this this evening and I’m bouncing off the walls at one of the top 5 performances I’ve seen. Katie Brayben. What a star.
There are a few things that could be tightened up in the first half where it becomes a little over the top for me but overall it’s funny, poignant and has songs I’m already desperate to hear again. What more is there to want from a new musical?
I hope this transfers quickly. It would be a shame for there to be any great delay because 6 weeks is so insufficient to appreciate this.
9 out of 10 for me, but happily gave it 5*.
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Post by Jon on Nov 6, 2022 0:09:39 GMT
I think theatre wise, it would work quite well at the Phoenix.
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Post by squidward on Nov 6, 2022 7:10:42 GMT
Saw this last night and was pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed it. Andrew Ranells aside, I do think the show has definite influences from The Book of Mormon, particularly in the male choreography and a certain scene depicting JC, also in the style of some of the writing and direction.
Elton John’s music suits the piece very well, but some of it does sound rather generic. I think Jake Shears’s lyrics could have been wittier and more moving when necessary,but that said, I did think the show worked really well overall with an outstanding cast and the inspired work of the creative team.
I haven’t come out of a British musical feeling that uplifted in a long time.
I’d love to see it again, but it looks like there’s only a single ticket left for the entire run. Shame the run is so short.
I’m very curious about where the show will moves on to next. I’m not sure how well it’d be received on Broadway once it requires homeland tourist bums on seats given how unfortunately timely it is with the current political situation out there. Also my mother-in-law was a big fan of all the televangelists portrayed in the show and from what I can gather, despite their various fall from graces, many of them are still highly regarded in the US.
Despite the niche material, I think it might do better here in the UK. It would be sad to see it go the way of American Psycho, which was another Almeida production I absolutely loved.
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Post by tmesis on Nov 6, 2022 19:44:48 GMT
I think this is a difficult one to sum up. I did very much enjoy it but I expected (wanted) it to be better than it was. The performances are all top notch, particularly Brayben and Rannells and I loved the set and the direction. Act 1 absolutely fizzes but Act 2 is a bit of a let down - although many, even classic, musicals have this problem. Graham’s script is excellent so I think the problem lies with Jake Shears and Elton John. The lyrics are OK but a bit pedestrian and to begin with I thought Elton had produced a really good score but as it went on the music got more and more samey and he really does overdo the power ballad shtick for Brayben and really should follow Sondheim’s mantra that less is more.
In the 70s I was a massive Elton John fan and his songs from this era have a melodic freshness, harmonic sophistication and structural integrity that he has never (and few others) equalled since. Above all I don’t think he’s a very theatrical composer. The music is definitely better than for Billy Elliot, which is a musical that works despite the dreary score - it really does feel that Elton, a famously fast worker, just churned Billy out one wet weekend in Windsor - and the era of the story coincides with his heyday but unfortunately he doesn’t have the spark of originality that was there in his earlier years. Too many songs have the same melodic tics, harmonic clichés, predictable piano riffs and unoriginal modulations to make a satisfying score.
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Post by bobbievanhusen on Nov 7, 2022 0:25:33 GMT
I agree with whoever said the final song sounded like "Take Me To Heaven" from Sister Act, which I now have in my head rather than anything from Tammy Faye. That was me, and it's still the song i think of when I think Tammy Faye! |
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Post by frosty on Nov 7, 2022 9:03:14 GMT
Saw the matinee on Saturday and was blown away. I absolutely loved it. I must confess to being a Tammy Faye fan, in the 80s a lot of my family became born again Christians and talked about going to see Billy Graham, visiting Heritage USA and generally how great the 'electric church' was. The show captured the campness of it all, the 80s fashions, the 'christian rock' style of music and the endless pleas to send money! I've always been interested in Tammy, from the RuPaul documentary to the recent film. I think if you weren't aware of her or her story, then some of the material may not resonate as much. I will be looking out for tickets to pop up to see this again. As an aside, Kathy Burke was sat behind us in the audience, she enjoyed it too!
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Post by justafan on Nov 7, 2022 12:45:03 GMT
Anyone looking for a ticket on Friday 18th November - Stalls F25 I’ve just returned one so should appear on the Almeida site shortly
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Post by Paulw on Nov 8, 2022 15:40:59 GMT
Anyone looking for a ticket I have just posted one in the noticeboard for tomorrow’s matinee
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Post by hadeswasking on Nov 8, 2022 16:40:23 GMT
Because of the Newsies debacle just asked box office to put my ticket for the 30 November evening show up for resale. Row A Circle if anyone's on the look out. Surprisingly easy process and it's strange that more theatres can't do this.
Fingers crossed I'm able to now get a ticket for 1 December
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Post by Paulw on Nov 8, 2022 17:07:54 GMT
Because of the Newsies debacle just asked box office to put my ticket for the 30 November evening show up for resale. Row A Circle if anyone's on the look out. Surprisingly easy process and it's strange that more theatres can't do this. Fingers crossed I'm able to now get a ticket for 1 December Did you get a refund on that or a credit note? |
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Post by hadeswasking on Nov 8, 2022 17:19:40 GMT
Because of the Newsies debacle just asked box office to put my ticket for the 30 November evening show up for resale. Row A Circle if anyone's on the look out. Surprisingly easy process and it's strange that more theatres can't do this. Fingers crossed I'm able to now get a ticket for 1 December Did you get a refund on that or a credit note? They gave the option for both but have to wait until its sold first |
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Post by Paulw on Nov 8, 2022 17:28:30 GMT
Did you get a refund on that or a credit note? They gave the option for both but have to wait until its sold first Ok thanks |
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Post by frosty on Nov 9, 2022 10:49:15 GMT
I see there are 5 good tickets available in the stalls for tonight’s performance, grab em quick !
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Post by craig on Nov 9, 2022 14:15:55 GMT
Saw this on Saturday evening and thought it was SENSATIONAL!
Surprised how many reviews have said the music was generic. I thought it was really effective and there's lots of songs I'm really looking forward to hearing again when we get a cast recording or when I can see it again. I loved the gospel stylings running throughout and thought there were some real standouts, such as If You Came To See Me Cry.
Katie Brayben was, as already mentioned, utterly incredible. A complete tour de force performance and a big part of what elevated good to great. James Graham's writing and Brayben's performance really nailed the brief for me, making Tammy a protagonist you liked and could root for without letting her completely off the hook. I thought the entire cast was fantastic - truly some of the best, most committed performances I've seen on stage recently. Everyone seemed to be having a ball and the talent and diversity of the whole company was an absolute joy to watch.
Zubin Varla was fantastic, but did his performance give anyone else major Eugene Levy vibes!?
My partner's only criticism was that the timeline in Act II zipped along so fast that some interesting subjects were barely touched on, such as Jim's homosexuality, and the rise and fall of Heritage USA. I think it's a fair criticism but I can't say it affected my enjoyment in any way. My only real criticism is for the curtain call which is just a bit weird and I think they should just cut their losses on what they're trying to do, TBH.
First time at the Almeida. What a lovely theatre that punches well above its weight.
We got to enjoy some drinks in the bar afterwards surrounded by many of the cast, and even Jake Shears and his celeb pals! A really wonderful night, all in. It could prove to be a tough sell in the West End given the subject material but this show deserves a bigger audience and another hit run after the success at the Almeida. Can't wait to see what happens next.
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Post by hadeswasking on Nov 9, 2022 16:33:06 GMT
Did you get a refund on that or a credit note? They gave the option for both but have to wait until its sold first Had an eye out on the website to see if I could see it and didn't! Phoned today and it resold almost instantly. (Even though its almost a month away) They're issuing my refund and should be in my bank within a couple days. What a simple process! |
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