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Post by Mr Snow on Jan 12, 2017 11:36:34 GMT
Bit of a fracas at Much Ado at TRH yesterday evening. During the second half I heard a rather loud “Oh shut up!”, but thought nothing more of it. However, after curtain call an altercation took place in the stalls. It seems someone objected to the rather over the top laughter from another audience member. The latter was part of a group mostly in their 20s, the objector a guy part of a group of older audience members. It seems his objection left the other in tears. The argument moved from the stalls to the area behind the stalls when friends separated the protagonists. Both fortunately avoided contact in the street outside. I was not sure what to make of it. I did hear the laughter and did think it a bit much, but it did not bother me. However, it was not taking place right behind me. Was the laughter natural or affected (or even effected!)? I am not sure. On the other hand if that was behind me, I can imagine watching the play hoping there is not another funny line coming (which is not ideal!). Of course I don’t know the whole story (e.g. whether the objector said something quieter and more polite earlier), but it is one of the few occasions when I am not sure which side the bad behaviour was on! Mmm its seems it’s not just the kids. The pair below were senior citizens. Royal Opera House last night, Amphitheatre L Rows C&D (I believe) Although this is a fabulous new Production of Der Rosenkavalier, the big draw last night was the final performances from one of the very greatest Diva’s of the past quarter century, Renee Fleming. As she came on stage you could feel the excitement but at the very moment she starts to sign a stage whisper comes from the end of the row, “Oh Shut up”, a few seconds later its repeated. Then a reply from the person in the next row, slightly less audible. This interchange continues with both sides managing a “no you shut up”. Hard to take sides. I know a Gentleman would never embarrass anyone, not even the person in front doing the talking, but we’ve all had to sit through too much of that. Luckily the rest of the evening more than made up for this.
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Post by Mr Snow on Jan 11, 2017 10:45:38 GMT
So can the leads sing? Strange that there has been no discussion of this given all the debate re Emma Watson About as well as Nicole Kidman or Ewan McGregor or..... ie you wouldn't want to go to a concert they gave but they get by. I think its acknowledged that since Marlon Brando was cast as Nathan Detroit, in Hollywoodland it's more important we like the singer than love the voice.
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Post by Mr Snow on Jan 11, 2017 6:47:51 GMT
I wonder how long before this delicate charming colourful chamber piece of a musical heads to the stage. Nice summation. My worry is that take away the chemistry of the performers and the direction and what have you got? The strenghts are not in the plot or the songs (or the singing and dancing for that matter). I was happy to suspend my critical faculties and just enjoy. I am a little worried that on the small screen it may not impress as I still hope it will charm me for years to come. Funny because in 'real life' I am extremely sensitive to spotting which charmers have no talent to back it up. It's a musical.
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Post by Mr Snow on Jan 9, 2017 10:04:32 GMT
www.pizzaexpresslive.com/whats-on/steve-ross-the-song-is-youSteve Ross is a legend in the New York Cabaret Scene. Reputedly has 10 000 songs from the Great American Songbook in his head. He came to prominence in the revival of the Cabaret singer in the 80s at venues like the Algonquin and the Rainbow Rooms (atop the World Trade Centre). He was a regular visitor here to Pizza in the park in the 90’s and noughties. He reassembles an even thinner Fred Astaire and always appears in Black Tie. His Piano playing is fantastic and the Astaire comparison is apt for his voice is light but his diction immaculate. I’ve never seen him tap dance! One night, between sets he sat and chatted with us. Full of charm and always keen to talk about favourite songwriters. A class act. Sadly I will be away that weekend. Hope you can enjoy.
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Post by Mr Snow on Jan 9, 2017 6:18:27 GMT
The penny has finally dropped. I thought you looked familiar...
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Post by Mr Snow on Jan 8, 2017 21:12:43 GMT
It came, I saw, It conquered.
If you've ever loved movie musicals its at the very least, a must see.
Will resist going overboard as I've just come out on a complete high.
PS Do not wait for the DVD/Blueray needs to be seen on a widescreen.
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Post by Mr Snow on Jan 6, 2017 7:57:14 GMT
Bruno Tonioli gushing like a schoolgirl over anyone involved with the film. Who was the woman doing dome of the interviews? I believe it is Suzy Klein? en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suzy_KleinI will watch this on my own as Mrs Snow has started observing me very closely each time Ms. Klein appears.
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Post by Mr Snow on Jan 5, 2017 11:13:54 GMT
This is exciting, although I think Tarantino wasn't wrong when he said that after a certain age, creatives tend to lose their streak. Maybe Steve will prove us all wrong. I think this 'rule' is less applicable to musicians. Joe Green was considered retired when he produced two absolute masterpieces. They were innovative and the second one was a light hearted and fleet of foot as a young man might dream of. He was 74 when Otello premiered and 80 for Falstaff. With all the advances in medical science today, Sondheim’s 87 years might seem to be at least as young. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giuseppe_Verdi Fingers crossed that this is a) great and b) not his swansong. PS the Ades Opera is at the Royla Opera House this spring. Tickets are heavily discounted on their normal prices. On sale soon For those tempted to try, but put off by the cost and 'Royal' thing; the acoustics in the Slips are great and its a lively group up there. Expect to pay £15 a ticket, You can see most of the tops of the heads on stage! One of the great bargains in London. www.roh.org.uk/productions/the-exterminating-angel-by-tom-cairns
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Post by Mr Snow on Jan 4, 2017 15:37:49 GMT
I really do think theatres need to start doing firmer announcements at the start of the show. The days of the 'Please refrain from using your phone during the performance' are gone. Instead what's needed is an assertive 'Turn off your blooming phones, sit still, be quiet and don't you dare sing along.' - preferably with bouncers on standby to forcibly remove/taser any offenders. Stop pussying around!! We need a law similar to that on Airlines, "Philistine behaviour wil be dealt with by strapping your hands and feet to the sides of your chairs and your mouth will be securely gagged. The keys to your shackles will be provided to the morning cleaners. Now we hope you ALL enjoy the show."
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Post by Mr Snow on Jan 4, 2017 7:50:51 GMT
OK you got me intrigued.
Wiki looks interesting.
One of the benefits of this board, making me aware. Thanks.
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Post by Mr Snow on Dec 18, 2016 17:39:02 GMT
Not theatre but great drama and very funny to boot. Bill Nighy playing Bill Nighy. Well Charles Paris in the latest mystery. Tomorrow is episode 3 of 4 but all still on radio iplayer. I still think he's the best Bill Nighy but sometimes Hugh Grant is comes close and Tom Hollander is showing early promiss...
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Post by Mr Snow on Dec 18, 2016 11:14:36 GMT
Haven't read all this thread but I'm surprised no one has commented on ...you see someone in the theatre who looks familiar and you start to make your way over only to realise how you 'know' them. It's happened to me several times and I think part of it is they are usually dressed down, i.e. not showbissy. (I find that a little disspointing - "its the Stars that have gotten smaller")
Last summer I turned around and recognised the chap next to me wearing a suit and flat cap and was within a heartbeat of saying "Hello". Well you don't expect to bump into Jools Holland in the Foyer of the ROH before a perfomance of Tannhauser, do you?
PS a few years ago Sophie Ellis Bextor was stalking me at the Theatre...but thats for another thread.
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Post by Mr Snow on Dec 15, 2016 14:24:44 GMT
I never saw a D’Oyly Carte production but it’s an interesting thought.
I understood Gilbert to be fanatical about the actors following direction so I’m not so sure he’d agree with the updates. Opera seemed to be late to the 20C theatrical revolution in staging and by the end D’Oyly Carte must have seemed terribly old hat, redeemed only by the quality of singers it had who can be found on CD’s e.g. Valerie Masterson. These singers probably kept it going when the umpteenth revival had otherwise lost all its verve. But the company and their productions were such a part of being British, like going to a Panto, that it survived until 1982!
In the 60s there was an audience for nostalgia e.g. Oh What a Lovely War or the old Players Theatre (Which I visited several times) nightly performing Music Hall and Variety in the old styles and costumes – or rather a pastiche as currently seen on BBC 4 reviving The Good Old Days. When they were shown first time I hated them and wasn’t attracted to G&S at all. IN Absolute Beginners by Colin McCinnes, the lead character goes to an annual Savoy production as a sort of contrast to the modern London all around him. He had one foot in both camps the old and the new. That was the late 50’s and during the 60’s I think they were seen as part of what Rock! was rebelling against. During my coming of age decade, the 70’s, I saw them as irrelevant to the young. Frankly I was a little surprised to check that final date of 1982.
However, things have since looked up and G&S’s future seems relatively secure to me, as Directors reinvent them e.g. The Mikado and Pirates at the ENO. Those two and Pinafore will continue to be revived and I think all the others will become curios. I doubt an ‘original’ production could find an audience today.
(One doomy note is how long will The ENO continue. It does seem like the new London home for these.)
Long may they continue to entertain and be performed.
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Post by Mr Snow on Dec 15, 2016 10:07:58 GMT
My my she does seem to be entirely made of marmite.
In her defence the only comment below suggests that she doesn’t claim to be an Opera singer, but that didn’t stop someone compiling this…
(Sorry Katherine, next time I’m in a charity shop I promise not to overlook your CD’s in the secondhand rails. I’ll leave her alone now.)
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Post by Mr Snow on Dec 15, 2016 7:02:05 GMT
Dec 14, 2016 22:50:54 GMT londonmzfitz said: Katie Melua does a stunning, stinking number with a Georgian choir. Not sure we'll get the full effect of this on the wireless.
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Post by Mr Snow on Dec 13, 2016 13:32:22 GMT
Don’t like commercial Christmas Music at all. There’s no escape it’s the same tunes everywhere and even if I did like it once I’m sick of it now. Bah Humbug? Fine.
However, I have to thank Robert Elms who every year plays this as Christmas approaches. Amazing music with an amazing story. This one does make me reflect.
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Post by Mr Snow on Dec 13, 2016 12:57:50 GMT
Oh, and does anyone else feel the need to celebrate with theatre tickets to mark family birthdays right out to your third cousin and all pets (including individual goldfish), royals down to Duchess of Kent level, anniversaries of starting and leaving school and university, passing driving test, purchase of TV set, expiry of extended guarantee on TV set etc, etc, etc? Haven't thought of those. But whenever possible I do like to attend special events on Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, Fridays AND Saturdays. I tend to have Sunday's off. After all I need to remind myself, I'm not a complete lunatic.
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Post by Mr Snow on Dec 13, 2016 12:51:48 GMT
For those who are curious about Opera, this Christmas there’s a treat.
BBC 4 at 8pm on Sunday the 18th The Barber of Seville – Filmed at Glyndebourne. This small British Opera house features the highest standards and the Opera itself is a comic treat. Definitely worth a look if you haven’t seen it before.
Preceded by an hour long documentary of Danielle de Niese preparing for her role as Despina. Its then followed by another documentary about Mozart’s time in London.
Thank you BBC. Merry Christmas to Tristram’s everywhere. (AAG RIP).
Who can resist?
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Post by Mr Snow on Dec 12, 2016 14:02:10 GMT
Where will it all end, a new film adaptation of the forthcoming Groundhog Day musical?
On seeing Sideshow what stuck home was how it was such a good topic for a stage show/musical. I very much doubt the sisters could have ever been so real on screen. Now it could have been better handled but the point remains. Some subjects are more suited to stage and some to film. Otherwise why not just ask Stephen Sondheim to adapt Avatar?
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Post by Mr Snow on Dec 10, 2016 11:06:30 GMT
I'm meeting friends who are attending todays matinee. Any idea what time it might finish?
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Post by Mr Snow on Dec 10, 2016 10:50:23 GMT
I have a question after reading it in another thread. What is a libretto? The libretto is another word for the 'book' of a musical, so all the dialogue and spoken word/structure Well maybe. It's Italian meaning booklet or small book. Use in the theatre comes from Opera which has no or very limited spoken word, pretty much everything is sung. In a musical you have Book, Music and Lyrics. So I would include the Book and the Lyrics in the meaning?
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Post by Mr Snow on Dec 9, 2016 17:10:14 GMT
Two Sundays ago as mentioned on another thread, I collected Christmas Tree that had been used as a prop, from the stage of the LP. This was my first time on a famous stage so maybe they are all like this but I was astounded by how ‘intimate’ it seemed. The lights were up but nothing seemed that far from the stage. But behind the back cloth, you are outside straight away, there’s a ramp and then you’re straight out onto Great Marlborough Street. Being a complete idiot I forgot to take a picture but it was totally thrilling. Flashback 35 years to my birthday, "I'm standing where they once stood" …. www.everafterguide.com/ella-fitzgerald-oscar-peterson-london-palladium-14th-19th-april-1981-framed-and-mounted-print-20x18cm-e618e30474d9691e.html
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Post by Mr Snow on Dec 8, 2016 13:04:51 GMT
Well there's the 1985 (!!!!) concert veriosn of Follies.
Doesn't get any more live than this.
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Post by Mr Snow on Dec 8, 2016 7:46:37 GMT
Pleased to see some action in the Opera Forum.
A couple of comments. I have been told and my own experience backs up, that the sound at the front of the Amphitheatre is excellent and less so the further up you go. If possible stick to the first 5 rows. Higher up I've not enjoyed productions much at all and will avoid those tickets in future.
But I love the whole Slips trip and find the sound good and value unsurpassed. It really does feel like "Les enfants du paradis."
Il Trovatore. Now I really do love Verdi but I have couple of blindspots. Macbeth and this. It's brilliant on CD- start with Karajan/Callas -but in the Theatre it’s just too nuts! I enjoyed it more before surtitles arrived. Saw this production in the summer run and it looks great, but IMO it couldn’t overcome the plot. I've seen a new production every one of the last 4 decades and I think I'm done with this Opera. Its popularity suggests I'm very much in a minority here.
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Post by Mr Snow on Dec 8, 2016 7:36:14 GMT
I was a Friend for many years and found the best value seats were the "Semi restricted views" at the sides of the stalls circle. The sound was good and most of the'big no's' are delivered from the front of the stage.
Last year I rejoined as a basic Friend and find there are now several levels and those seats are now snapped up before I can apply.
Am considering upgrading as renewal must be soon, but hoping to secure cheaper tickets. It's a strange world.
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