215 posts
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Post by frosty on May 14, 2022 6:18:24 GMT
I did not like this at all. To me, Elle is completely miscast, I just did not believe that she was an ‘airhead’, entitled rich girl. There was no chemistry between her and Emmett or Warner and as a previous poster commented, some of her costumes are just hideous. The set makes no sense as it’s strands of plastic, like used to be in the doorways of betting shops with hair printed on it, but it’s not even the hair she is wearing for the show! The courtroom scenes were so overacted it felt like watching a Drag Race Rusical at times. I actually wanted to leave at the interval, but that’s something I hate to do, I want to give it a chance….but it didn’t get better.
However, the audience seemed to love it, lots of whooping and a hollering and it was definitely a younger demographic than usual. Perhaps as a middle aged man, I’m not the target audience!
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Post by anxiousoctopus on May 14, 2022 9:43:42 GMT
Hope he’s not gonna be dressed up in a dog onesie! Puppet does make sense, they probably got a good deal from the people creating the dog puppets for the Dalmatians musical, 102 for the price of 101! |
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Post by danb on May 14, 2022 9:50:42 GMT
I did not like this at all. To me, Elle is completely miscast, I just did not believe that she was an ‘airhead’, entitled rich girl. There was no chemistry between her and Emmett or Warner and as a previous poster commented, some of her costumes are just hideous. The set makes no sense as it’s strands of plastic, like used to be in the doorways of betting shops with hair printed on it, but it’s not even the hair she is wearing for the show! The courtroom scenes were so overacted it felt like watching a Drag Race Rusical at times. I actually wanted to leave at the interval, but that’s something I hate to do, I want to give it a chance….but it didn’t get better. However, the audience seemed to love it, lots of whooping and a hollering and it was definitely a younger demographic than usual. Perhaps as a middle aged man, I’m not the target audience! Perhaps not, but some middle aged men will still go and see it (and the bulk of press critics fall into that band!) so they can’t just create it just for that narrow band of Today Tixers & Theatre Cafe screamers. Things have to work on levels, and this is a crowd pleaser that has always done that in the past. They can’t just turn it into Six and hope everyone will be on board. |
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Post by Mark on May 14, 2022 22:47:10 GMT
I liked it for the most part. Courtney Bowman is excellent as are most of the cast including Michael as Emmett and Nadine as Paulette. A very strong ensemble who doubt up lots of roles.
Two casting misfires - Isaac Hesketh as Margot can’t sing the role as written. They sounded pretty awful but then you can’t really change keys when singing as part of a trio. The other was Eugene McCoy who seemed to have a lot of stumbles and line flubs and I believe sang the same verse twice in Blood in the Water - he also reads very young but there’s definite room for improvement.
The Costumes…… THE COSTUMES… burn them. Hideous. The set is basic and I guess limited by the open air theatre as a venue. It looks better in person but actually maybe plain golden streamers against a pink backdrop would have worked a whole lot better.
The dogs are certainly different and actually, I didn’t have an issue with that concept. I also thought most of the updating worked pretty well. It makes perfect sense for Brooke to be a Fitness Insta Queen rather than have home video tapes.
That said, it’s still Legally Blonde and I love the score and show so I did really enjoy it tonight and glad to be returning in a few weeks.
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Post by lolalou on May 14, 2022 22:54:30 GMT
What’s the deal with the dogs Mark?
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Post by Mark on May 14, 2022 22:59:13 GMT
What’s the deal with the dogs Mark? Have you seen Cats? |
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Post by lolalou on May 14, 2022 23:26:52 GMT
What’s the deal with the dogs Mark? Have you seen Cats? Oh. |
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Post by lolalou on May 14, 2022 23:28:15 GMT
Has the script or lyrics changed much? |
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Post by Mark on May 14, 2022 23:30:34 GMT
Has the script or lyrics changed much? Not a lot, but where it has it worked. |
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Post by alison on May 15, 2022 0:01:48 GMT
I liked it for the most part. Courtney Bowman is excellent as are most of the cast including Michael as Emmett and Nadine as Paulette. A very strong ensemble who doubt up lots of roles. Two casting misfires - Isaac Hesketh as Margot can’t sing the role as written. They sounded pretty awful but then you can’t really change keys when singing as part of a trio. The other was Eugene McCoy who seemed to have a lot of stumbles and line flubs and I believe sang the same verse twice in Blood in the Water - he also reads very young but there’s definite room for improvement. The Costumes…… THE COSTUMES… burn them. Hideous. The set is basic and I guess limited by the open air theatre as a venue. It looks better in person but actually maybe plain golden streamers against a pink backdrop would have worked a whole lot better. The dogs are certainly different and actually, I didn’t have an issue with that concept. I also thought most of the updating worked pretty well. It makes perfect sense for Brooke to be a Fitness Insta Queen rather than have home video tapes. That said, it’s still Legally Blonde and I love the score and show so I did really enjoy it tonight and glad to be returning in a few weeks. I was there last night and I agree with most of this. Eugene only had one slip that I noticed yesterday, that's a shame that he had more today.
I really hope they can play around with letting Isaac sing the notes down the octave where it's appropriate. In the parts that are lower and sit comfortably in their register (eg. some of Positive), they sounded good - surely dropping the octave for eg. Omigod You Guys and fully embracing the fact that they've cast a non binary Margot would be a much better choice.
The costumes aren't great, but I can live with most of them. The thing that annoyed me most were the courtroom costumes for Elle and Emmett - the whole point of Elle and Emmett's clothes discussion isn't "You need a makeover to look attractive" - it's "There are times and places where it's appropriate to dress in a certain way." Even Warner had a jacket for the courtroom - for goodness' sake give Emmett one, or the point is lost. Same with Elle's pink outfit for returning to the trial - a crop top in court ain't it.
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Post by mrbarnaby on May 15, 2022 6:52:24 GMT
This show looks and sounds hideous. Yikes. Worse than I feared.
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Post by greenandbrownandblue on May 15, 2022 10:19:05 GMT
A mixed bag. I love the piece, and the score is played brilliantly by a decent size band. Courtney Bowman is brilliant - one of the best Elles I've seen. Some fun choreography, and the updating works (unless you know the show well, you wouldn't notice it). the dogs are better than expected, and there are some clever pieces of direction - the staging of Serious for example.
However - the set looks cheap and ugly, the courtroom scenes are poorly staged, Eugene McCoy (who I usually really like) is miscast. Lots of it felt very amateur/student production. I also missed the cheer-leading in What You Want.
I don't think it being at the Open Air adds much, and it feels like it could be brilliant but needs a new design and lots of tightening.
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Post by richey on May 15, 2022 11:17:50 GMT
Looking at pictures of this on Instagram makes my head hurt. I mean I like a bit of pink here and there but this looks like overload. Even the audience members are dressing in it.
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Post by amp09 on May 15, 2022 11:43:03 GMT
Are they doing £15 front row for every performance? Is the stage particularly high and a bad view from there?
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Post by stagebyte on May 16, 2022 0:17:32 GMT
So. Thoughts.
Feels like a cut price budget version.
Loved the band.
Courtney did not convince as a bubble headed party girl who applied herself and made the most of her potential. Way too sassy not enough vulnerability. As others have said Isaac Hesketh however inclusive their casting cannot sing Margot. You cannot just, as someone suggested, sing an octave down in the harmonised sections for Elle’s three friends and hope it blends. I’m surprised no one in the production team clicked this. It’s very exposing for Isaac and doesn’t really advance the non binary inclusivity argument where the role is traditionally played by a female voice. Maybe a different part would’ve suited them where they didn’t have to blend their voice? Shame. I could see what they were hoping for it, it just didn’t work in my opinion in this role.
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Post by oxfordsimon on May 16, 2022 6:49:02 GMT
Does anyone know how inclusive the Greek system has become in the US?
I always saw sororities and fraternities as being very conservative and non progressive type organisations who prided themselves on tradition and privilege.
Not having seen this production (and on the basis of early reports and photos, it really isn't for me) but I am unsure as to whether Isaac is playing a NB character who is female-presenting and a member of a sorority or is playing a female character.
I don't know how progressive the Greek system has become - and in the fantasy world that is a musical like LB, they are not going for realism - but I am interested in getting a clearer sense of what they are trying to say here.
Representation does matter. But it needs to be clearly and sensitively handled if it is not to be tokenistic.
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Post by ladidah on May 16, 2022 11:34:18 GMT
Noooo, I wanted to see this!
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Post by fluxcapacitor on May 16, 2022 12:12:32 GMT
Such a shame. I love LB, and had really looked forward to this. I'll probably still see it but will wait and hope for cheap seats later in the run.
So far, this all feels rather reminiscent of when the Open Air did Little Shop of Horrors - there was a lot of excitement then about them bringing back a classic with a new interpretation, especially since a lot of the publicity included casting against the usual type (that time, in the form of a drag queen playing Audrey II). Ultimately though, it was also marred by an ill thought out design concept which hindered the production and meant it all rather missed the mark.
At least Little Shop as a show made SOME sense as a choice for an outdoor theatre though...
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Post by inthenose on May 16, 2022 12:18:59 GMT
Looking at a few more pictures of this (lit) before my visit later this week. They say everything looks better under lights. The only way I think this is looking better is under water.
I wasn't a massive fan of Evita (LOVED JCS!!!) but it looked nice, basic but nice. This looks cheap and horrible, frankly.
I can't wait to see the costumes.
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Post by apwl on May 16, 2022 12:28:17 GMT
Are they doing £15 front row for every performance? Is the stage particularly high and a bad view from there? They’ve released them for today I’m guessing it will be a daily thing. I’m there tonight so will report back on view. |
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Post by danb on May 16, 2022 14:14:35 GMT
What is Vanessa Fishers belt like; specifically in the remix?
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Post by Being Alive on May 16, 2022 14:45:18 GMT
What is Vanessa Fishers belt like; specifically in the remix? I didn't think she was gonna go for that last note until the very end - she certainly doesn't hang around on the A flat for very long! |
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Post by ladidah on May 16, 2022 15:07:03 GMT
If it seems a bit shaky (being kind here!) then I'll wait a cheaper ticket, everything at a weekend seems to be around 40/50
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Post by Mark on May 16, 2022 15:11:21 GMT
What is Vanessa Fishers belt like; specifically in the remix? I didn't think she was gonna go for that last note until the very end - she certainly doesn't hang around on the A flat for very long! I also thought the sound mix was a bit crackly when it was the full company ensemble numbers, may have just been where I was sitting to the side. |
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Post by digne on May 16, 2022 15:21:21 GMT
If it seems a bit shaky (being kind here!) then I'll wait a cheaper ticket, everything at a weekend seems to be around 40/50 Todaytix currently has an offer for it with £25 tickets, but I don't know what the weekend availability is. |
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