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Post by Mark on Jul 5, 2018 7:32:41 GMT
Bumping this as it starts previews soon and because I’m the lucky winner of two tickets through the Theatreboard competition (thank you team!) Hopefully going next week (Andy, you’ve got mail  ) From the sounds of it you may be the only one there. Luckily I won two tickets and have a very willing friend to join me. Sounds like we may need a cocktail or two beforehand though! |
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Post by Andy on Jul 6, 2018 23:52:56 GMT
I saw this tonight and actually thought it was really good. The lead (Wade McCollum) was excellent and has a great voice. There were mostly strong performances from the rest of the cast as well.
I didn’t know what to expect going in so it took me a short while to settle into the level of humour and strangeness of the story. I can imagine some people just wouldn’t connect with it and a few people around me did leave at the interval.
It was very funny in parts, though the odd bit did fall flat, and the emotional bits worked for me.
All seats are £15 for the previews and I think it’s definitely worth seeing at that price.
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Post by zahidf on Jul 11, 2018 16:38:41 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Jul 11, 2018 17:30:15 GMT
It does seem like the reviewer, a keen feminist, has an issue with the portrayal of women in a lot, including Hamilton. Wonder if reviewing The Phantom of the Opera she'd express distaste at the Phantoms treatment (stalking and sexual advances) of Christine. |
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Post by Oleanna on Jul 11, 2018 22:11:32 GMT
I’m not interested in taking any review seriously which uses the word “motherf***er”... |
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Post by Oleanna on Jul 11, 2018 22:32:02 GMT
I’m not interested in taking any review seriously which uses the word “motherf***er”... I guess the exception would be a review of “The Motherf***er With The Hat”... |
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Post by Deleted on Jul 11, 2018 23:36:28 GMT
It does seem like the reviewer, a keen feminist, has an issue with the portrayal of women in a lot, including Hamilton. Wonder if reviewing The Phantom of the Opera she'd express distaste at the Phantoms treatment (stalking and sexual advances) of Christine. You would really have to hope so, considering Christine has a fiancé and (at first at least) thinks of the Phantom as her dead dad. Ewwwww... |
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Post by zahidf on Jul 12, 2018 9:37:17 GMT
It does seem like the reviewer, a keen feminist, has an issue with the portrayal of women in a lot, including Hamilton. Wonder if reviewing The Phantom of the Opera she'd express distaste at the Phantoms treatment (stalking and sexual advances) of Christine. You would really have to hope so, considering Christine has a fiancé and (at first at least) thinks of the Phantom as her dead dad. Ewwwww... Yeah, its a creepy story if you look too much into it
I suppose the difference is that in Phantom, he isn't shown to be 'heroic' until much later on and they don't gloss over it as much as they seem to do in this one
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4,804 posts
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Post by Mark on Jul 13, 2018 7:10:34 GMT
Thanks to my competition win from theatreboard I took a friend to see this last night. 3 Mojitios beforeand didn't quite prepare us. There's one or two nice tunes, although one number definitely ripped off "Only in New York" from Thoroughly Modern Millie. The whole show just doesn't work. Wade McCollum In particular neither of us liked his voice or performance. The direction is am-dram worthy. It bills itself as a romantic comedy but I'm pretty sure the bits I was laughing at weren't mean to to be funny. My friend said she'd have left at interval if I hadn't been there, she was like the reviewer in the previous post and found the portrayal of women to be shocking. I would however like to say thank you for the tickets, and glad I could take one for the team  |
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Post by SageStageMgr on Jul 14, 2018 18:17:48 GMT
Seeing this tonight...
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Post by SageStageMgr on Jul 14, 2018 20:57:46 GMT
It was sh*t.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 15, 2018 11:57:09 GMT
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Post by SageStageMgr on Jul 16, 2018 15:55:47 GMT
Apologies, you’re quite right. I’d had several beers by the time this one finished and didn’t feel like posting more; especially after my “rape” and “necrophilia” double bill on Saturday.
The problem is mostly in tone. Is it a dark comedy? Is it a romance, or even a horror? I really don’t know, and I’ve seen it. Never mind what a potential casual theatregoer might think when choosing between this and everything else playing in the West End and fringe.
The venue is terrific, as I say every time I see shows there. The staff are friendly and helpful and generally I’ve never paid more than £20 for a good seat, on the day of my visit, even on commercially successful shows like “Titanic: The Musical”. I paid £15 for a plum stalls seat for this Saturday night performance. Having a legitimate pub attached is useful. Why no proper food? A choice of margarita pizza or nothing. Seems a wasted opportunity when looking at other fringe venues who rely on such income.
Anyway, onto the actual show...
I can’t help but feel it would work better as a play. The songs are superfluous and forgettable. The lyrics are at time giggle worthy. When it’s meant to be serious. I think?
The staging is minimal; I loved the cut cloth framing, present throughout. Otherwise it’s a designer-on-a-budget’s best mate - wooden boxes. They form everything from a mausoleum to a courtroom - helped by videos on a screen at the back. Sparingly used.
MINOR SPOILERS HERE
I must confess to being far from an expert on the subject, but if a body is decomposing for two years, as I believe is stated onstage, then even with the perfume, skin treatments and whatnot, surely the body - eg the face - would be in much worse condition than just a layer of pancake makeup can fix? Even more so if an arm is liable to fall off suddenly? I wonder if the FX could’ve been better with this - having the body deteriorate over the course of the show?
If it did, it wasn’t noticeable from front stalls.
The cast all do fine. I think Wade McCollum does fine as the insane “Doctor”. Everyone else is too, but not a lot to say about them really.
It’s not funny-bad like “Too Close to the Sun” or “Exposure” - it’s just competently bad. The staging, direction, performances and so on are competent with weak material. If you’re expecting unintentional laughs forget it.
Instead it’s a supremely forgettable evening, a crime given the outrageous subject matter, which never decides what it wants to be.
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Post by vabbian on Jul 29, 2018 12:52:57 GMT
Hello Charring Cross Theatre if you are reading this please bring back YANK! The Musical I will pay you £15
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Post by SageStageMgr on Aug 14, 2018 5:56:55 GMT
London Cast Album released on 5th November on digital and streaming formats. Get it down in your diaries people!!! |
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Post by BurlyBeaR on Aug 14, 2018 6:30:40 GMT
Hello Charring Cross Theatre if you are reading this please bring back YANK! The Musical I will pay you £15 Get Hope Mill’s Spring Awakening transferred! |
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Post by robertb213 on Aug 18, 2018 17:16:10 GMT
Saw this yesterday and I have to say, I enjoyed it more than I thought I would, based on the views from here and reviews. While not laugh-out-loud, it did make me smile, the songs weren't terrible and the cast put a lot of effort in. Marketing it as ' Richard Curtis meets Tim Burton' was a mistake as it's nowhere near as strong or mainstream as either of those, but for an £18 gamble I thought it was a little oddity worth seeing.
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