Mandela : Young Vic

Very exciting announcement. I like also all the other pieces planned for this year.

Danielle is an amazing Elsa, so pleased she has got a lead role in her own right

Friends booking open, they have the now usual front row seats for £12.50. Prices otherwise range from £10 - £65.

Managed to get three front row £12.50 tix for 7th Jan Mat (since I know I'll have it booked off work for Come From Away closing night).

WhatsOnStage first rehearsal room video today - www.whatsonstage.com/london-theatre/news/mandela-rehearsal-room-young-vic_57767.html

EEEEEEEEEEEEK. I'm in for Wednesday.

Wow very spoilery but they do warn you of that! Good for people who do need information in that much depth to facilitate their visit.

Yup, going tomorrow night. £12 front row tickets are almost always tempting at YV.

I've missed the prices I'd be prepared to afford for this - unless the 'High Seat - Unreserved' is any good. Seems to be very central. Any views on what those seats will offer?

Otherwise, they're doing Live Broadcast streams 19th to 23rd January. Single viewer £15, multiple viewers of same device £20.

Here's the link:
www.youngvic.org/whats-on/mandela-broadcast#close

I'll start with my usual whenever I pop my head into the musicals section. They aren't really my thing, my partner tends to enjoy them a lot more. We do like the YV and this was the last show we were members to get priority booking. So front row, slap in the middle last night (£12.50).

Most of the musicals I've seen have been big West End houses and from back in the cheap seats, so a distant view. I saw more tonsils last night than I can ever recall seeing! It was a whole different experience being so close up especially in the small moments where sound is still being worked out and a mic wasn't turned on in time and there was a second of un-amplified singing, and when there is a whole section of the cast stood about half a metre in front and being able to pick out the different voices so clearly. On the down side, this uses the entire stage - and the wings so some of the impact of the spectacle was 100% lost from being so close. A trade off.

We both enjoyed it, the cast throughout were great. Michael Luwoye, Danielle Fiamayna as Nelson and Winnie were both pretty great. Earl Carpenter as the PM was a lot of fun but his South African accent went very Kiwi/Aussie at one point (I assumed he must actually be Kiwi!), lots of great support in the ensemble, notably Prudence Jezile who steals more than one scene. Really great to see that a large number of the cast are South African.

The story is amazing, as you can imagine. It's probably better to think of this as the story of the Mandela family rather than Nelson Mandela as they lean a bit more towards that.

Defiantly a few small issues still being worked out in preview, timing on mics being turned on and off, small lighting issues but no hint of it in any of the performances other than a sense of relief and happiness at the end, as the final number was ending I could see various cast nodding or reassuring each other that it had gone well. Nothing that in anyway affected our experience at all

A pretty warm reaction - helped or maybe hindered by someone in the third or fourth row who was vocally um I'll say supportive throughout, who whooped and hollered and cheered on the cast "you did it my friend" "we love it" "yes, yes, yes" at the end of almost every number. Some people on their feet but by no means through the house.

Music and lyrics, well I don't think there was anything memorable - by the time we had reached our train at Waterloo I asked herself if there was anything she thought memorable in them and neither of us had anything. Nothing wrong with any of it and it was full on entertaining throughout. Almost the opposite of the dancing and choreography which was just brilliant and there are two or three full ensemble bits which are just great (notably in the second half) and really quite something from the front row, very memorable.

We both spent almost the entire train ride home on Wikipedia reading about the real events of the trial and the warden (100% some artistic license used to further the story) and of Mandela's compatriots that we see a lot of and of course the man himself. So by that count a pretty big success.

Cynthia Erivo was in watching this yesterday! With Lena Waithe!

Just got home from MANDELA and it pains me to say that this is one of the worst musicals I have seen in quite some time.

The book and lyrics are riddled with more cliches and phony sentimentality than a Hallmark Channel Christmas movie and the score is a series of melodies in search of a pulse that never arrives. There are two very good central performances but otherwise there is little to praise here.

There is hardly a single of iota of imagination with this dud of a production. The staging is pedestrian and choreography so repetitive that is starts to become unintentionally comical. Even the set is dull.

What a disappointing evening.

I should add that most of crowd went bananas at the end whch is odd since most folks within my view were sitting on their hands through much of the show (except when they took out their phones from boredom). 

Two stars from me (but only because of a few noteworthy performances).