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The boost you have from being near the front will most likely far outweigh being central at the back. The view at the very back is usually obstructed anyway, because there are just so many people in front of you, not to mention people getting up and down during the show, which you get a lot more of in these more popular, far reaching musicals.

I half agree with you, however considering what is going on with this, keeping the same row is basically the best result you are going to get, people are not getting similar seats at all, so, although this is less than ideal, it seems to be something everyone is going to have to put up with to some degree.

Has anyone watched the TV show Crazy Ex Girlfriend? It's on Netflix at the moment.

It's a show which includes origanal musical numbers and is quite quirky.

There's some good songs in it, and it's quite good escapism.

I've only seen Amber. As you said, her voice is perfection, truly amazing.

From the dress circle though, I got absolutely no performance from her, her eyeline is forever low, so she really doesn't reach back, God knows about those in the God's. I missed something in the performance, as there's so much to play with with Effie.

Yes, I agree.

I found the staging quite off putting though. The mirrors on the table were quite high, I just felt they distracted me, and like you say, those words should be pleaded to someone who is there still.

Why compare the two? If you have to shut the balcony it's not that different surely? Likewise amending prices too, surely there's not much difference to discounting?

I don't see why the need to compare.

This was so bad, I kind of enjoyed it in a way.

The amount of things they left out was crazy, only to add bits nobody would have called for. Why on earth have the parents sing the last bit time of my life?

She couldn't dance and he couldn't lift her. They had no chemistry at all.
They missed out her little speech in his room, Lisa's Hula song, the dance part of them in the studio to love is strange,him kicking down the thing to break the car window. Also her mother doesn't say 'I think she gets it from me', no 'she can't even do the meringue' and he doesn't hit Robbie!

Add in the mum and dad singing, and all of the reworked songs.

It was awful, but I'm glad I saw it in all it's awful glory!

I've actually known very well known people post on forums, not just in musical theatre.

And then again, there are some, oftentimes the foolish, who believe that just because something is very expensive, it means it is always of high quality.
There is often a very big difference between what something costs and what something is worth.

Oh, I actually think I will love it. It's my type of show, but I don't mind seeing something I'm not going to fall in love with,like TM says, it let's you see what you do love and opens your eyes to other things.

No, it's actually the attitude of the producers on here that has firmly put me off seeing the show.

I see, but that doesn't make any sense as to the other persons posts, gold coloured tap shoes are not 'no expense spared', they can be the same price, or cheaper then pkain black.

Hello all. Long time lurker, was a member a while back, but cannot remember username, or password, or email used! So a new user now.

I thought I would add my collected thoughts on the show, seen on Thursday night. I saw it from the dress circle, I always prefer the dress circle anywhere for a few reasons, one being I like the overall view of the show and set pieces. I had to go further back then I usually like to the front row of the second section, as because of personal reasons, I really need an aisle seat and none were available at booking for the front rows/section and as it was a birthday treat, the date had to stand.
I saw a full cast, no understudies, including Amber and Adam fresh off their Olivier wins.

I don't think my thoughts will be what the majority think, but they are mine anyway!

A few problems I had with the show were varied. For me the biggest was Amber. Whilst she has an amazing voice, no doubt about it, but her overall performance, either in the song or acting, just didn't reach me in the dress circle. Her eyeline was mostly kept level, so no playing to the gods, and so to me it seemed as if she was always looking down. Of course her voice reached me and it was stunning, but as a performance, I felt it was lacking.
I don't know if in the stalls I would have had a completely different opinion and I am willing to go again and try the stalls for the first time in many years to see. But even so, it's still an issue for me in her performance. I actually wondered how she managed to win the Olivier if that was her performance level.

Adam on the other hand was amazing, star quality in spades, and boy did he work that stage! A total scene stealer, when he came on the audience just were drawn to him and enthralled. A supporting award usually goes to those who can shine in every scene they are in, and that's what you have here. I just loved his energy in the role.

Another critisim is, to me, it felt like it lacked any real grit or depth. Where were the civil rights issues? They were barely mentioned. It didn't feel like enough had happened to really make Effie down and out to make her comeback more amazing.
The singing between the big numbers made it feel like all of the songs rolled into one and because of this none were standing out on their own. Because of this Listen was an unexpected highlight for me, it stood out as being different and more emotional. My companion and I both agreed and afterwards both said we had tears in our eyes during that one. The actress as Deena sang it beautifully and I didn't believe her to have that great of a voice to begin with, I presume that's a deliberate choice in the role to show her progression as an artist.

Another small thing for me, was the staging of And I am telling you. I didn't enjoy the positioning of the dressing tables throughout it and found myself hoping they were maybe going to revolve them around to the side a bit. I felt it distracted and distanced me from Amber in a way. A small thing maybe, but it was there.


The last thing was the audience, and I am blaming The Savoy for this in part. One thing is they continued to let people in all throughout the first half, at any given time big groups were just brought in. I thought Funny girl was bad enough with that, however they waited between songs for it to happen, Dreamgirls just let people in all throughout. Then there was so many people leaving for the bar or toilet, some people arriving late, not finding their seats and coming back down to ask for help. I was really shocked and it spoiled it. A few people were complaining and one couple did not return after the first half.
The other thing is the screaming during the singing, a couple of girls just in front of us began the night by screaming and throwing their arms everywhere, to which I had to ask them to not as I could not see. But the screaming before Amber even finishes her big notes mean you actually miss them, which is actually a shame, I don't really understand it myself as if you are a fan, do you not want to drink in every note, not miss it with your own screaming?

On the whole I think I would give it three stars, I thought it would be a lot more, I've been waiting for this to come here for years, but there were a few things I didn't love. Maybe on a different night, in different seats it would be better, but from where I sat Amber just did not reach me with her performance sadly.