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Post by David J on Nov 6, 2019 23:15:48 GMT
Can’t agree more about the show, effects, cast and more. Just wonderful
Zizi Strallen a little better on the high notes and loveable as ever. I liked that Claire Moore didnt play Miss Andrew as out and out evil but she could definitely add some oomph to her performance. Petula Clark was okay as the bird woman, but it’s not as though it’s a demanding role anyway
Liked the additions and changes. As to ‘Playing the Game’ it’s become more a set piece than a song. It’s as if the creatives preferred ‘Temper, Temper’ all along and finally had the liberty to cut ‘Playing the Game’ down dramatically and add a huge call back to the original. Not as scary but the family next to me were certainly creeped out
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Post by David J on Nov 6, 2019 16:15:31 GMT
Seeing the matinee
Wanted to see JOJ and he is brilliant as usual. Can only agree with how he singing and acting compliment each other
Disappointed that Bradley Jaden is off. Vinny Coyle gives a serviceable performance as Enjolras
I’ve think Michael Ball is fine as Javert. I’d rather see him again other others (I’m looking at you Haydn “growls like a pirate” Tee). The occasional change to the lyrics were occasionally odd (“I CAN only know one other”)
I want to see CHF again as Fantine. I enjoyed watching just her nuanced facial acting during I dreamed a dream and her singing is sublime. Say what you will about her I think she proves herself as a bonafide musical actress
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Post by David J on Nov 6, 2019 8:58:47 GMT
Dream cast, based on whom I've seen live Jean Valjean: John Owen Jones/Geromino Rauch Javert: Jeremy Secomb/Tam Mutu Fantine: Rachelle Ann Go/Sierra Boggess Thenardier: Steven Meo/Martin Ball (though if there was one who put the comedy first and worked for me it would be Tom Edden) Mme Thenardier: Vivien Parry Marius: Craig Mather Enjorlas: Bradley Jaden Oh and before I forget Carrie Hope Fletcher as Eponine
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Post by David J on Nov 6, 2019 0:40:11 GMT
Dream cast, based on whom I've seen live
Jean Valjean: John Owen Jones/Geromino Rauch Javert: Jeremy Secomb/Tam Mutu Fantine: Rachelle Ann Go/Sierra Boggess Thenardier: Steven Meo/Martin Ball (though if there was one who put the comedy first and worked for me it would be Tom Edden) Mme Thenardier: Vivien Parry Marius: Craig Mather Enjorlas: Bradley Jaden
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Post by David J on Nov 1, 2019 12:31:57 GMT
Not sure about Mary, but there was bootleg video on Youtube of Gavin Lee being stuck upside down halfway across the proscenium during Step In Time when that particular effect failed - he didn't actually make it all the way across the proscenium, it set him down right in the centre of the stage. Ive seen that and it should still be on youtube He did mid air somersaults on the pivot of that mechanism he is attached to on the way down. And the way he quickly recovered when he got down you’d think it was rehearsed. Just shows how some performers can recover or improvise on the spot when things don’t go right There’s a lovely blooper with the Ashley Brown as Mary in the broadway production staying in character when she couldn’t open a door in the kitchen scene and without hesitation told Mrs bank to take another exit (to which she enters the pantry)
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Post by David J on Oct 29, 2019 18:06:47 GMT
Is this swapping around happening next week. Is Joj performing on 6th matinee?
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Post by David J on Oct 24, 2019 6:03:31 GMT
And Step in Time has been wonderfully redone and it show-stopping. Charlie Stemp is not using cables isn’t he Is there anything that lad can’t do! Is Zizi less shrill in the high notes?
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Post by David J on Oct 22, 2019 10:50:52 GMT
They did let off confetti guns when Mary poplins makes her entrance at the end of cherry tree lane in the tour
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Post by David J on Oct 18, 2019 11:47:12 GMT
I think that's also my issue with the film (Anne Hathaway aside) If they'd cast "proper" musical theatre actors in the leads it would have been so much better. I have had many discussions about this with people. I totally agree that they should have cast "natural" singers, which naturally "act through song" instead of "in spite of song". And yes, often "proper" musical theatre actors can do that because they understand and master this language of acting through notes. Some people then said: "But this is film, not Broadway." That argument makes me angry. Because approaching this artform and language in a natural way works best on both film AND stage. What they do in the film is embarrassing. They speak 4 words, and then use a 5 second vibrato on the 5th word. They separate acted words from notes. Which makes it feel extremely broadway parody and insincere and embarrassing. Acting in spite of song. And then still sing a note. In the film Hugh Jackman speaks: "Now....come on....ladies...settle......and then he uses a 5 second forced fake Broadway vibrato on the word "dooooooooooooown". That is Broadway parody on not filmic and not natural. Every stage Valjean I have seen, and also in the ON SCREEN versions of both the 10th and 25th anniversary concerts this is much more natural, because both Valjeans (even Alfie Boe) are more filmic and natural than Hugh Jackman, and sing the line very natturally "now come on ladies, settle down (and they both keep the word "down" short, which is essential for that line to make it feel natural). Acting out every word on top of the note you hear is like children's theatre/pantomime and this over-acting/exaggeration ruins the material. It's double up. The material is already written like that for a reason and disrespecting that and acting in spite of song and over-acting is by no means the solution. About Anne Hathaway.....the only reason her scene somewhat worked is because she was crying her way through it. Using crying to apologize for non-singing always works, because crying revokes that per definition. If I see a stranger cry in the street I tend to cry too. For every other emotion and scene in the film it does not work. That's why the film is an unwatchable self-pitying crying drab. And still the notes don't make sense. It's just a showcase of "why the hell is she attempting singing at all between a sniff and an over-acted word". Objectively I agree that I have seen actresses onstage that have sung I Dreamed a Dream better than Anne Hathaway On the other hand Hathaway’s Fantine is the only one I cried for in that moment. A lot of it was it was because of her acting in that close up (the one close up that really worked for me) but I also felt the song being moved till after she’s been degraded added to that. I think where the Idad is sung is the reason i never feel emotion for fantine in the stage production.There’s no build up to it and you barely get to know her in person. There’s more emotional weight behind valjeans soliloquy because you get to know him and his suffering from himself during that prologue. For Fantine you are told about her from the factory workers point of view whilst she has a few lyrics in Ateotd And I feel that restricts what the actress can do in idad. Then again I’ve seen the same direction in the original version enough times that maybe the new version might bring something new, but I didn’t feel anything for Katie Halls fantine either. Only Rachelle Ann Go and possibly Sierra borgess made me feel anything. I’d like to see rachelle again next year for that reason So I don’t think Anne Hathaway is the best fantine. But i do prefer the film version of Fantine to the stage version Also I read somewhere that it takes some skill to sing and cry at the same time And Hugh Hackman’s bring him home was the worst rendition I’ve heard from a professional actor. He might as well had had sung through his nose it sounded so nasally. Worse than any of Russel Crowe’s singing I’d say
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Post by David J on Oct 9, 2019 20:05:35 GMT
What makes the role a challenging one for me is okay his jealousy is irrational with no cause to pinpoint, but what the actor needs to do is show convincingly how it overcomes him. Convince us that he would do the things he does to his son and wife and defy the gods
Greg Hicks was my first admittedly so he made quite an impression on me. But I thought he was quite scary in his demeanour and delivery as his jealousy took over. If there was a jealous husband i wouldn’t want to be in the same room with it would be him
Other Leontes over the years haven’t convince me as much. Kenneth Branagh and John Nettles resorted to angry shouting I felt.
Only Orlando James in the cheek by Jowl comes close. Seeing him turn from a loving husband to a a jealous man besides himself was quite tragic to watch. There was even a silent moment in the trial scene where he was fighting his irrationality with hermione trying to win him back that was quite enthralling to watch
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Post by David J on Oct 5, 2019 16:31:18 GMT
First time seeing the Hope Mill Theatre and it is certainly a lovely venue
I generally liked this show but it didn’t bowl me over. The strongest parts come from the cast overall giving a classy performance
Tracie Bennett does what Tracie Bennett knows best, giving every ounce of energy into this role. Perhaps the best moment though was her and Harriet Thorpe passing barbs between each other during Bosom Buddies
Otherwise the book itself is cliched and despite brief moments of poignancy and potential drama it skims along on the light hearted side. The story jumps time when it’s convenient and you think the musical is going somewhere with the Bueregard chap played marvellously by Tim Flavin but no soon are we in the second act then he is discarded. And moments like this and the Great Depression barely make an impact on Mame
Lovely direction fitting this musical in the contained set they have but nothing too imaginative
A good show but nothing more to me
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Post by David J on Oct 4, 2019 12:00:19 GMT
But they do go for trendy don’t they, these directors? It’s like what I said with the ‘issue plays’. Where the director cant just make a straight up good show that leaves the audience to make up their minds about what it’s about. Instead they want to make a statement about patriarchy, me too, racism, trump, far right, immigration, brexit or whatever is being screamed about on the streets these days. Stuff that the playwright may or may not have have talked about back in his time, but stuff like the description of WT sounds very forced Now I may be overreacting. I’ll wait till reviews to see whether I want to see in the cinemas. Maybe it will be more subtle than the blurb suggests. Maybe it will be an ok production that is less than it aimed to be (which I think will be the case with Erica Whyman directing) But just look at how the blurb compares to Errors and Pericles. The other two remains vague without aggrandising any statements they are aiming to make. And they don’t make uninspired references to tv shows
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Post by David J on Oct 4, 2019 11:01:04 GMT
I called it on this ‘lost families in far away lands’ season with Errors, Winters Tale and Pericles
Looking at the description of Winters Tale..........No, just No. This looks too obvious and heavy handed
I’ll watch Errors and pericles in the cinema
Peer Gynt I’d love to see. Blindness and Seeing looks interesting. I’d make a trip for the weekend for those two
Fingers crossed HVI is in the swan. A hopeful sign that Doran will leave it to someone with more vision
Heck can we just have another revival of Michael Boyds version pretty please! It did start off in the swan after all
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Post by David J on Oct 2, 2019 21:24:18 GMT
My problem with r+j is that it feels like two plays in one
After the start it feels like a romance with comedic relief. That’s the best part of the play
Then it slows down in the second half for the tragedy. Two of the most memorable characters have died and now we watch the stars slowly align as circumstance after unfortunate circumstance lead to the lovers death
Still Godwin is currently my favourite Shakespeare director and have faith in him to put on a good production at least
He just needs to give the play a certain ‘oomph’. Something like Rupert Gould’s violent and fiery version
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Post by David J on Oct 1, 2019 8:59:03 GMT
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Post by David J on Sept 30, 2019 23:25:56 GMT
Zac does the Monday night show and a midweek matinee, if it is a 9 show week. K.D. is contacted to do seven shows a week. I should have expected it was the traditional understudy valjean night on Mondays like the queens. Can’t complain since I’m always up for seeing different people in the roles and I was lucky to find that return ticket last week. Spoke to the woman next to me whose friend had the seat but couldn’t come.
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Post by David J on Sept 30, 2019 22:31:22 GMT
Managed to get a seat further forwards in the stalls for tonight
Had Zac Hamilton as Valjean so there’s goes the opportunity to see Donnelly after his queens run. But I was impressed by Hamilton. His vibrato was noticeable in the higher notes but he gave a solid performance
Nic Greenshields was certainly the highlight. He certainly knows how to sing and act the notes. Perhaps a bit limited in the facial and bodily expression department but nevertheless he stood out the most
One oddity was he wasn’t wearing his inspectors uniform in the Paris scenes tonight. Don’t know whether this was a one off
I remember reading praise (possibly from the old forum) for Martin Ball as Thenardier when he was in the queens production so was excited to see him. Definetly one of the best who doesn’t rely on comedy and shows how nasty the character is.
I liked Harry Apps as Marius. After meeting Cosette he acts like a child experiencing love for the first time. Nice that he committed to it even if he over egged it at times (he had a singin in the rain lamppost moment in red and black).
Leo Miles was a bit charismatic as Enjolras but whereas Will Richardson likes to hold up his fist, Miles likes to thrust his hand out at others a lot during the abc cafe scene.
Katie Hall I liked though few Fantines stand out to me. Tegan Bannister was good too expressing her love for Marius but she could show more in on my own
I never thought I’d see the day when Gavorche gives Javert the finger!
As to the production, well despite my bias to the original this is certainly a breath of fresh air after seeing the same motions from the former. I particularly liked how Cossette seemed to have more agency in this version. Don’t know if that’s understudy Emma Warrens interpretation or whether she’s directed that way
Loved Javert’s Suicide and the music booming out. Like the projections and battles. Still miss the original’s silhouettes of the poor in ateotd, the barricades and revolve (if only we can have the best of two worlds). Please add the locations and dates
Not keen on how at the end of the day now transitions to I dreamed a dream. Clearly they want to play Idad like the film but it felt forced and abrupt
Oh and I hate the students walking on in plain sight during empty chairs and the ending. Looks pathetic compared to them walking out of the darkness
Is eponine now taking the bullet for Marius? I missed it but it was certainly different to how she’s originally shot. I certainly noticed they make a reference to the book when convict valjean took a coin from a boy
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Post by David J on Sept 28, 2019 23:46:25 GMT
Saw this last Thursday on my holiday to the north. Having seen the 2016 Chichester production I was excited to see this again with Alex Kingston in the lead role. Stupidly I got the wrong time and so I got in 30 minutes late but having known the story I had no problem catching up, getting in before Dr Stockmann meets her brother about her report, and it gave me the opportunity to see how much Ibsen cared about writing about characters, as I expressed on The Doctor thread, theatreboard.co.uk/post/307762/thread. Perhaps one of the most fundamental principles of writing characters is to make them flawed. As the play goes on it becomes less about the poisoned water baths and the power struggles between Stockmann and her brother, the Mayor, but how people can be so fickle, turn on a dime, or take the truth and make it political. And at the heart is Dr Stockmann, who you obviously side with from the start as she tries to get the truth out. But gradually you get to see she has an ego problem as she forgets the truth of the matter and uses it to stoke her sense of superiority over everyone. It makes the Mayor look the reasonable one. I remember thinking that Hugh Bonneville's 19th century Stockmann was more restrained who only broke during the public meeting. Alex Kingston plays this modern Stockmann as out and out activist with a never ending spew of incendiary words (and plenty of swear words in this version) and boy does she give a fiery performance, at moments acting like a teenager in her defiance against her brother. Such brilliant performances from her and Malcolm Sinclair's icy Mayor. And can I just say what an old-trooper Sinclair is who knows how to give a clearly enunciated performance. Even when everybody was miked his he sounded like the voice of god sitting at the back of the auditorium. Otherwise there's not one weak performance in this Again the production shows how Ibsen is relevant as ever. Whilst the 2016 production had everyone drawing comparisons with Brexit, I could see the parallels between Stockmann's rants in the public meeting to the shrieks from the MPs in the Commons last week or Greta Thunberg's "I want you to panic" rhetoric. They could learn a lot from Ibsen. I prefer the Chichester production for the scale it had, but I won’t hold it against this more intimate version. Perhaps the modern update fell short in the last scene (who would get away with drawing kids away to their own unofficial, thrown together school in the western world). But otherwise great production
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Post by David J on Sept 26, 2019 15:34:25 GMT
The choice of young people seats in the main theatre were becoming less appetising by the time I could no longer buy them anyway
The standing ones at the back of the stalls are more appealing to me (not that I’ve had any reason to to come up and see anything in the main theatre this year anyway)
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Post by David J on Sept 19, 2019 16:10:07 GMT
I'd like some advice
I'm going up north for a holiday and am pondering nipping up to Newcastle to see the current cast.
A lot of seats have gone. I've found a U33 or T32 right in the corner of the back of the stalls or C2 in the Grand circle
Otherwise I've found some end seats in the ampitheatre part of the gallery
I'm not fussed about views. I'm going to be in the front stalls when I see the new cast at the Mayflower
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Post by David J on Sept 15, 2019 17:21:03 GMT
This didn’t make an impact for me unfortunately
Booked upon the above comments and how this play addresses this pc culture we live in, our prejudices and identity politics. Something I keep reading about and listening from critical commentators youtube and take issue with
So watching this I felt the play didn't bring anything new to the table for me. Felt angry during the tv panel scene but otherwise it was an intellectually interesting but unengaging play
Juliet Stevenson was on form as usual and I felt for her character. Can’t say the same for the others. they felt like mouth pieces for all these opposing views the play expresses. Like I said, less a play about story and the characters and more about the issues
Couldn’t even see the point about dr wolff’s partner that occasionally comes on to chat or announce the next scene. Not enough time spent on them to care and for me the play ended with the dr and the priest. It crawled on after that
Happy this play is putting onstage stuff that needs to be addressed but otherwise it didnt do anything for me
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Post by David J on Sept 14, 2019 16:59:08 GMT
Went to this on a whim after reading the good reviews and I quite agree with them
New play from New Zealand by Emma Kinane, it follows a junior social worker consoling these two parents because their son has run away, as well as finding out the root cause. The play also switches with the son and his sister grown up and trying to leave the past behind
So you can figure out that nothing’s what it seems but Kinane keeps you invested as the truth slowly comes out with complex characters who have a myriad of problems.
More importantly the acting from the whole cast is top notch, working off each other brilliantly. It’s quite emotional by the second act
At times the story feels a little arbitrary, the scene changes felt clunky but I suppose it comes with being in a small space, and sometimes it looked as if these light strips didn’t know whether to stay on and off
But otherwise give this a go. Today’s matinee only had a few people in sadly
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Post by David J on Sept 10, 2019 17:43:49 GMT
A towie MWW with brexit references and the welsh guy getting the audience to join in a song is not what I call entertaining
And the rsc has had some visionary directors put on some truly outstanding productions of Shakespeares plays
I still remember the ghosts walking the stage in Boyds Histories, the dust falling on Jonathan Slinger’s downcast Richard II, the coffins laid on the floor in Boyds Henry v, Sylvestor McCoys fool being hanged, the bookcases toppling over before a large puppet bear made out of book pages appeared in David Farr’s Winters Tale, the diskjocying bottom in Dorans Midsummer, and then the cracked glass and the puppet owl in his Hamlet and Loves Labours Lost, the fire belching from the stage in Rupert Gould’s Romeo and juliet, the sight of Portia dancing on one heel shoe in his merchant of Venice, Ariel taking off Prosperos suit in David Farr’s The Tempest, Viola clambering our of the tank of water in his Twelfth Night, the glorious music in Maria Abergs as you like it, or even the compelling acting in Dorans African Julius Caesar
Under Gregory Doran’s tenure I can think of the ending Loves labours lost, ptsd dogberry, Hamlets paintings, the tree in Cymbeline and the ending battle scenes in Dorans Troilus and Cressida
What the rsc lacks is creatives with some ‘out there’ ideas who don’t play safe and follow trends (gender swapping the shrew) but take Shakespeares plays to completely different and exciting places. People who can make you feel or see something in his works that you never felt or thought of before. With top notch actors working with them and are willing to give the audience their 110%
The only place you’ll find that is in the swan theatre
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Post by David J on Sept 10, 2019 16:19:33 GMT
It certainly takes a skill to write a long, slow moving play that keeps your interest. I like the way Annie Barker writes but it certainly needs a good pay off
The Flick I felt succeeded with a satisfying ending that spoke to me personally. Enjoyed watching John but it just ended on a disappointing note considering what the characters did up until then. I didn't need to sit through 3 hours and 20 minutes for that.
Still I'm going to see The Antipodes. Annie Barker is certainly not to everyone's tastes but to me the journey is more important watching her plays, which are at a different pace to everything else.
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Post by David J on Sept 10, 2019 7:12:20 GMT
RSC have just said they work with the most innovative directors name them for me... They’d say Maria Aberg. Here’s how they’re promoting the Winter production of King John on their website. “Please be aware that this production contains a food fight onstage and you may not escape if you are sat on the front rows ! “ That final exclamation mark is just pathetic. As for Maria Aberg, she did direct the best As You Like It I've seen but I do wonder if she was told to restrain her "stylistic" choices
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