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Post by alece10 on Jun 4, 2017 9:04:50 GMT
The menier have tweeted that the building is closed today on police advice and today's performance of L&L is cancelled BBC live broadcast from just down the road. You can see Menier.
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Post by lonlad on Jun 4, 2017 12:11:46 GMT
Interestingly, both shows are going ahead today at the Globe, which is 5 mins from the Menier (and Borough Market)
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Post by n1david on Jun 4, 2017 12:14:57 GMT
The Menier is actually within the cordon area, and I guess they don't know when that will be lifted, so don't want people to travel.
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Post by alece10 on Jun 4, 2017 14:28:52 GMT
The Menier is actually within the cordon area, and I guess they don't know when that will be lifted, so don't want people to travel. And BBC have been live all morning from Southwark Street and the road is closed off. You can clearly see Menier so it's well within the cordoned off area.
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Xanderl
Member
Not always very high value in terms of ticket yield or donations
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Post by Xanderl on Jun 5, 2017 8:54:30 GMT
Menier is closed again today
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Post by raiseitup on Jun 6, 2017 11:47:29 GMT
Also closed today
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Post by Dawnstar on Jun 7, 2017 16:20:56 GMT
Good to see on Twitter that the Menier will be open tonight. I do hope they have cancellation insurance which covers being closed due to terrorism.
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Post by dlevi on Jun 8, 2017 14:12:00 GMT
Saw Lettice over the weekend and was very unimpressed. Almost no laughs. I remember the original with Dame Maggie being hilarious, thin but hilarious. This was simply deadly.
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Post by olly2288 on Jun 11, 2017 2:02:51 GMT
I saw Love in Idleness tonight and thought it was wonderful - chemistry between Tony Head and Eve Best is fantastic. Lots of laughs all round and Eve in particular is excellent. The theatre was incredibly quiet though for a Saturday night. We got upgraded to the stalls, which was an upgrade from several tiers above - I urge you to book a cheap ticket if you can make it, you never know where you might end up sitting and it's well worth it!
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Post by joem on Jun 13, 2017 17:04:11 GMT
Ok, so I've got tickets. What's the running time for Lettice anyone?
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Post by Marwood on Jun 13, 2017 18:23:52 GMT
About two hours forty five minutes from what I remember
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Post by johng on Jun 15, 2017 7:18:25 GMT
I saw in on 28 May and it ran 2 hours 30 minutes (Out by 6pm at a 3:30pm matinee)
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Post by alece10 on Jun 15, 2017 12:49:22 GMT
Ok, so I've got tickets. What's the running time for Lettice anyone? It's 2 hrs 40. With a 5 minute intermission for scene change and then 15 minute interval. Can stretch to 2hr 45 if lots of people nip to the loo in the 5 min intermission.
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Post by alece10 on Jun 17, 2017 6:08:31 GMT
Finally got to see Love in Idleness last night. What a gem. Really enjoyed it and found it a lot funnier than I expected. Great cast especially Eve Best.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 18, 2017 9:03:24 GMT
Saw Lettuce & Lovage a few weeks back. Not as deadly as I had feared, if not a real winner.
I probably had the advantage of not seeing Dame Maggie before: I did go to a performance that she was supposed to be in but both leads were off that night and I was bemused that it was supposed to be a comedy as it was so dire. The understudies knew their lines but the timing was so off everything fell flat. I know it was bad as I remember it so well (I remember the good and the bad, but often the middle range become forgettable in time).
Having seen clips of Maggie Smith thought I'd give it another go. I don't dislike Felicity Kendall, but she was a too, well.... Felicity Kendall for my taste. Sort of fluffy and cute.
I did like Sam Dastor though, and the audience seemed reasonably appreciative which helped. Oh, and a nice meal with my friends in the restaurant beforehand, so not a bad trip on the whole.
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Post by joem on Jun 18, 2017 22:31:24 GMT
Well, I was pleasantly surprised by this. This might have been written by Alan Bennett, light but amusing fare.
It must have tightened up a fair bit from the early reviews and the previews which inspired them - it came in at just about 2hrs 30 min. No discernible prompts needed, one stumble on the carpet and some spilled drink. I get the feeling some of the criticism of Felicity Kendal was simply because she isn't Maggie Smith - but then, who is?
Pretty amusing, some laughs, and a full audience loved it.
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Xanderl
Member
Not always very high value in terms of ticket yield or donations
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Post by Xanderl on Jun 19, 2017 7:59:05 GMT
TodayTix has £15 tickets for any Love in Idleness performance this week, including Saturday, only bookable today. Just tried and was offered row C of the stalls. Or £5 with a referral code such as SEZCE (other referral codes are available )
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Post by Mr Crummles on Jun 19, 2017 9:42:41 GMT
I believe the play was written specifically for Maggie Smith, so it will always be hard to cast someone else as Lettice. If the actress playing the part cannot replicate the same level of exuberant and colourful wryness that is so natural in Maggie Smith, then I think the play can become very uninteresting. I think Judi Dench, however, would have been able to pull it off. It was a memorable show at the time, as far as I can remember it. The first act was especially funny. Like many other Peter Shaffer plays – such as Equus and Amadeus -, it’s about imagination, beauty and romance and this incredible characteristic human beings have of creating a wondrous world that exist only in our souls, and what a crime it is to kill it with suffocating rules and sterile pragmatism.
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Post by peggs on Jun 19, 2017 11:45:50 GMT
What is the set like for Love in Idleness please? Sight issues from row A?
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Post by alece10 on Jun 22, 2017 9:11:11 GMT
I am probably one of the last board members to see Lettice and Lovage. Thought it was ok and had its funny moments. For me it was overly long and I was bored half way through. But I'm not a lover of plays anyway. You could tell that the Lettice character was written for Maggie Smith as so many of the lines had her name written all over it and you could imagine her saying them. A friend I went with had seen her in the role and remarked how wonderful she was. Both leads were fine in their roles. Wouldn't want to see it again. I had seen Love in Idleness a few days before and really enjoyed it. Not that I should be comparing the two.
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Post by Tibidabo on Jun 22, 2017 9:27:23 GMT
I am probably one of the last board members to see Lettice and Lovage. Oh no you're not I also saw the wonderful Maggie Smith and will admit to buying tickets this time for Maureen Lipman close-up. Having had a recent rummage through my theatre programmes I noticed that I have seen many things with Felicity in them and have very little memory of any of them - which says a lot! (I think one reason may be that she was in shows we wanted to see when we did our theatre binges in the UK when I lived abroad.)
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Post by peggs on Jun 24, 2017 19:21:46 GMT
After much umming and ahhing bought a front row ticket yesterday for today's Love in Idleness and oh what a delight! I love Eve Best but I appeared to have forgotten just how brilliant she is, it says a lot for the remainder of the cast that I didn't just watch her the whole way through so a joy it was but really impressed by Anthony Head who I had some doubts about and Edward Bluemel seemed to have the self absorbed, moody teen down to a fine art. Didn't know the play at all and assumed it was going to be pretty light fun the whole way through so was pleased when it developed some more gloom and heart in the second half before making it's way to the ending we all wanted. And what a nice change to watch a play and feel quite assured that no one was going to commit a sudden act of violence and let some of the red stuff out, I have missed that in a play!
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Post by Tibidabo on Jul 7, 2017 8:24:30 GMT
Well, we finally saw Lettice and Lovage and it has to go top of my list of this year's crapness. I won't go on too much as it's, mercifully, finishing tomorrow; just maybe give a few thoughts and fun facts. Firstly I have to get the subject of Felicity out of the way. She was far worse than comments up thread had led me to believe. Seriously awful. What was she doing with her voice? Growling one minute, an octave up the next. Now I know this was written for Saint Maggie. But why would someone, 30 odd years later, deliver every line in the way Maggie would do so? You really didn't have to have seen the 1988 version to hear Maggie's intonation throughout. I mean, didn't Judi very simply say "a handbag" so as not to risk any comparison whatsoever to Dame Edith's "haannnndbaaaaaag?" Surely that's the way to go? Totally different. And to say she was overacting would be an insult to Christopher Biggins. Finally, Theatreboard rules denote that I cannot make personal comments about her. I wonder if that would run to her plastic surgeon?
The production itself was soulless. Disjointed. Everyone coming along, saying their bit with no cohesion. Miss Lipman was good - her timing and facial expressions fabulous. I would love to see her again in something else.
It's taken me all night to work this out, but the lovely lady next to me, who'd spent 3 hours on a coach to get there, thought she was going to see a stage version of Rosemary and Thyme. Bless.
We were in the front row. For those who don't know the Choco Factory that is about 2 feet from the action. Before the interval Maureen Lipman is sitting on a chair centre stage with a beige mac hung on the back. Slowly, oh so slowly, a massive spider appeared on one shoulder of the mac and began to saunter across to the other side. It disappeared out of view shortly after but we beat a very hasty retreat at the interval. We hope Miss Lipman didn't notice both of us jumping in unison, then casting a terrified glance between ourselves as the creature emerged - we were directly in front of her but there's no way she would have been able to see what had made us twitch so.
Finally, no one has been paying attention. I didn't know until last night that 'ache' is the medieval name for parsley. (It's actually ache de chien before anyone has a go, but that's just what was in the script.) Well, it made me chortle. Not much else did. Disappointing.
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Post by wickedgrin on Jul 7, 2017 8:35:41 GMT
I saw the first preview performance of this and was very disappointed too. I did think it might improve ( especially some familiarity with the lines would have been appreciated) but clearly it hasn't.
No West End transfer looking likely, although I am sure with the names involved they must have hoped for one?
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Post by Tibidabo on Jul 7, 2017 8:43:07 GMT
especially some familiarity with the lines Actually, that was fine. No prompts and not too much stuttering. It was just the way in which they were delivered that was annoying. On paper I was so excited about this too. Shame.
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Post by wickedgrin on Jul 7, 2017 12:10:59 GMT
I was on the second row sat behind the two prompters who were part of the tour group in the first scene. I could not help but notice the HUGE chunks of dialogue for Felicity Kendal highlighted in green! A huge role to learn. The prompters were riveted to the scripts on the first preview, a few prompts but more noticeably flicking through the pages in panic to find where Felicity had jumped to ( or made up) and if she could get it back on track. This was the most amusing part of the evening!
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Post by Tibidabo on Jul 7, 2017 12:48:06 GMT
a few prompts but more noticeably flicking through the pages in panic to find where Felicity had jumped to ( or made up) Brilliant! Now if she did that last night I have no idea! But it does remind me of a *cough* friend who jumped so far ahead in an amateur production of Brush With a Body (or something-or-other) that the murdered person was still on stage happily quaffing g&ts, listening to everyone else talking about them being dead.....
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Post by Dawnstar on Jul 7, 2017 20:09:41 GMT
But it does remind me of a *cough* friend who jumped so far ahead in an amateur production of Brush With a Body (or something-or-other) that the murdered person was still on stage happily quaffing g&ts, listening to everyone else talking about them being dead..... That must have been hysterical! And I'm now wishing it could be incorporated into The Play That Goes Wrong.
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Post by Tibidabo on Jul 7, 2017 20:53:04 GMT
But it does remind me of a *cough* friend who jumped so far ahead in an amateur production of Brush With a Body (or something-or-other) that the murdered person was still on stage happily quaffing g&ts That must have been hysterical! Not so much for me my friend who was furiously trying to scrabble back 40 pages so she could actually commit the dirty deed on the gin-soaked heiress....
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Post by schuttep on Jul 10, 2017 14:30:31 GMT
Slowly, oh so slowly, a massive spider appeared on one shoulder of the mac and began to saunter across to the other side. I hope it took a bow at the end.
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