Beautiful (Dir. Nikolai Foster) - Leicester Curve & Tour

As much as I luv Nikolai Foster's work and the show.

This feels a little iffy. The original production is great, and was literally touring pre-covid.

This feels like a cost-cutting exercise, to tour the show with a cheaper production by making it actor/muso.

Am I crazy?

The curve is really making a name for itself staging very recent shows that need no revival any time soon, on the cheap. Depressing.

This whole production sounds really uninspired.

It's making a name for itself by producing very good shows actually.

When was the last brand new versions of West Side before 2019? (there wasn't)
When was the last brand new version of A Chorus Line?
When was the last fully staged production of Sunset Boulevard? And a streamed version?
When was the last new production of A Color Purple outside London ever? (there wasn't) And a streamed version?
When has there been a new version of ALWs Oz since it's London run 12 years ago? (there hasn't)
Adrian Mole was a brand new Musical that made it to the West End.
Many people have been asking for Billy Elliot to come back or be revived since it closed and that will even be a brand new version.


I agree that Beautiful is a bizarre choice but they are clearly going for a more intimate approach with actor musicians that could actually be quite interesting and please don't make out that Curve are just making a name for themselves just by putting out "cheap" productions of recent shows when they are actually making a name for themselves by putting on quality new versions of shows that get critical acclaim. It smacks of snobbery and maybe you could try going to watch the shows rather than calling one of the top regional theatres that is doing great work "depressing" from the comfort of your armchair when it's anything but. Is the problem that Curve isn't located in Chichester? 

There was. The REX Manchester was first to do a brand new production in April 2019, eight months before Curve’s production.

Pretty clear it's going to be quite different from the original, a lot more intimate and you can see from the cast, a lot younger too. I think this will be interesting, we'll have to wait and see but I wouldn't be surprised if many don't come to the conclusion it would have worked potentially better with this sort of treatment from the off. It really seems to fit.

I would rather doubt it?  It's not like Curve are known for doing them, this is the first one I can think of they have done? Apart from Sister Act but that wasn't really a fully in house production nor directed  by Nikolai. Beautiful lends itself to being an actor/muso piece because it's about making music and the lead character plays piano, that's I'm sure why they decided to do it in this case. Billy Elliot is entirely different. I wouldn't worry.

Let’s just put things in focus.

Before a director makes plans, the producers will say we have ex amount of money for actors on stage and musicians in pit. Or we can lower the budget and put on a version with just actor/musicians.

The difference is, you pay actors £15 more on top of their basic wage or a pro-musician £100 a night.

I doubt they will do billy with a brassband either. Maybe a pre recorded one with a single fee going to a musician once for the whole run.

Sister act was performed with click tracks through out with actor musos playing on top and dancing.

Show biz folks!

Had an incident-free trip by train and coach to Leicester yesterday to see the matinee of Beautiful at the Curve Leicester from the front row seat I always book there and it's a superb revival. I even got to meet one of the leads afterwards, thanks to sitting next to a lovely chap called Colin who had tutored that performer, and countless more, in the course of his illustrious career in music and theatre; that was a nice bonus. (I recommended he join Theatre Board so maybe he'll see this - he's a front row fan like me!)

It works really well as an actor-musician show. Almost full staged but using only about half of the Curve's huge stage and with the sides partly open so that some of the cast movements and preparations could be seen from the front rows. Started 15 minutes later than scheduled as two of the cast had to drop out that morning for the usual reason and understudies prepared - not the leads but main roles. Nikolai Foster came on to explain and apologise for the late start.

Not a weak link in the cast and the best-sounding Carole King and Cynthia Weil (Molly-GraceCutler and Seren Sandham Davies) I've heard yet. I don't think much of the content has changed from the original production, perhaps fewer scenes in the recording studio and more musical numbers but that might be my memory failing.

I think this will do very well on tour. Full and well-deserved standing ovation.

I loved the actor musician aspect, it worked really well, loads of talent on stage and the lead actress sounded uncannily like CK.
but...
the set, costumes and props not a patch on the west end. The set meant to be a recording studio literally looked like MDF flats, the costumes ill fitting and furniture,signs, pictures etc looked like they’d been sourced from Cornley Polytechnic Drama Society.
Waaaay too much business hauling trucks and furniture on and off.
Unbelievably cheap looking. And after watching Chorus Line and now this they seem to have a real problem sourcing authentic wigs.

They don’t have a problem sourcing authentic wigs- good wigs are expensive and they don’t have the money. Like the Chocolate Factory, those are always ropey.