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Post by greeny11 on Oct 28, 2021 7:42:55 GMT
Marcus did the matinees pre-covid, so I guess once they’ve settled back into the show, that will be the schedule again.
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Post by greeny11 on Oct 27, 2021 18:13:13 GMT
Saw this for a second time this afternoon, this time with Georgina in the lead role. Seeing it for the second time did rather show up some of the flaws in the book rhat I missed the first time. Pretty much any Cinderella/Sebastian interaction is very cheesy and I couldn’t get into into their partnership. I also was less of a fan of Ivano this time, his voice is fine, but having heard an audio, I would have preferred to see Michael Hamway. His acting was rather hammy too. I liked Georgina a lot as Cinderella, and she has a great voice, but I think I prefer Carrie. We had Michelle Bishop as the Stepmother and she played it in almost exactly the same way as VHB - she was very funny. I think the score is the strongest part of this show, and I really like it, but the book needs significant improvements if this is to make it to Broadway.
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Post by greeny11 on Oct 26, 2021 19:59:21 GMT
Understudy Frank this week, Jordan Fox, as Stephen Webb has Covid. Pretty bad timing for Stephen but great opportunity for Jordan.
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Post by greeny11 on Oct 26, 2021 14:17:49 GMT
Sorry, my wording was poor, we had the principal Piangi. I'll be honest, I wasn't particularly paying close attention to him, but his Piangi was definitely more interested in men than he was Carlotta, so it wouldn't have surprised me if he was.
Incidentally, I'd seen Killian earlier in the day at the Apple store in Regent Street while I was in the process of buying a new phone, so I was a touch surprised when he wasn't on that night (presumably he was taking a planned day off), but I was pleased to have James Gant. In all honesty, I think James has a stronger voice for Phantom than Killian, so I would definitely be happy to see him as Phantom next time I go.
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Post by greeny11 on Oct 26, 2021 5:16:49 GMT
Saw this last night and was pleasantly surprised by how much of the original production was still there based on comments here. I did notice the changes mentioned, but was somehow expecting more changes. I didn't care for any of the lyric changes, I prefer the original lyrics in most case - and don't think the new lyrics added anything. I did like the new chandelier effects, and the end of act 1 with the Phantom on the statue was good - as it came round on the stage, with the slight underscoring, it did give me the creeps (in a good way). There were only 2 times when I noticed the reduced orchestra - the final chorus of Masquerade and in the Final Lair. It definitely didn't sound as full as it used to during those scenes.
Cast wise, we had James Gant as the Phantom, and he is already one of my favourite Phantoms - such a strong voice. I also really liked Lucy St Louis and Rhys Whitfield, who both had very strong voices and good chemistry as Christine and Raoul - Lucy's high note at the end of the title song sounded a bit odd though. Understudy Carlotta and Piangi were good, as were the managers, and I really enjoyed Francesca Ellis as Mme Giry.
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Post by greeny11 on Oct 26, 2021 5:04:25 GMT
Saw this on Sunday - programme says 2 hours 15 minutes, but it's closer to 2 hours 40 minutes based on Sunday. I thought this was OK, but not amazing. The cast did a great job, and we had the alternate Bob (Michael Duke) who did a great job as Bob. The songs were good, No Woman No Cry and One Love being my favourites. The story felt rushed to me, and there were parts of the story that seemed to be skipped over or rushed, as there were several moments where I was left confused by what was happening because the previous scene showed Bob in a completely different light - I'm thinking of the scenes with Bob and Rita/Cindi. I'm not sure I would see it again, but it was OK.
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Post by greeny11 on Oct 24, 2021 9:09:38 GMT
Was at Back to the Future and Les Mis yesterday and both checked everyone's Covid passes - and at BTTF, asked for masks to be worn. I'm guessing some hadn't brought a mask, but I'd say about 65-70% of the BTTF audience wore a mask throughout. It was less at Les Mis, but still signficantly more than what I've seen at most shows. Both journeys on the tube were also mostly masked people - I'd say 80-90% masked in the carriages I was in. Compared to back home, mask wearing is a lot more prevalent in London.
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Post by greeny11 on Oct 17, 2021 16:38:55 GMT
According to West End Understudies, his cover made his debut September 22nd and was on for all the shows that week, so I suspect that's when he had it. I would imagine the editing will be why he's just posted it now.
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Post by greeny11 on Oct 16, 2021 18:17:26 GMT
Hugh Coles (George McFly) is off with Covid. Made a very amusing vid to say as much lol One of the highlights of the show IMO, he's absolutely uncanny x I think he's back now based on his latest Instagram story. I would agree that he is one of the standouts in this show, very funny and endearing.
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Post by greeny11 on Oct 15, 2021 16:12:16 GMT
Seems quite unusual to have one actor have 3 1st cover principal roles - great opportunity for the 2nd covers who are more likely to get shows in this arrangement.
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Post by greeny11 on Sept 24, 2021 16:19:30 GMT
Nice to see someone I've seen on stage (out of drag) on the show - Nick Collier (Ella Vaday). He was originally going to be in Hairspray and then wasn't in the new cast, which made me think something was up, but wasn't expecting him to turn up on Drag Race. I liked both of Ella's outfits and loved the makeup - I hope Ella goes far.
I personally agreed with the top 2 and bottom 2, and with the lip sync results. I'm not a fan of Charity Kase as that style of drag is not my thing at all.
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Post by greeny11 on Sept 4, 2021 22:42:04 GMT
The audience were wild this evening, and I thought the roof was going to come off the Empire when You Can't Stop The Beat started, such was the cheer from the audience. I've seen all 5 tours (both original production tours, and the 3 tours of this production) and Hairspray always gets an incredible response here.
The cast are brilliant - standouts for me were Katie Brace as Tracy, Rebecca Thornhill and Jessica Croll as the von Tussles, Rebecca Jayne-Davies as Penny (she nailed the growl in Without Love) and Brenda Edwards as Motormouth Maybelle, but the whole cast did a brilliant job with such a great show. I was even able to forgive the cheap 'set' because the performances were so good.
Almost all the script changes for the London show are in the tour version, but only one of the lyric changes ('sees both white and black') is in.
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Post by greeny11 on Sept 4, 2021 17:53:48 GMT
Having seen the West End cast multiple times over the summer, I am now seeing the tour cast in Liverpool. I already know it’s a cheap/non-existent set, but looking forward to it. Covid pass checks more thorough than many of the London theatres I have been to this summer.
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Post by greeny11 on Aug 29, 2021 19:28:27 GMT
I do agree that nothing winds me up than someone filming a show, and doing so in the front row is the height of rudeness as far as I'm concerned. However some shows, Six in particular, are encouraging the filming of the curtain call and megamix - which I personally think is a great idea for that show. That said, I wouldn't film a curtain call at a show where it's not explicitly stated that you can, albeit several performers retweet videos of curtain calls from their shows onto their timelines.
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Post by greeny11 on Aug 28, 2021 9:24:16 GMT
In response to someone who asked this question - this is her first show:
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Post by greeny11 on Aug 26, 2021 14:10:34 GMT
We didn't have Bradley Judge (who is off with Covid) - Gavin Alex was on as Corny Collins, and I agree he was great. I agree that Marisha and Michael were great too - I can see where you're coming from with Les, but I do like him with Michael, they make a good duo. I guess where you're sat would affect how well you can hear the actors, I could hear Mari and Georgia perfectly well from where I was sat, but when I saw it further back last week, I did notice it was more a struggle - particularly with Mari as she puts on a cartoonish voice in her portrayal of Penny. You raise a very interesting point about Ashley, I've seen him 5 times and not noticed that, but thinking about it - that is true, but then pretty much every Seaweed I've seen sings it to the audience, so that may be a direction issue rather than Ashley - he does sing it brilliantly though.
I'm not sure what time you entered the auditorium, but there were 2 announcements for masks, one just before 7, and another about 7.20 - but it was more a polite request for people with masks to wear them. Maybe something more direct may have helped with mask wearing,
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Post by greeny11 on Aug 26, 2021 14:02:21 GMT
The best shows for mask wearing I've seen have been Six, Joseph and Be More Chill - signs were very prominent at the latter 2, and there's a very clear announcement before Six from one of the queens asking for face coverings to be worn.
That said, mask wearing was good at Anything Goes on Sunday, so it does depend on the individuals to make that choice.
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Post by greeny11 on Aug 26, 2021 13:53:51 GMT
To Break In A Glove won't be missed, but the others are more surprising.
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Post by greeny11 on Aug 25, 2021 17:28:45 GMT
No Covid checks as far as I could see when I went on Sunday.
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Post by greeny11 on Aug 25, 2021 6:22:12 GMT
The score wasn't particularly memorable, but it was fine. I remember liking several of the songs, but can't actually remember what any of them go like now.
That being said, there's so much to like about this anyway that I didn't really care - I loved the opening graphics, the set/effects were fantastic, the cast were great, and it's actually very funny in a lot of places. Hugh Coles stole the show for me as George, but I also really liked Olly Dobson and Roger Bart, and Cedric Neal did great work with his songs too.
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Post by greeny11 on Aug 24, 2021 11:23:17 GMT
I saw this last Thursday and thought it was fine. Grace was on as Chloe and she was over the top, which comments above seem to indicate that is how the character is normally played. The score is pretty forgettable to be honest, but I did like the finale number. The cast were very good - I particularly liked Scott Folan, Blake Anderson and Stewart Clarke.
I was very impressed with the protocols in place at the Shaftesbury, and mask wearing was almost at 100% inside the auditorium, which compared with some of the other shows I've seen this week, was great to see.
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Post by greeny11 on Aug 23, 2021 20:02:16 GMT
Fridays used to be the alternate night, not sure if that will change when it reopens.
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Post by greeny11 on Aug 23, 2021 18:04:00 GMT
The checks don’t take long, as long as you already have your Covid pass open - logging onto the app is the most time consuming part of the process.
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Post by greeny11 on Aug 23, 2021 9:44:23 GMT
Nothing Covid-wise got checked on Saturday, but I didn't know if that was just because they were trying to get us all in as quickly as possible as the show was already running extremely late.
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Post by greeny11 on Aug 21, 2021 18:10:45 GMT
I had my second Pfizer on Tuesday. Had physio for my hip straight afterwards so completely forgot about the jab until I went to bed and tried to lay on that arm. The following day I had a very slight temperature and headache, but have been fine since. Overall I'd say my first one was worse as my arm was a lot more painful including nervy pain in my shoulder which drove me mad and lasted a few days. Pretty much exactly the same as what I had. The arm was much more sore after the first jab than the second, while the other symptoms were similar after both. I did get a text before my second, but that was because they wanted to bring the date of my second jab forward.
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