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Post by LaLuPone on Feb 21, 2020 10:08:35 GMT
I went for £25 dress circle instead but so so excited to be going and to enjoy the incredible-ness of Rachel Tucker one more time before she leaves us for a bit.
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316 posts
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Post by ABr on Feb 23, 2020 16:13:20 GMT
Really looking forward to this tonight! Listen to the cast recording yesterday on a long. We journey, to prepare myself for it! Sat at the front of thr Dress Circle, so can't wait!
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2,422 posts
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Post by robertb213 on Feb 23, 2020 17:46:54 GMT
I'm on my way too! Really looking forward to it. Plus, I've got the day off tomorrow, so I'll be watching the Stephanie J Block version that I found on YouTube as well! 😁
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1,933 posts
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Post by LaLuPone on Feb 23, 2020 17:48:30 GMT
On my way in too, looking forward to visiting the Coliseum for the fitst time.
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Post by greenswan on Feb 23, 2020 23:03:49 GMT
After all the excitement in this thread I jumped on the TodayTix offer a soon as the notification landed. Very happy with row H in the dress circle for £25.
I thought it was rather gloriously overblown over all but enjoyed it very much. Loved the overture, the energetic Irish dancing and singing/acting as well. Wouldn’t say that I missed a full staging.
Very minor niggles around the actors sometimes starting to sing too far from the mike stands, the words getting lost in the massive ensemble/choir and some of the projections (floating rose petals?!).
A very enjoyable evening - think I’ll look for the soundtrack to listen again.
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4,361 posts
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Post by shady23 on Feb 23, 2020 23:08:54 GMT
I knew nothing about the show beforehand but I really enjoyed it.
The cast were absolutely outstanding. I have never heard Rachel Tucker sound so good.
Was so lovely to see so many West End faces in the audience too.
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Post by ThereWillBeSun on Feb 24, 2020 0:26:29 GMT
I was there tonight too. I didn't think there was the need for the drama schools choir....and the sound wasn't the best. That being said; some really good performances - Rachel Tucker and Hannah Waddingham. Protect them at all costs. ❤️ Was also pleasantly surprised by Jai McDowall. Phenomenal voice. Daniel Boys, wish there was more for him to do; he was hilarious. Glad I saw this - but I can see why it didn't fare too well on Broadway.
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2,422 posts
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Post by robertb213 on Feb 24, 2020 1:13:27 GMT
For me, this was a case of an excellent cast elevating mediocre material. Everyone sang great, and the orchestra sounded lovely, but musically this did nothing for me I'm afraid. There weren't any songs that I wanted to listen to again, most of them didn't go anywhere, and the whole thing just felt slow and a bit of a chore. Not to fault the cast at all, they all did a great job, it just never ignited for me.
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Post by vickyg on Feb 24, 2020 10:34:50 GMT
For me, this was a case of an excellent cast elevating mediocre material. Everyone sang great, and the orchestra sounded lovely, but musically this did nothing for me I'm afraid. There weren't any songs that I wanted to listen to again, most of them didn't go anywhere, and the whole thing just felt slow and a bit of a chore. Not to fault the cast at all, they all did a great job, it just never ignited for me. I would be very interested to see the broadway version as I felt in places it seemed like parts were cut. I either hadn’t caught on, or wasn’t aware, that this was going to be semi staged but I felt that detracted a lot from the drama and made it very static, although Les Mis was semi staged and didn’t lack anything so maybe it was just the material. The sound problems were pretty bad in the first half, mics not turned on and then coming on at huge volume and having to be adjusted again. A couple of people also struggled to get to the mic in time so the first few words were muffled. I absolutely loved some of the instrumental music and Rachel Tucker singing Woman but other than those pieces there isn’t really anything else I would jump for. Hannah Waddingham = Queen. In all sorts of ways and her interactions with Daniel Boys were hilarious. At points I felt like I was in The Truman Show. Everyone in the audience, and I do pretty much mean everyone, knew several groups of people sitting in various places around the theatre. The whole place was constantly waving in a way I have never seen. It was though the entire audience except me was on a huge bus trip. The man next to me took to banging his hand extremely enthusiastically on his arm rest and stamping his foot like he was at an actual knees up during the high tempo parts which I can imagine rattled the whole row as my seat was rocking. My experience was better than the one which led to my vow to never return. I was in the central section of row b in the dress circle and the seats were well raked, but not at all staggered so I had the head of a perfectly average height man in my way the entire performance. As I got a reduced price ticket it wasn’t too bad but if I had paid over £100 I would have been extremely unimpressed. This sounds very negative but overall I did enjoy it and the performances were excellent, but I wanted to really, really love it. |
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316 posts
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Post by ABr on Feb 24, 2020 15:04:59 GMT
So I think having a listen to the cast recording really helped me find my way through this last night!
Overall I thought that performances were phenomenal. Both Rachel and Hannah were just exquisite, exactly what I would have expected from them! The applause after 'Woman' was so loud, and I think if Rachel hadn't motioned that she wanted to carry on we wouldn't have stopped! It was my first time seeing Hannah Waddingham perform, and she is such a presence and such a character, I love her even more then I already did! I also loved the transition into Queen Elizabeth that she had with her costume, becoming more of the figure we knew by the end! She wore it well, that's all I can say! I think all of the main cast were strong, I thought Jai McDowall sang 'I'll Be There' very well indeed, and even the featured ensemble all performed great. I do agree that I don't think that the choir was needed, with the size of the cast bar them.
I can see why the show didn't work on Broadway, I just can't see the show resonating with them over there. I do agree that I don't think a 'semi-staged' version does the show justice, and I did wonder while watching if there had been some bits trimmed or cut to accommodate the concert format. To be honest I think this would be the type of show that would work in a custom built venue, something similar to 'The Railway Children' that was at Kings Cross Theatre. There is clips that I've seen of a production in the US that looks like they performed it in the round, which appears to be the Hale Centre Theatre production! (Trailer can be found on youtube!)
From what clips I saw I thought was a really clever way of doing it, it also incorporated some revolves, which I think really would play well into the sword fighting/sailing scenes.
As others mentioned, there were a couple of sound issues, but I purely put that down to lack of rehearsal with the tech/space, but that really didn't detract from the overall performance for me!
I'm so glad that I chose to see this in the end, I had a wonderful evening, and thoroughly enjoyed sitting at the front of the dress circle trying to find familiar famous faces down in the stalls!
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Post by xanady on Feb 24, 2020 18:52:58 GMT
^Great to read such detailed reviews...wish I could have stayed in London to see it,but had to get ‘home’ to Brum ont’ train...hope they made loads of money for charity.
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Post by SamB (was badoerfan) on Feb 24, 2020 20:02:01 GMT
At points I felt like I was in The Truman Show. Everyone in the audience, and I do pretty much mean everyone, knew several groups of people sitting in various places around the theatre. The whole place was constantly waving in a way I have never seen. It was though the entire audience except me was on a huge bus trip. The people in front of me were wavers - they were also pointers, clearly indicating to each other where their friend was on stage. It was only at the end when the choir took their bow and there was a huge cheer from across the dress circle that I realised that they, like many, had a friend in that big choir. Strongly suspect therefore it was either heavily papered to friends and family of the choir, or at least they were offered discount tickets.
There were also a lot of very nicely coiffed and made-up people who had the faint air of celebrity about them, half of whom I felt like I quarter-recognised from somewhere, so I suspect it was also heavily papered across other West End shows that weren't on last night.
Which is a shame in a way, because I really enjoyed last night, I thought it was a good, if flawed show, with excellent performances. Rachel Tucker was amazing, Hannah Waddingham was great, Jai MacDowell was also excellent... and then you had Daniel Boys playing Daniel Boys as usual. The show itself has most of its best songs and best storyline in the first half - I thought it ground to a halt a little in the second half, and then ended rather underwhelmingly; part of that is the choice to make Elizabeth I all opera-y, which means the duet between Grace and Elizabeth doesn't have the impact it could have, but the songs and plot both run out of steam by the end.
Worth it though for the opportunity to see this played and sung live though - suspect we'll never get another one. It clearly can't justify a big theatre and production, based on the sales for this, and I just don't see how it could work as a Southwark Playhouse-style chamber production. The songs are just too big for that to do it any kind of justice at all.
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2,422 posts
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Post by robertb213 on Feb 24, 2020 20:12:22 GMT
Judging from the length of the collections queue snaking its way around the foyer and out of the door, it was massively papered and discounted. The celebs in the audience probably got it for free! A shame for the charity, but then it was overpriced from the start so ticket sales were never going to be great.
I'm now watching the Broadway version. It's still not doing anything for me musically but Stephanie J Block is excellent.
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2,022 posts
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Post by distantcousin on Feb 25, 2020 16:13:37 GMT
At points I felt like I was in The Truman Show. Everyone in the audience, and I do pretty much mean everyone, knew several groups of people sitting in various places around the theatre. The whole place was constantly waving in a way I have never seen. It was though the entire audience except me was on a huge bus trip. The man next to me took to banging his hand extremely enthusiastically on his arm rest and stamping his foot like he was at an actual knees up during the high tempo parts which I can imagine rattled the whole row as my seat was rocking. My experience was better than the one which led to my vow to never return. I was in the central section of row b in the dress circle and the seats were well raked, but not at all staggered so I had the head of a perfectly average height man in my way the entire performance. As I got a reduced price ticket it wasn’t too bad but if I had paid over £100 I would have been extremely unimpressed. This sounds very negative but overall I did enjoy it and the performances were excellent, but I wanted to really, really love it. Sounds like extreme luvviedom!!!!!!!
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