211 posts
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Post by justsaying113 on Dec 28, 2021 13:25:25 GMT
I caught a little of this. I'm sure it was much better in the theatre (or indeed on a cinema screen) but I thought it was pretty poor. I know some people love SF - and I can see she's an extremely talented lady - but to me she's not right. Reno Sweeney is supposed to be brash, loud and a tad common (a la LuPone and Paige). The dance numbers, though, were terrific and it's clearly a tonic in these times so I wish the tour and return to The Barbican all the best for successful and healthy runs.
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Post by og on Dec 28, 2021 14:48:45 GMT
It does seem they did just film it without any plans to cover the lighting sound or performance tweaks which would be needed to make it work on film. We have been getting use to high quality recordings of recent musicals with kinky boots, an American in paris, and the wonderful version of 42nd street which makes this film even more jarring and disappointing in its failure to capture the joy and buzz the show had. A quick search on YouTube will give us a wealth of clips and songs even from the original Broadway production which caught the mood of the show better.
It's not something I know anything about but I was slightly reminded of the BBC's style at Glastonbury, but without the regular panning of audience involvement. They do have a dedicated 'outside broadcast unit' which does Glasto, and all the sports events, and they can throw resources at this kind of thing. AG was also different to the few other theatrical works I've seen on a screen in that it's large scale and eveything else has had a small cast - Uncle Vanya, Tennessee Williams, etc.
Certainly interesting to ponder ...
Interesting because this has been produced by Stage2View - who incidentally produced the films of Kinky Boot, American in Paris, 42st etc. Same screen Director also - Ross McGibbon. This is no way associated or produced by the OB teams involved in Glastonbury or "all of sporting events" (most of which aren't even BBC productions these days as they're outsourced through Arena, CTV, Timeline etc.) BBC just paid for the rights as is most of what they do these days for anything Arts, significantly cheaper to commission than produce. |
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Post by og on Dec 28, 2021 15:09:47 GMT
A quick scan through on iPlayer and I don't think this is comparable to Glastonbury footage in anyway; it's cut considerably slower for a start and much more stationary.
There's a distinct choice been made to keep the entire production shot quite tight. Even the widest shots of the full stage cut off the top of the prosc. There's no establishing shot of the theatre and no audience, no musicians shown either.
I suspect this is a conscious choice due to covid and not wanting to show an audience in masks for posterity/future value, however without establishing the environment of the performance they've effectively left it open to interpretation and feels like an empty performance with audience reactions inserted in.
Due to covid production guidelines I suspect it's quite possible they filmed this on a closed performance and then took an audience track mix from a following performance, hence the lack of auditorium views and a tighter visual.
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8,162 posts
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Post by alece10 on Dec 28, 2021 15:37:19 GMT
A quick scan through on iPlayer and I don't think this is comparable to Glastonbury footage in anyway; it's cut considerably slower for a start and much more stationary. There's a distinct choice been made to keep the entire production shot quite tight. Even the widest shots of the full stage cut off the top of the prosc. There's no establishing shot of the theatre and no audience, no musicians shown either. I suspect this is a conscious choice due to covid and not wanting to show an audience in masks for posterity/future value, however without establishing the environment of the performance they've effectively left it open to interpretation and feels like an empty performance with audience reactions inserted in. Due to covid production guidelines I suspect it's quite possible they filmed this on a closed performance and then took an audience track mix from a following performance, hence the lack of auditorium views and a tighter visual. You do see a tiny bit of the audience at the very end when they are taking bows and you can clearly see the first row at least standing to ovate. I also remember other board members commentating about cameras in the auditorium on the nights it was being filmed. But good point about not wanting to show audience with masks for posterity. |
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Post by mrbarnaby on Dec 28, 2021 15:38:18 GMT
A quick scan through on iPlayer and I don't think this is comparable to Glastonbury footage in anyway; it's cut considerably slower for a start and much more stationary. There's a distinct choice been made to keep the entire production shot quite tight. Even the widest shots of the full stage cut off the top of the prosc. There's no establishing shot of the theatre and no audience, no musicians shown either. I suspect this is a conscious choice due to covid and not wanting to show an audience in masks for posterity/future value, however without establishing the environment of the performance they've effectively left it open to interpretation and feels like an empty performance with audience reactions inserted in. Due to covid production guidelines I suspect it's quite possible they filmed this on a closed performance and then took an audience track mix from a following performance, hence the lack of auditorium views and a tighter visual. They didn’t. It was filmed over 3 performances with full audiences. It’s a shame that they didn’t feature more. It made it all feel a bit dead IMO. |
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527 posts
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Post by danielwhit on Dec 28, 2021 15:44:12 GMT
They must have also done recordings of some songs outside of regular performances too, else that crane in front of the stage would have totally wound the audiences up.
Interestingly I found those shots the most distracting. Probably as you couldn't ever see the show from such a strangely moving angle.
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Post by sph on Dec 28, 2021 18:03:22 GMT
It would be kind of interesting if they showed the audience more, masked and all, as future generations would probably enjoy the trivia that the production took place during the "Great Pandemic" of the 2020s. But anyway...
Maybe there are no audience shots as they'd come under criticism for not enough of the audience being masked at all, since the habit tends to be for people to take them off as soon as they sit down.
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527 posts
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Post by danielwhit on Dec 28, 2021 19:01:47 GMT
Dunno, the performance I attended was very well masked up.
To be honest though I don't think shots of the audience would have made any difference here, if they did that we'd be sat here complaining about seeing the audience rather than what's happening on stage!
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Post by lolalou on Dec 29, 2021 0:58:18 GMT
Just to echo the consensus. While I did still enjoy it, I didn't love it. Live, it was one of the best things I've ever seen, this recording just felt very flat. Great to have it recorded forever though! Oh and Nicole-Lily Baisden is really, really bad. I don't remember her being *that* awful live either. I remember them not wowing me both times in person, this was a reminder of that. Hope is a bit of a wimpy character, hard to do anything or feel sorry for her character story (no reflection of the performer) - however vocally very weak... Agreed She really did seem to struggle with some of the songs. |
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Post by bimse on Dec 29, 2021 9:24:11 GMT
A very talented cast, (with one who seemed out of her depth as mentioned in the previous post) and the “character” of Reno didn’t come across for me, I expected a Megan Mullally broad type, instead she was like a clever, knowing observer. Having said that , the song and dance numbers were terrific , and Sutton Foster was fantastic in those .
Carly Mercedes Dyer was a revelation , the best performer for me, with great comic timing.
I didn’t get the point of the Blow, Gabriel, Blow number , obviously I missed something in the plot ?
It would be better on stage rather than the tv showing (I missed the cinema due to snow and illness) , the broad farcical comedy didn’t always hit the mark , and just looked frantic at times .
Great cast , beautiful costumes and set, I wouldn’t want to see the show again.
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Post by dippy on Dec 29, 2021 10:29:19 GMT
I didn’t get the point of the Blow, Gabriel, Blow number , obviously I missed something in the plot ? Glad it's not just me, when I watched it in the theatre I was bored by it but everyone around me loved it and it got a standing ovation, a mystery if you ask me. I have been unable to get through the whole of the filmed version, I started and gave up, maybe if I've got time at some point I'll give it another go but right now I have no desire to see it fully. |
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Post by sph on Dec 29, 2021 12:22:50 GMT
I think it holds up pretty well in the filmed version.
You're never going to have the atmosphere created in the theatre when you're sat at home watching BBC iPlayer, but it's nice to see a hit show with a great cast commercially filmed for posterity.
A large part of the excitement in the theatre came from the sense of occasion the whole thing had, it captured the mood of seeing a fun, frothy musical after being in lockdown on and off for over a year. It had the excitement of seeing Sutton Foster doing a musical comedy in London - FINALLY! It was all great music, star names and high production values and seemed to hit London at just the right time. Those elements can't be translated to film necessarily, and old-school musical comedies rely so much on a communal audience reaction as they aren't quite as cinematic as many modern-day shows.
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Post by inthenose on Dec 29, 2021 12:47:13 GMT
I think it holds up pretty well in the filmed version. You're never going to have the atmosphere created in the theatre when you're sat at home watching BBC iPlayer, but it's nice to see a hit show with a great cast commercially filmed for posterity. A large part of the excitement in the theatre came from the sense of occasion the whole thing had, it captured the mood of seeing a fun, frothy musical after being in lockdown on and off for over a year. It had the excitement of seeing Sutton Foster doing a musical comedy in London - FINALLY! It was all great music, star names and high production values and seemed to hit London at just the right time. Those elements can't be translated to film necessarily, and old-school musical comedies rely so much on a communal audience reaction as they aren't quite as cinematic as many modern-day shows. Beautifully sums up my thoughts in a way I couldn't. Agree with every word. |
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Post by mrbarnaby on Dec 29, 2021 17:45:55 GMT
I do think we are very lucky to have this filmed- and available to all on the BBC. Very much looking forward to seeing it all over again at the Barbican next summer
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Post by Dr Tom on Dec 29, 2021 23:27:53 GMT
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Post by mrbarnaby on Dec 29, 2021 23:36:35 GMT
That was the same image from the poster ? |
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Post by Dr Tom on Dec 30, 2021 9:11:57 GMT
That was the same image from the poster ? In that case, I didn't look at the poster closely enough, but it's a pity they couldn't have included photos of different members of the cast, rather than using so many of the same faces twice. I watched (and enjoyed) the first half last night. This is definitely better as a live show. It is just that the spectacle and size of the production doesn't come across. Without the pauses for laughs and applause, it also came across as sped up. Still glad this was captured. |
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Post by danielwhit on Dec 30, 2021 9:46:31 GMT
if you think that's bad - look at the equivalent poster for after Sutton Foster left the production. |
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Post by brenth on Dec 31, 2021 14:01:29 GMT
I think the triple threat casting is easy…Anna Jane Casey. Triple mane and triple threat!
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Post by danb on Dec 31, 2021 16:14:54 GMT
I think the triple threat casting is easy…Anna Jane Casey. Triple mane and triple threat! It shouldn’t even be a conversation…♥️ |
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5,159 posts
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Post by TallPaul on Jan 1, 2022 11:51:14 GMT
Watched last night. Perfect way to end the old year. Loved it. That's all.
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Post by ladidah on Jan 4, 2022 10:27:41 GMT
I had wanted to see this live, but settled for the BBC.
I did like it, but as everyone knows, the plot is very odd.
I also would lose half of the characters, especially Hope's mother who just fake wails for 90% of it.
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Post by sph on Jan 4, 2022 13:37:18 GMT
I can understand why you'd want to lose a few characters just to sharpen the plot a little, but comedy farce tends to be an ensemble effort, with lots of outrageous characters coming and going.
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Post by ladidah on Jan 4, 2022 15:09:22 GMT
Yes, and maybe live it works better. I spent a lot of time trying to remember who was who!
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Post by danb on Jan 7, 2022 16:03:36 GMT
I’m just watching the recording now and thoroughly enjoying it. The plot is so slight because it was just a framework to hang all of these glorious Cole Porter songs on. It is so well cast, wonderfully performed and just fab. I will take the time to go and see it on its return.
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