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Post by distantcousin on Apr 18, 2024 10:39:25 GMT
Same. I saw it in the 2000's. I think with Kerry Ellis as Nancy. Can't even remember who played Fagin. Went to see what all the fuss was about. Got a day ticket from Leicester Square - ah, happy days of that. Thought the show was fine. Nothing bad about it. But it didn't move me. It entertained me on a basic level. Didn't hate it. Did it leave me thinking about it? No. Ahhhh those were happy days, when Leicester Square was genuinely half price official box office or less! This was exactly how I felt! I guess it falls into for me into that "family musicals" category (like Wizard of Oz etc), all of which I find ok if decent production values but none of which truly move me.... That said, they clearly shift tickets! Huge announcement like the second coming though!? I am not quite on the same page. Radio 2 and their so called "huge announcements" - they pulled this nonsense a couple of weeks ago regarding ABBA, and all it ended up being was a listeners poll "vote for your favourite ABBA song" (which has been done numerous times before). The online fan groups were dismayed as they had been lining themselves for something massive related to the 50th anniversary of Waterloo, Eurovision etc. The Radio 2 PR team need to calm down!
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Post by distantcousin on Apr 18, 2024 8:52:49 GMT
Oliver for me very high up on the list of musicals people seem to be obsessed with that I feel like I don't "get." Saw it TRDR. Enjoyed it. Had zero desire to ever go again! Cameron does put on a decent production though so maybe I'll revisit this when the time comes..... He really does love bringing back the same shows over and over doesn't he. (Not that I can complain as a Les Mis and Miss Saigon obsessive!) Edit - they've just played a montage and it does actually have quite a few bangers. Perhaps I need to try again. Same. I saw it in the 2000's. I think with Kerry Ellis as Nancy. Can't even remember who played Fagin. Went to see what all the fuss was about. Got a day ticket from Leicester Square - ah, happy days of that. Thought the show was fine. Nothing bad about it. But it didn't move me. It entertained me on a basic level. Didn't hate it. Did it leave me thinking about it? No.
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Post by distantcousin on Apr 16, 2024 20:29:00 GMT
I sent the Hannah video to my mate this morning. I found it a bit performative (I say this as I’ve watched ma y Hannah interviews, podcasts etc) and she always makes a point of ‘I’m such a badass feminist, men are sh*t blah blah- and the American audiences always LAP IT UP. As a woman, my first thought was but your dress has a big slit where the leg is intentionally meant to pop out… photographers on red carpets always shout at celebs to give certain angles, twirl, hold a dress in a certain angle so they can mutually get a great photo. I did not get the sense the photographer was being a creep but rather just wanting her to get the most out of the dress and there for the photo.
Absolutely agree. It feels like she's very obviously playing to the gallery. Us Brits can see right through it (we're so cynical!)
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Post by distantcousin on Apr 16, 2024 8:00:40 GMT
I watched it this afternoon. Highlight was easily Tom Francis doing Sunset Boulevard. Realising he was on the steps outside was weirdlythrilling in the same way it was in the Savoy. She seems lovely but I’m slightly baffled by the popularity of Hannah W, and the fact she’s somehow become the face of British theatre when she hasn’t done any in over a decade. I think I’d rather them get Manford back next year. Agree, re Hannah - she just seems like a poster girl at this point. But it feels like she abandoned legit stage work (acting) years ago, and in a live setting feels more like an "entertainer".
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Post by distantcousin on Apr 15, 2024 13:47:39 GMT
Sadly i think success this has all killed Glen's dream of doing the film. Period... Good. It was already turning into a - stretched to the extremes of credibility - vanity project.
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Post by distantcousin on Apr 15, 2024 10:26:53 GMT
Following on from earlier comments about the wider British public's interest about something that "only happens a London" - a perennial bugbear of many an average Brit...
I noticed the ITV news features sole focus was on "people you would recognise from the TV" - they said as much. An attempt to try and make the West End relatable to the masses, I suppose...
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Post by distantcousin on Apr 15, 2024 9:48:18 GMT
Issue with Hannah, and I watched her host Eurovision too- she just tries TOO HARD. But admittedly I much prefer dry humour & hate slap stick etc. it just comes off so hammy. She comes across as too earnest - which is typically a very American trait. Maybe that's where she's learnt it. It's quite incongruous on an Englishwoman!
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Post by distantcousin on Apr 13, 2024 19:12:50 GMT
I saw it at The Other Palace too, and found it totally forgettable.
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Post by distantcousin on Apr 11, 2024 18:59:15 GMT
SkyNet will have taken over before we know it!
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Post by distantcousin on Apr 11, 2024 14:45:17 GMT
Just listened to Billie Piper on the Table Manners podcast. Jessie Ware asked her outright if she was asked to do Cabaret, and she confirmed she was asked to take over from Jessie Buckley. However, she was pretty adamant she would never do a musical. She said it was too punishing/hard work. She can't bothered to look after herself enough to keep in the "match fit" condition required! Also mentioned she would find having to work Saturdays and not being able to be with her children at bedtimes too much of a sacrifice. Id quite like to see jessie in the role of sally!!
Yes! She absolutely loves musical theatre - she is on record as saying so. She was in productions at school. I wonder if she'd revisit it professionally...
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Post by distantcousin on Apr 10, 2024 14:21:17 GMT
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Post by distantcousin on Apr 9, 2024 13:06:56 GMT
I've yet to receive an email from LW Theatres or anyone else!
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Post by distantcousin on Apr 9, 2024 9:25:38 GMT
The “alternative artwork” on the limited edition version of the CDs is just stunning 🙄 Oh really? Not worth bothering?
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Post by distantcousin on Apr 3, 2024 9:30:41 GMT
Just listened to Billie Piper on the Table Manners podcast.
Jessie Ware asked her outright if she was asked to do Cabaret, and she confirmed she was asked to take over from Jessie Buckley.
However, she was pretty adamant she would never do a musical. She said it was too punishing/hard work. She can't bothered to look after herself enough to keep in the "match fit" condition required!
Also mentioned she would find having to work Saturdays and not being able to be with her children at bedtimes too much of a sacrifice.
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Post by distantcousin on Mar 27, 2024 14:26:00 GMT
The more I read about this show, the more I like it. I wonder how long that will last when I'm watching it - lol. Same, TBH! I can't wait for 18 April!
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Post by distantcousin on Mar 26, 2024 14:23:40 GMT
Please god, hope this isnt true. Seeing him as Frank was one of the worst performances I've ever seen on a stage. He was so bad, the audience were shouting his lines to him instead of the usual ad libs. This really does need a reboot. He'd be one of the older guys to play Frank. He was in a bad place when he was doing the show last time so that maybe didn't help his performance but he met his wife who was working behind the scenes on the show and sorted his life out so that was the big plus he got from doing the role. The show does tend to have the same cast pretty much for the last few tours but it is a hardcore fanbase who always seem to turn up in their glorious outfits so is it now almost a case of preaching to the converted. I was due to see him around 1996 or 97 on the tour in High Wycombe, but he was "indisposed" that night. Saw the understudy. But I do have the brochure featuring production photos with him in!
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Post by distantcousin on Mar 20, 2024 13:14:28 GMT
Will it still be "actor musician" or are they going to push the boat out?!
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Post by distantcousin on Mar 13, 2024 13:23:51 GMT
Good review hannechalk - echoes my thoughts earlier in the thread. I saw this very many times in Regent's Park and the Barbican. The choreography and mics were a core part of the production. On tour however it all looks a sloppy mess. I really hope Drew McConie steps in and tightens it all up, because when I saw it in Bromley it was almost a parody of the slick original OAT version. Vocally the cast nail it, but either a lack of space or depth is making the dance look cluttered, messy and indulgent. I saw this touring version in Milton Keynes and it was excellent - it feels like they've got a bit jaded and faded as the tour has progressed. Agree on all counts. It was definitely a fascimile of the production that blew my mind back in 2017.
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Post by distantcousin on Mar 8, 2024 14:44:36 GMT
I always find it astounding just how much people can't bear to be parted from food for 3 hours.
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Post by distantcousin on Mar 5, 2024 15:16:14 GMT
Marisha Wallace entered the Celebrity Big Brother house last night...
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Post by distantcousin on Mar 4, 2024 13:45:27 GMT
thanks one and all. If I get get to see it cheaply one day, maybe I will. I'm still not completely sold based on the descriptions.
(although the music is a fun listen)
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Post by distantcousin on Mar 4, 2024 13:27:30 GMT
Tina has been struggling to shift tickets for years now, bar a few spikes in interest. It's long been the show I had pinned to close next, and yet it continues to limp on despite the obviously poor sales. I won't believe it's closing until the moment the Aldwych confirms it! Surprising that there wasn't renewed interest after Tina died last year
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Post by distantcousin on Mar 1, 2024 10:29:15 GMT
I so wish I'd got my act together/bit the bullet and saw Madeleine Brewer and Callum SH!
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Post by distantcousin on Feb 28, 2024 14:49:52 GMT
For me, absolutely everything is in service of the story. Unlike La Navete Bete company there are no things going wrong 'accidentally on purpose', the show isn't about 'will the cast make it through ' it's 'will the characters '. The first wink at the audience is held til the end of the first song of Act 2. I wouldn't say it's farcical exactly: that tends to be one situation that gradually tangles (boringly) then unwinds (entertainingly). This switches styles. But physical theatre, elements of clowning, elements of naturalistic character reflection. It is priced beyond 'what the hell I'll just give it a go'. Thanks. The more I hear about it, the less it is appealing.
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Post by distantcousin on Feb 28, 2024 13:08:40 GMT
I've booked my tickets. The promo is convincing me more and more. Famous woman on the verge of a mental breakdown, you say? TAKE MY MONEY!! Just hope the music isn't typically Wainwright, and is he's writing something a bit more 'musical theatre' for this.
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Post by distantcousin on Feb 28, 2024 12:45:28 GMT
I met someone recently who told me this was a wonderful musical (although I don't think they were someone who regularly sees musicals) Before I consider it, would anyone mind telling what what the style and tone of the show is? Any other musicals it bears stylistic similarities too? thanks If you have seen 39 Steps, any of La Navete Bete's recent shows like Three Musketeers or Treasure Island, or any small-scale touring production with a cast of 4-6 multi-rolling characters, singing and telling a story or subject matter with added humour, then this isn't anything new. It’s funny and has some highlights including that love letter song and the cross wired scene. And the cast gives they’re all, just like any cast of this type of show. If you, like me, enjoy shows like that I’d say yes see it. I personally wouldn’t pay the west end prices. Maybe wait for the uk tour I haven't seen any of those shows. Does it have dramatic moments, or does it tend to stay light or whimsy in tone? Would you say the comedy is in the "farce" style (or a modern spin on?)
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Post by distantcousin on Feb 28, 2024 12:05:17 GMT
I met someone recently who told me this was a wonderful musical (although I don't think they were someone who regularly sees musicals)
Before I consider it, would anyone mind telling what what the style and tone of the show is? Any other musicals it bears stylistic similarities too?
thanks
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Post by distantcousin on Feb 22, 2024 10:48:33 GMT
The only thing that's holding me off booking this is the prices and Rufus Wainwright. Can't stand his voice or his music, so depends how much the score sounds like his typical "fayre".
The rest of it, I'm sold on. Ticket prices in the West End are too expensive to take punts on now, sorry!
I want guaranteed enjoyment, and I suspect a lot of people are in a similar position/mindset to me.
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Post by distantcousin on Feb 21, 2024 20:40:24 GMT
I can see the appeal of programmes, but I just end up with too much clutter. Back in the days when I used to promote events, we always had programmes (although with nowhere near the production values of today). Lots of people would buy them, you could have signed copies for prizes, and they would make a big different towards whether an event was profitable or not. They are largely worthless afterwards, unfortunately. I do sometimes buy collections of old programmes purely for interest value and they're fascinating to look through, especially for shows I attended and didn't buy a programme first time around. I still have nowhere really to put them!
agree that they are mostly worthless. When I've glanced on ebay, most sell for less than original face value.
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Post by distantcousin on Feb 21, 2024 20:37:02 GMT
I used to love them, but I've gone off them. Ones that just have the credits, the same old headshots and credits, then a bunch of adverts are lazy in the extreme.
I want production shots, articles on the show/production itself/directors notes, or I'm just not wasting my money anymore.
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