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Post by 141920grm on May 3, 2020 12:15:27 GMT
How many pro-shots left do ALW & co have up their sleeve, before they have no choice but to trot out something that hasn't already been commercially released before? Obviously I'm hoping for some non-25th anniversary, proper stage Phantom, but literally anything else would be unexpected and nice.
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Post by ceebee on May 3, 2020 13:04:39 GMT
Love me a bit of Donny Osmond. Glenn Close - how thrilling! So glad I saw her a couple of years ago at The Colosseum. Antonio Banderas phwoor (is phwoor allowed or am I very un-pc). Enjoyed so much of that tonight. Keep thinking how the argument for funding the Arts, music and drama in schools, has been proven by this lockdown, it's music and theatre people are turning to. Glenn Close blew my mind at the ENO for Sunset Boulevard. So lovely to see her again. As for Antonio Banderas, given that my two daughters went very quiet I'd say they concur with your un-pc phwoaring. That said, speaking as a straight guy, I totally understand the allure of him for others (male or female). I just wish people would stop confusing me with him in the street. :-)
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Post by steve10086 on May 3, 2020 14:32:13 GMT
Absolutely loved watching this concert again today. Still the best musical theatre concert I’ve ever been to.
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Post by theatremadness on May 3, 2020 16:54:24 GMT
Yeah absolutely loved watching this concert, never seen it in full before! What a brilliant event and some fantastic names. Glenn Close was the absolute stand-out for me. I wondered why they didn't get any Phantom involved, not even to sing the title track or Music of the Night. But not that important. Fascinating to see Dame Kiri sing what would become Love Never Dies. I always thought it was written for The Beautiful Game as Our Kind of Love then recycled for LND, but after some research I discovered that it was originally written in the 90's as The Heart is Slow to Learn, intended for a sequel to Phantom. Then it got used for Beautiful Game before finally ending up as LND, being used as was originally intended. What a strange life that song has had!
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Post by chernjam on May 4, 2020 4:31:40 GMT
Yeah absolutely loved watching this concert, never seen it in full before! What a brilliant event and some fantastic names. Glenn Close was the absolute stand-out for me. I wondered why they didn't get any Phantom involved, not even to sing the title track or Music of the Night. But not that important. Fascinating to see Dame Kiri sing what would become Love Never Dies. I always thought it was written for The Beautiful Game as Our Kind of Love then recycled for LND, but after some research I discovered that it was originally written in the 90's as The Heart is Slow to Learn, intended for a sequel to Phantom. Then it got used for Beautiful Game before finally ending up as LND, being used as was originally intended. What a strange life that song has had! Yeah it was interesting at the time when the song was premiered for a possible sequel to Phantom. When "The Beautiful Game" came out and it had made it into that, it seemed that the sequel was indeed dead. But as Steve10086 can tell you, not only does Love never die, but ALW's recycling of his own music doesn't either. I remember getting the album for LND not realizing that he had indeed excised it from The Beautiful Game (or is it still called "the boys in the photograph"? ) and put it back in... ALW get's a bum rap for these sorts of things - but at this point, who cares. He really has nothing left to prove. And I just love seeing his casual, fun side with all his online videos during all this. It's been a great follow up after seeing "Unmasked" a few months ago. Who knew that would be the last live theatre I'd be seeing for some time. Oh (sorry full A.D.D. mode here) while we're talking about it, could there have been worse lyrics then "The heart is slow to learn"? It's like Don Black really didn't give a crap "but then as I have said, the heart, is slow to learn..." Yikes
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Post by longinthetooth on May 4, 2020 13:24:49 GMT
'By Jeeves' this week, apparently.
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Post by johartuk on May 4, 2020 14:56:40 GMT
'By Jeeves' this week, apparently. Interesting. I look forward to seeing that, being 'new' to it.
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Post by Deleted on May 4, 2020 15:32:48 GMT
By Jeeves by no means a bad piece, but something of a hard sell to the masses after such a solid gold crowd pleaser last week I'd say.
It has very long spoken sections and is basically a rather quaint small play with the occasional song.
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Post by westlondon on May 4, 2020 16:00:21 GMT
By Jeeves by no means a bad piece, but something of a hard sell to the masses after such a solid gold crowd pleaser last week I'd say. It has very long spoken sections and is basically a rather quaint small play with the occasional song. As you say, I’m sure it won’t be as popular with the masses but I do think it’s a lovely show with some really fun songs. That Was Nearly Us, Travel Hopefully and Half A Moment are all lovely. The book is still a bit all over the place but If you can deal with the fact it’s not one of the big epic ALW shows you’ll probably enjoy it.
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Post by Deleted on May 4, 2020 16:03:10 GMT
By Jeeves by no means a bad piece, but something of a hard sell to the masses after such a solid gold crowd pleaser last week I'd say. It has very long spoken sections and is basically a rather quaint small play with the occasional song. As you say, I’m sure it won’t be as popular with the masses but I do think it’s a lovely show with some really fun songs. That Was Nearly Us, Travel Hopefully and Half A Moment are all lovely. The book is still a bit all over the place but If you can deal with the fact it’s not one of the big epic ALW shows you’ll probably enjoy it. Oh I really agree - when the CD came out in the 90s I literally wore it out. Some really lovely melodies in it. But yes the book is a bit bonkers. What I also like about it is it shows that ALW can write really simple but lovely stand alone songs - in that era we were more used to him weaving melodies in and out to make complete 'acts.' Which of course I loved, but nice to see versatility!
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Post by TallPaul on May 4, 2020 16:12:23 GMT
I blame Alan Ayckbourn. Knowing that words aren't his forte, ALW should have had the sense to collaborate with someone who had been moderately success in that area, rather than going with an unknown. 😉
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Post by n1david on May 4, 2020 16:57:25 GMT
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Post by oxfordsimon on May 4, 2020 18:07:59 GMT
By Jeeves is one of my favourites - I saw it London and have enjoyed the DVD in the past.
Yes, it is a slight show - but it is immense fun and doesn't take itself seriously.
If you like Jeeves and Wooster, that helps - but you don't need to know anything about the stories to enjoy the show.
It is a charming, chamber piece that should be done more.
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Post by chernjam on May 4, 2020 19:13:21 GMT
Interesting that in 2001, weeks after 9/11, the first musical to open on Broadway after the terrorist attacks was By Jeeves.
I had the pleasure of seeing it, in what turned out to be a very limited run - and it really was a fun night out - very light, funny (even for those of us who aren't necessarily into British humor) and for that time period, a welcome distraction. Hopefully it will prove the same now. I hadn't seen the video which featured the same cast that starred on Broadway (I don't think it was ever released here) - but have the CD (hows this for bizarre, I have 3 recordings of By Jeeves, the workshop that was recorded, the original London cast and the video - and yet we only have one Aspects of Love recording... but I digress)
My one sadness is that ALW tweaked with it again between the Video recording and Broadway and re-wrote the opening with a very catchy "Never Fear" that replaced "Wooster will entertain you." I at one time had a MP3 of it that someone kindly had shared, but that was a few hard drives ago. Shame - can still hum that tune in my head.
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Post by chernjam on May 5, 2020 5:32:35 GMT
Kind of shocked that of all the music that ALW has recycled - that this one has never been heard again since the original Jeeves - really a beautiful tune:
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Post by chernjam on May 5, 2020 5:45:23 GMT
OK - now my A.D.D. and being locked in quarantine has me losing my mind.
I figured out where the tune for "Never Fear" was from - It's a recycle of the song from "The Likes of Us" - "You won't care about him anymore" - really an awesome tune (in the overture you hear it to great effect as well):
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Post by ncbears on May 8, 2020 18:52:30 GMT
So, is By Jeeves worth the time to watch - asking for an American family.....
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Post by chernjam on May 9, 2020 0:17:45 GMT
So, is By Jeeves worth the time to watch - asking for an American family..... I'm not a huge British comedy fan or even a fan of Jeeves books - but when I saw it live, I found it highly enjoyable. Completely different for ALW fans - and as a fellow American after more than enough rough news, a welcome diversion
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Post by Someone in a tree on May 9, 2020 5:26:11 GMT
By Jeeves - I struggled with the idea of a naff show pretending to be a naff show that's meant to be good and so gave up after 40 minutes.
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Post by alece10 on May 9, 2020 6:33:07 GMT
By Jeeves - I struggled with the idea of a naff show pretending to be a naff show that's meant to be good and so gave up after 40 minutes. You lasted 20 minutes more than me. Ended up watching a documentary on Netflix about a Jewish couple who owned a gay porn shop in LA which was far more interesting.
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Post by Deleted on May 9, 2020 7:16:24 GMT
I loved the CD when it came out in 1996 and think it has some really lovely simply catchy melodies.
Remember when the DVD came out, lasted about 20 mins before getting bored (very unusual as I love ALW; but the spoken sections were way too long for me).
Anyway, fast forward 20 odd years and watched it all the way through for the first time last night. Really rather enjoyed it. Simple, silly, light hearted and just generally good fun I thought. I still think it is more of a play with songs though. Must easily be the ALW musical with the longest spoken sections.
That said, I do think it was an odd choice for this YouTube season. This is something of a niche piece which probably only mega ALW fans will be interested in. Especially as the GBP have come to expect the crowd pleasers on Friday evening.
Does anyone know if the plot concept was the same in the original Jeeves in the 70s, or completely different?
So, finally the 90s Cats next week!?
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Post by the_f_g_p on May 9, 2020 7:37:06 GMT
I loved the CD when it came out in 1996 and think it has some really lovely simply catchy melodies. Remember when the DVD came out, lasted about 20 mins before getting bored (very unusual as I love ALW; but the spoken sections were way too long for me). Anyway, fast forward 20 odd years and watched it all the way through for the first time last night. Really rather enjoyed it. Simple, silly, light hearted and just generally good fun I thought. I still think it is more of a play with songs though. Must easily be the ALW musical with the longest spoken sections. That said, I do think it was an odd choice for this YouTube season. This is something of a niche piece which probably only mega ALW fans will be interested in. Especially as the GBP have come to expect the crowd pleasers on Friday evening. Does anyone know if the plot concept was the same in the original Jeeves in the 70s, or completely different? So, finally the 90s Cats next week!? After a rather unknown piece was broadcast this weekend, I still hope for the big final BANG next weekend: something like Unmasked from the Other Palace or from the Papermill Playhouse ... ... or at least "Song & Dance" with Sarah Brightman. I have a VHS that I could burn to DVD, but many fans would surely be happy.
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Post by Deleted on May 9, 2020 7:42:09 GMT
I would LOVE for it to be Unmasked, but sure they will keep that under wraps pending future productions.
I watched Song and Dance recently in fact but quality wasn't great - so would love to see a 'cleaned up' version of that too.
Am sure will be Cats though - other than that concert in China, it is the only DVD release that hasn't been on yet (not including feature films of course).
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Post by david on May 9, 2020 7:59:26 GMT
Having watched By Jeeves last night (I came to this ALW piece not having listened to the score previously), whilst for me having some catchy songs, overall, I just felt that someone needed to get a big marker pen to the book and cut out some of the dialogue. It took too long to get to the next number and not a particular piece of musical theatre that I would probably go and watch again unless there had been some serious editing done to the piece.
As for the next ALW Friday night YT offering, I'd agree that surely CATS is next up unless ALW is going to pull a blinder and give us something brand new from his archive which I'd rather prefer rather than seeing CATS which is always doing the rounds on TV.
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Post by theoracle on May 9, 2020 14:33:14 GMT
Although not my favourite ALW piece, I still managed to find this very charming and thought the second act was far stronger than the first. I'm not sure how international audiences would react to this as it very much is a British 70s comedy with all the slapstick and riddled with British humour. Still, the melodies are definitely there and I found Half A Moment strangely endearing. It does feel like a play with music rather than a musical however. It's strange to see an ALW musical with so much talking.
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Post by Dr Tom on May 9, 2020 14:39:50 GMT
I didn't mind it. Definitely a play with music rather than a musical. Strange to see an ALW production filmed in a studio with an audience of extras.
It might work in a UK revival in the Union Theatre or a similar fringe venue, so long as they could find a Jeeves with suitable gravitas. I'm sure they could get the score down to one piano (and a banjo) without too much effort, or make this actor-musician.
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Post by steve10086 on May 9, 2020 14:54:25 GMT
“ Announcing the news in a recorded video message, the composer said: Universal has come up with the idea of a whole series called The Shows Must Go On which is about musicals going from stage to screen and they're going to show one of mine every Friday for the next few weeks.”
I’ve highlighted the key words.
They are as likely to release an archive recording of Sunset Boulevard as they are the long rumoured ALW/Sarah Brightman sex tape.
They have one video left in the bag, and will be “letting it out of the bag” next week.
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Post by Dawnstar on May 9, 2020 15:13:49 GMT
I gave up after half an hour. I assume the leading man is American & I couldn't take his wildly varying attempts at RP any longer. I thought I'd like this as I like Wodehouse & I like quite a lot of ALW but it just seemed like a less amusing version of Perfect Nonsense and, at least for the first half-hour, is very similar. Yes, I know By Jeeves is a much older show, before anyone says anything, but I saw Perfect Nonsense first when it was in the West End a few years ago & saw it again touring in February so from my point of view this was like watching a less amusing copy.
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Post by johartuk on May 9, 2020 15:49:30 GMT
It reminded me of the 'Play That Goes Wrong' shows, except TPTGW go all out with the comedy and are far funnier. This felt like it wanted to go down that route, but wasn't quite confident enough to do it. That said, I thought it was a pleasant way to spend a couple of hours and I did like the music.
I thought Martin Jarvis was good as Jeeves, but I thought the Bertie Wooster could have done with more energy and sharper comic delivery. Jeeves and Wooster are supposed to bounce off each other, but I didn't feel it completely worked here.
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Post by chernjam on May 9, 2020 20:20:48 GMT
Last night was the first time I got to see the filmed version of what was basically the cast that played on Broadway. ALW wasn't kidding when he said it was slow starting. The whole opening with the minister and the chair bit I was losing my mind.
Thinking back 19 years ago when it was on Broadway, about a month after 9/11, I remember the whole theater decked out in red white and blue bunting, the cast mixing with the audience members (in character) before the show actually started - so that vibe of it being Bertie Wooster's Banjo recital thing worked better live then it did on film... and God bless that cast, they were so in character, funny, improvisational that it worked (well it did for me, it only lasted 70 shows or so) - I remember bringing a friend who was a huge "Jeeves/Wooster" fan having had read all the books who was hysterical throughout it and loved it.
For me, seeing it live, it was a fun night - and the ALW tunes were great. The film, once I got past that opening, I did enjoy it and watched the entire thing. The ending with the Wizard of Oz costumes was bizarre.
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