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Post by wickedgrin on Apr 24, 2016 11:02:10 GMT
Yes, I booked early in the run too like BurlyBearR. I did anticiapate she might struggle with 8 shows a week! Elaine Paige only did 6 shows in Evita and Sunset - in fact in Evita she set the trend of only doing 6 shows and having an "alternate", which has been followed virtually ever since with Beverly Knight in the Bodyguard for example.
I think the producers have mishandled this completely. Pure greed of course. Glenn should have only done 6 shows a week. I would have thought they should have taken out insurance against GC being off and refunded unhappy punters from insurance money, or perhaps they could not or would not insure her?
We all know the legalities of this situation and that perfomers can be ill BUT when shows are led by "stars" and the production simply would not have been mounted without them there should be (although there does not have to be) some goodwill with at least exchanging tickets. Nicole Kidman in Photogrpah 51, Angela Lansbury in Blithe Spririt etc. etc.
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Post by BurlyBeaR on Apr 24, 2016 11:12:03 GMT
But surely people shouldn't have to choose to see something early purely to see a performer at their best? The whole point of being a theatre performer (whether it's musicals or plays) is that you can sustain a high-level performance over a period of (usually) months. That's what's so amazing about it. Even talented and established film/TV actors who aren't keen to move outside that medium will say that's what they admire about their board-treading colleagues. We all know there are certain days when a stage actor hits the heights, and others when they're not quite as good we've seen them be elsewhere. But that's probably only something those of us who go to see theatre a lot will notice - your average tourist/punter will still consider that they've seen a good show. Whereas if someone clearly can't hit the notes two weeks after opening night (which is when I went), then they're in trouble. I agree. But people are going to judge this primarily on the performance they saw, good or bad. Either way it's not very respectful to just dismiss the opinions thousands of people who loved it on the basis that they were somehow blinded by GC's fame. We're not that shallow, hopefully  |
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Post by danb on Apr 24, 2016 11:39:06 GMT
What Burly said!
I went early because that's when I could go, and think I'll struggle to get there again. If I do go, I might be disappointed if I didn't see Glenn Close, but it's a sum of it's parts; not a one woman show. Lets carry on talking about what a great production this is rather than the bitterness and negativity that has taken over.
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Post by mrbarnaby on Apr 24, 2016 11:53:01 GMT
Love that! Do you know what a 'momumental effort' it is? having done years of amateur theatre, actually, yes. |
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Post by mrbarnaby on Apr 24, 2016 11:56:10 GMT
I fear this will now be remembered for this and not how wonderful Glenn is/was in it.
If it was me, I'd be in that queue demanding a refund at the box office but I would not be sat there booing Ria Jones or berating her while waiting in line to get a refund. That is just nasty and unacceptable.
In my experience, for some reason this show attracts the queeniest of fans. Evident every time I've seen it performed, and they have certainly turned out for this production.
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Post by steve10086 on Apr 24, 2016 11:58:42 GMT
If it was me, I'd be in that queue demanding a refund at the box office... In my experience, for some reason this show attracts the queeniest of fans. Takes one to know one... |
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Post by distantcousin on Apr 24, 2016 12:12:48 GMT
Love that! having done years of amateur theatre, actually, yes. You really are a very condescending piece of work. |
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Post by distantcousin on Apr 24, 2016 12:15:11 GMT
But surely people shouldn't have to choose to see something early purely to see a performer at their best? The whole point of being a theatre performer (whether it's musicals or plays) is that you can sustain a high-level performance over a period of (usually) months. That's what's so amazing about it. Even talented and established film/TV actors who aren't keen to move outside that medium will say that's what they admire about their board-treading colleagues. We all know there are certain days when a stage actor hits the heights, and others when they're not quite as good we've seen them be elsewhere. But that's probably only something those of us who go to see theatre a lot will notice - your average tourist/punter will still consider that they've seen a good show. Whereas if someone clearly can't hit the notes two weeks after opening night (which is when I went), then they're in trouble. Exactly what I've been trying to say, but someone is shooting me down with bitchy, withering comments for daring to suggest this... |
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Post by BurlyBeaR on Apr 24, 2016 12:29:22 GMT
Let's try to articulate our feelings about this without offending eachother eh? I'm sure it must be possible.
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Post by BurlyBeaR on Apr 24, 2016 12:30:43 GMT
God I'm SICK TO THE TEETH of Sunset Boulevard   |
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Post by Phantom of London on Apr 24, 2016 12:35:54 GMT
Can someone just recap the legal situation, if the star doesn't perform?
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Post by kathryn on Apr 24, 2016 12:56:59 GMT
Based on what I saw last Tuesday, the audience's ecstatic reaction was way out of proportion to her croaky singing and inability to hold a long note without wavering. Now, on this forum we're the first people to grumble if we think a particular performer isn't up to scratch. So let's be honest, if any other 69-year-old woman had got up there and sung like that in a lead role in a musical, they'd be laughed off the stage. Ergo, her fame/connection with this role is blinding many audience members to her weaknesses, no? When I saw it last Saturday the line 'I am big. It's the pictures that got small' got a huge round of applause, which rather startled me. I know it's a famous line, but still it's hardly applause-worthy. Unless you are there to worship at the altar of your favourite diva, which honestly I think a lot of the audience was, judging by the rapturous curtain call. She just wasn't that good. If Cumberbatch had received that sort of response at Hamlet, and taken 6 curtain calls, we'd have never heard the end of the disparaging remarks about fan girls. |
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Post by max on Apr 24, 2016 13:01:26 GMT
Glenn will be back, and people will be wowed. It'll be a tough 'return' but the crowd will go wild (first night back) when she gets to "I've come home at laaaaast". Meantime, by accident, a new West End star has been made, if some producer can capitalise on it quick and keep the Ria Jones buzz going. It's all turned out fine. |
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Post by Deleted on Apr 24, 2016 13:10:17 GMT
Glenn should have only done 6 shows a week. With the benefit of hindsight that would have been the right thing to do, but you can guarantee that had they done it that way from the start there'd have been people saying "Oh, so Close thinks she's too important to do eight shows a week, does she?" |
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Post by CG on the loose on Apr 24, 2016 13:21:28 GMT
Glenn should have only done 6 shows a week. With the benefit of hindsight that would have been the right thing to do, but you can guarantee that had they done it that way from the start there'd have been people saying "Oh, so Close thinks she's too important to do eight shows a week, does she?" And doing fewer shows doesn't actually prevent a performer getting ill... though it may provide more wiggle room in the schedule to allow the possibility of exchanges if they do! |
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Post by mrbarnaby on Apr 24, 2016 13:40:40 GMT
I know... I know... You really are a very condescending piece of work. |
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Post by mrbarnaby on Apr 24, 2016 13:42:08 GMT
I think everyone needs to calm down a bit. She's been around for ages and she's not been a 'star' yet. I don't think filling in for a few nights here is going to catapult her to being the new Elaine Paige Maybe she'll get a supporting part at Chichester or something. . Glenn will be back, and people will be wowed. It'll be a tough 'return' but the crowd will go wild (first night back) when she gets to "I've come home at laaaaast". Meantime, by accident, a new West End star has been made, if some producer can capitalise on it quick and keep the Ria Jones buzz going. It's all turned out fine. |
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Post by wickedgrin on Apr 24, 2016 14:12:32 GMT
I am delighted for Ria Jones to get the opportunity to perform the part she originally workshopped and wish her all the best. However, as someone else remarked well up this thread, I find it odd that she has never been cast in the role since in her own right when there have been many oppportunities. I wonder why that is?
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Post by max on Apr 24, 2016 14:16:16 GMT
I think everyone needs to calm down a bit. She's been around for ages and she's not been a 'star' yet. I don't think filling in for a few nights here is going to catapult her to being the new Elaine Paige Maybe she'll get a supporting part at Chichester or something. . Glenn will be back, and people will be wowed. It'll be a tough 'return' but the crowd will go wild (first night back) when she gets to "I've come home at laaaaast". Meantime, by accident, a new West End star has been made, if some producer can capitalise on it quick and keep the Ria Jones buzz going. It's all turned out fine. I was calming it down. As I said, it's all about the 'if'...if a producer can capitalise on a moment. Otherwise, yes, it'll fizzle. I'll be interested to see. |
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Post by BurlyBeaR on Apr 24, 2016 14:52:19 GMT
Turns out I must have seen Ria Jones many times whilst on holiday, without even realising it!
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Post by mrbarnaby on Apr 24, 2016 15:36:28 GMT
On a cruise ship? Turns out I must have seen Ria Jones many times whilst on holiday, without even realising it! |
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Post by andromedadench on Apr 24, 2016 15:42:02 GMT
Sorry Matthew, I've seen numerous understudies over the year and understood the whole "you bought tickets to a show" concept, but I honestly think this might be one time that can be legally challenged. The producers plainly weren't simply selling tickets to a production of Sunset Boulevard, they were selling tickets tickets to see Glenn Close in Sunset Boulevard. As I posted earlier there is a legal concept that it doesn't matter what you state in a contract, if it's plainly something else, that's what matters (a five-pronged implement will always before a fork, even if you call it a spade). As much as I'm one of those who weren't particularly interested in seeing Close in this production, yet now lament the fact I don't live in London so that I could pop by the Coliseum and snatch a ticket to see Ria Jones's take on the role, I wholeheartedly agree with ll of the above. Duping customers is duping customers even when it's done without officially breaking any part of the 'contract'. The producers didn't sell an ENO production of Sunset Boulevard, but a show starring Glenn Close. And charged people accordingly. So, not to offer any kind of compensation is at best disrespectful and harmful for ENO in the long run, at worst, immoral and unfair. The worst case of 'bending' the rules I've seen is the Verona summer opera festival - when buying a ticket, you accept the risk of the organisers' stopping the performance and sending you off home without any compensation should the show be interrupted by rain after it's run longer than half an hour. So, every time it starts raining, they let the show go on (with short breaks if necessary) until they've hit the 30 minute mark and then just cancel it altogether. So, the fact that this 30-minute rule is stated on the ticket doesn't exactly make this practice any less fraudulent and immoral. On the other hand, this (I don't necessarily mean Glenn Close's coming down with the flu, but the comments on her voice not being able to cope with so many performances) just goes to show how underrated actors who specialise in musical theatre are. It seems that both producers and non-MT actors themselves can sometimes perhaps underestimate how much stamina and practice and skill it takes to perform in a musical 8 times a week. |
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Post by chernjam on Apr 24, 2016 15:44:37 GMT
Thanks to whoever shared this link: www.telegraph.co.uk/theatre/actors/the-triumph-of-ria-jones-illustrates-the-panic-and-joy-of-the-un/ if for nothing else, than the video of the beginning of the Bows for Ria... Love the orchestral "As If We Never Said Goodbye" they play for Norma, so it was neat to hear again. It's amazing to think how Sunset is forever drama on and off stage like no other show even 20 years later! Now it will enter it's last week, with everyone wondering has Glen recovered or not - how will she sound - etc. And should she return tomorrow night, whatever remaining tickets this week will probably sell out. Exactly what happened when Glenn took a 2 week (announced) vacation, RUG tried to cook the books to show that there was no dip in ticket sales, it got out in the press - was front page story for a week -- last 3-4 months of Close's run (through the Tony Awards) was sold out (after it already had the largest single advance ticket sales in Bway history - a record $37.5 million which still stands) After all this, I reall think ALW needs to grovel, beg, bribe - do whatever he has to - to get Patti to do Sunset at Radio City Music Hall in NY for a month with NY Symphonic Orchestra or Metropolitan Opera Orchestra. People would go freaking nuts |
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Post by max on Apr 24, 2016 15:52:33 GMT
I reall think ALW needs to grovel, beg, bribe - do whatever he has to - to get Patti to do Sunset at Radio City Music Hall in NY for a month with NY Symphonic Orchestra or Metropolitan Opera Orchestra. People would go freaking nuts Particularly people called Glenn Close! |
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Post by Steve on Apr 24, 2016 17:11:36 GMT
Can someone just recap the legal situation, if the star doesn't perform? The producer has a clause in the contract that allows substitution of an understudy. The clause applies unless deemed legally "unfair." The Office of Fair Trading says that non-provision of an advertised star is indeed "unfair" unless there is a "valid reason." Since sickness is almost certainly a "valid reason," the producer's clause holds, and provision of an understudy is sufficient. This could of course be challenged if there was deemed to be some degree of deceit or nefariousness on the part of the producers. |
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