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Post by fiyerorocher on Oct 5, 2021 22:20:58 GMT
It seems to be becoming harder and harder to find cast boards in theatres now... Some shows just don't seem to have them at all and those that do seem to reserve them for the people in the stalls - now that theatres are using more entrances due to spreading out crowds, anyone not able to afford stalls tickets apparently isn't entitled to the privilege of knowing who's on! Anyone else finding themselves with the same problem? I hope things change :/ Either they need to go back to funnelling everyone through one entrance (which I really never remember being much of a problem) past the cast board, or they need to put cast boards on every level!
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Post by cavocado on Oct 6, 2021 8:18:32 GMT
Have you contacted any of the theatres about this? It seems like a pretty easy customer service thing to put right. Maybe it just hasn't occurred to them that a lot of people miss this info if you have multiple entry points.
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Post by fiyerorocher on Oct 6, 2021 8:38:09 GMT
Have you contacted any of the theatres about this? It seems like a pretty easy customer service thing to put right. Maybe it just hasn't occurred to them that a lot of people miss this info if you have multiple entry points. I haven't contacted them personally but it is pretty much every theatre I go to, and I've been seeing practically a show a night. I appreciate some smaller theatres like the Southwark Playhouse don't have cast boards (or even understudies...), but I know most of the larger theatres still have them. I had to ask an usher to be allowed in to go and see the Jamie cast board for the final show, but I have the benefit of knowing where it is. Many people seeing shows wouldn't necessarily know to ask. It just doesn't feel fair to audiences or to casts for this to be the new normal. I certainly could contact a theatre or two about it, but it's a wider problem that's seemingly suddenly emerged. |
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Post by anita on Oct 6, 2021 8:55:16 GMT
Probably trying to get everyone to buy programmes.
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Post by fiyerorocher on Oct 6, 2021 9:02:17 GMT
Probably trying to get everyone to buy programmes. They don't tell you who's actually on stage that night, though! Especially if there's also a young cast with kids sharing roles. |
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Post by anita on Oct 6, 2021 9:09:53 GMT
Probably trying to get everyone to buy programmes. They don't tell you who's actually on stage that night, though! Especially if there's also a young cast with kids sharing roles. I know. I was just being old & cynical! |
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Post by anita on Oct 6, 2021 9:11:54 GMT
Just before covid I was at a show & saw 2 cast boards up, both saying different people as the lead.
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Post by fiyero on Oct 6, 2021 10:12:10 GMT
I agree with my similarly named poster.
I hate it.
A few recent examples:
Les Miserables at the Sondheim, I knew some covers were on so asked at the bottom of the stairs to the grand circle. Was told to wait in the bar and they would find out and let me know. Eventually I was led down to the foyer to see for myself.
School of Rock in Woking, I was told there isn’t a board and that that announce the featured kids and leads at the end. There are 2 Deweys and they couldn’t say which was on.
Joseph at the Palladium, no cast board
Hairspray at the Colliseum, no (obvious) board. Signs up but a different one at the bottom to the top so had to try and work it out.
Wicked at the Apollo Victoria, awfully positioned as you can’t really stop while going through security
Come from away at the Phoenix, no board for upper circle
I love seeing covers, sometimes I go especially for them. But I think it so rude that they don’t get the audience knowing that they are even on!!!
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Post by cavocado on Oct 6, 2021 10:22:49 GMT
That's a long list. You could try Tweeting them an hour or two before and ask if anyone (theatre or audience) can tweet a photo of that night's cast board? Not ideal really and may not work. I agree theatres should make this info easily available, and it's disrespectful to the cast not to let people know who they are.
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Post by fiyerorocher on Oct 6, 2021 10:39:26 GMT
I agree with my similarly named poster. I hate it. A few recent examples: Les Miserables at the Sondheim, I knew some covers were on so asked at the bottom of the stairs to the grand circle. Was told to wait in the bar and they would find out and let me know. Eventually I was led down to the foyer to see for myself. School of Rock in Woking, I was told there isn’t a board and that that announce the featured kids and leads at the end. There are 2 Deweys and they couldn’t say which was on. Joseph at the Palladium, no cast board Hairspray at the Colliseum, no (obvious) board. Signs up but a different one at the bottom to the top so had to try and work it out. Wicked at the Apollo Victoria, awfully positioned as you can’t really stop while going through security Come from away at the Phoenix, no board for upper circle I love seeing covers, sometimes I go especially for them. But I think it so rude that they don’t get the audience knowing that they are even on!!! Similar problems here! Come From Away, Les Mis, Phantom, & Juliet, Jamie, Matilda, Six, Lion King, and Hamilton (to name but a few) funnel the audience for the top level of the theatre through doors that don't allow you to reach a cast board. Contrastingly Cinderella, Back to the Future, Mamma Mia and Wicked still have routes into the theatre that send everyone past cast boards. Couldn't find any cast board at all for Anything Goes (but that could be because the Barbican is the ABSOLUTE WORST for being able to find anything ever) or Bedknobs and Broomsticks (at Woking). I usually check the West End Understudies twitter but, good as they are, they can't note every cover in the country every night! I also go especially for covers a lot of the time, and just like to know who's on. If anything the upper levels need the cast boards more, as you're sometimes too far away to tell who you're watching :') |
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Post by fiyerorocher on Oct 6, 2021 10:45:03 GMT
That's a long list. You could try Tweeting them an hour or two before and ask if anyone (theatre or audience) can tweet a photo of that night's cast board? Not ideal really and may not work. I agree theatres should make this info easily available, and it's disrespectful to the cast not to let people know who they are. Tweeting who? The cast are backstage and likely busy, and there's yet to be a twitter function where you can tweet all members of an audience seeing a show (although now I think about it, I see the appeal. 'Can everyone please stop talking during the show!' would be a great message to be able to get to everyone sometimes...). I've spent many an evening trawling through social media looking for someone who's seen the same show and posted a picture of the cast board, but I rarely luck out. |
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Post by cavocado on Oct 6, 2021 16:22:06 GMT
The social media account for the theatre, company or show e.g. @anythingguk, @lesmisofficial, @wickeduk. Sometimes the social media manager will go to the bother of answering questions. It was just a suggestion - I did say it may not work. |
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Post by mkb on Oct 6, 2021 16:46:02 GMT
I'm surprised Equity haven't taken a stand on this. Anyone on stage, especially covers, deserves recognition.
You don't need a physical cast board. Online would do.
Wouldn't it be lovely if theatres kept a public searchable online archive of the full credits for each performance? Currently the internet is rubbish for trying to find a history of theatre credits for a performer. You can find all their film and tv work on imdb, but much of their theatre history is missing (especially if it's shows they'd rather you forgot about).
When I saw Liz Carr recently in The Normal Heart, I felt sure I'd seen her on stage before, but I hadn't seen anything in the tv/film/theatre sections of her cv in the programme, so it's a mystery as to where.
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Post by fiyero on Oct 9, 2021 10:42:10 GMT
Off to Jersey Boys tonight. Hope they have a cast board, very hard to keep track of all their covers?
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Post by interval99 on Oct 9, 2021 18:29:07 GMT
At Cinderella at the Gillian Lynne the cast board is electronic and on the wall to the left as you go up the stairs. You just need to time it so you don't get the ads or pictures which pop up between to snap the photos.
Programs are £8 while the merchandise stall seems to have a larger photo brochure it does seem to be for sale anywhere.
Alexandra waite-roberts is on tonight as the step mother.
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Post by fiyerorocher on Oct 9, 2021 19:54:51 GMT
Off to Jersey Boys tonight. Hope they have a cast board, very hard to keep track of all their covers? Any luck? |
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Post by fiyerorocher on Oct 9, 2021 19:56:08 GMT
At Cinderella at the Gillian Lynne the cast board is electronic and on the wall to the left as you go up the stairs. You just need to time it so you don't get the ads or pictures which pop up between to snap the photos. Programs are £8 while the merchandise stall seems to have a larger photo brochure it does seem to be for sale anywhere. Alexandra waite-roberts is on tonight as the step mother. Yes the Cinderella boards are great. Except for the first preview when they missed off three cast members who were definitely there :') But there's one either side of the foyer and people from both levels of the theatre can easily access them. |
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Post by fiyero on Oct 9, 2021 23:03:01 GMT
Off to Jersey Boys tonight. Hope they have a cast board, very hard to keep track of all their covers? Any luck? I didn’t spot a full cast board but there was a sign showing all the covers on at the performance. |
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Post by shady23 on Oct 11, 2021 14:56:55 GMT
Cast boards at UK tours are even harder to find. I don't think I have seen one yet this year. Plus the last three touring shows I attended did not have any programmes either.
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