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Post by Latecomer on May 18, 2017 19:12:09 GMT
I was most amused at work today as 3 work colleagues, who all work with each other, all told me separately that they were going to live screenings (they knew I'd be interested!) .....they hadn't told each other, even though they sit about 6ft from each other and are all going in seperate directions to see it (Warwick, High Wycombe and Oxford!) Funny to think of them all at the same thing but not!
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Post by Latecomer on May 18, 2017 17:53:20 GMT
The Old Vic has once again lived up to my experience of being the most irritating theatre to deal with. Had to return a ticket for Saturday - it's almost sold out so they agreed to take it for resale. But (and I appreciate this is common to a lot of theatres) - they won't put it up for sale till the day of the performance. And the weird bit which I've never experienced before - they emailed me a PDF form of their terms and conditions, which I had to print out, fill in, sign, scan and mail back to them. Box office guy was perfectly pleasant but I find this all very offputting, as with other weird Old Vic policies like forcing you to show tickets after the interval and standing in the aisle glaring at people during the curtain call. If they are (as they claim) keen to be more inclusive and welcoming to new audiences they really need to drop this nonsense. I had to try and do this on a very small phone once! It really cheesed me off! Plus the show was sold out and then mysteriously lots of house tickets became available on the day in question so they didn't sell mine! I bet you 10p they don't sell yours X! In better news the Donmar are now fantastic to deal with and swap dates very cheerily....and you can get through to them! And I have found globe quite helpful (I had ticket, they said just email us a photo with a line drawn through it and we can put back up on website!)
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Post by Latecomer on May 15, 2017 10:59:54 GMT
Yes I thought they were talking quicker second time I saw it. Perhaps as they have been doing it so long....so just sort of rattle through it? Also thought Scorpius was one of worst offenders...much preferred him first time I saw him in July and thought he'd speeded up too much!
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Post by Latecomer on May 13, 2017 11:34:22 GMT
I go with others most of the time but they are carefully vetted! People from the forum I have known for years (they are good as they don't mind if something is rubbish and just tell me if they don't fancy going, so their fault if it turns out to be terrible) and friends who will let me be in charge!!! By that I mean I decide the train so that there is a sufficient buffer zone and we don't rock up at the theatre 5 mins before the show! I use to do outings from work at National when they let you buy more than 2 £15 seats but hard now....I quite often buy 2 tickets for something as I have so many friends who usually fancy the other ticket! I do also enjoy the odd solo midweek matinee and it does bring a certain freedom....sometimes this is lovely and a real "escape" from everything sometimes can feel a little lonely and you can never reliably predict which it will be! People at work are sometimes funny...work colleague said she would like any spare Harry Potter and Cursed Child ticket if I ever had one....pointed out that the next booking date was very close and she should try for ticket "oh no, I can't plan that far in advance" I pointed out that you can return tickets for refund up to 2 days before and a year soon passes and there was no other way of getting tickets but by that time she had glazed over!!!
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Post by Latecomer on May 10, 2017 18:49:02 GMT
Interesting to me that almost all the criticism of the piece here could have equally been applied to the last production of Salome the NT staged which was masterminded by Stephen Berkoff. Perhaps they should give up on it. I really liked the Headlong production done by Jamie Lloyd in 2010...toured to Oxford. Didn't know Zawe Ashton at the time but she was excellent! It was all oil drums and camouflaged soldiers....I remember it was quite thrilling!
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Post by Latecomer on May 10, 2017 13:34:58 GMT
I just had my first-ever salsa class. I am hilariously bad. Not sure if I'll go back next week or not. My daughter did this...she had a chuckle afterwards and said it was a lesson in always leaving potential as potential....until she tried it she could persuade herself that the fact she could do one "forward back" step with a wiggle of the hips meant she would be good at it! Her potential was all ruined when she actually went to a class!
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Post by Latecomer on May 9, 2017 5:35:02 GMT
Ongoing health issues for my partner are proving increasingly trying. As some of you know she is visually impaired and diabetic but is going through a really tough few weeks. Nerve damage (possibly) that they are trying to get the bottom of has left her struggling to walk more than a few feet unaided and yesterday she started to have seizures so Im expecting to be making more doctors and hospital trips So sorry to hear this. I hope they manage to work out what is going on and improve things. X
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Post by Latecomer on May 7, 2017 9:48:45 GMT
Oh and forgot to say DO NOT READ PRESS REVIEWS! They give far too much away....why, oh why do they feel the need to tell you the plot?
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Post by Latecomer on May 7, 2017 9:45:46 GMT
Enjoyed this yesterday. You really are in the hands of an accomplished end confident playwright with Butterworth. He uses language and storytelling in a lovely way. And you just sit there as he unfolds the relationships before you. Only one small reservation....he makes one of the very small children use a swear word to get laughs (I did laugh but at the same time was mentally thinking "she's a bit young to be told to do that as a child actor")....but otherwise thought it was great. On a practical note, stage quite high so you are looking up a bit from first row but not a problem, and there are characters sometimes sitting on extreme left and right of stage so slips seats/those at edges of cicle may miss a little....personally would choose seat on RHS looking at stage so you don't miss my favourite Aunty! And yes, theatremonkey....so near and yet so far!
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Post by Latecomer on May 5, 2017 21:15:01 GMT
I think the point here may be that all the cheap tickets were NOT hoovered up by priority members, they held back some cheap tickets for advance booking and public booking. Plus there are always rush tickets the week before (that are very cheap!) and day tickets. And if you are young and poor there is a very good scheme for cheap tickets! Plus if the National gets a cheap ticket returned they always put it back on the website for sale! The National get a good balance I think!
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Post by Latecomer on May 5, 2017 17:59:00 GMT
I'm confused now: does anyone please know for sure whether the NT does hold back some £15 seats for public booking? Because if so, I'd have tried again this morning, having had a disastrous experience on Priority Members' booking day when the website froze so by the time I reached the booking stage, all the £15 seats appeared to have gone and I had to pay more or miss out. I tried again this morning and got 2 row C seats for £15 each, so yes, they did hold back some seats. Also checked another day and there was one available on that date. I was lucky with a low queue number...I quite like the random allocation as it does take the stress out of booking....you are either lucky or not!
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Post by Latecomer on May 5, 2017 8:53:37 GMT
Just grabbed a £15 ticket for a Saturday matinee. Relatively easy, despite having over 2000 ahead of me, leaving the house, losing internet connection, taking a bus and then having to monitor my mobile at my work. In the circle or in the stalls? Just nosy. Last booking they kept back some cheap tickets in the stalls for public booking. I got 2 tickets row C stalls (end of row, nice legroom!) today, so yes, they did keep some back for public booking!
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Post by Latecomer on May 5, 2017 8:23:49 GMT
Oh lordy! I'm nearly there and mini Tibs is panic texting me for translations - she has her Spanish speaking A2 level in 30 minutes! I may have to choose between her and Imelda....hmmmm Daughter had a good run! On serious note the website does give you 30mins to checkout after selecting tickets!
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Post by Latecomer on May 3, 2017 8:41:24 GMT
can anyone get in with amex? it doesnt like me (sad face) Make sure you are NOT logged in...then go to Follies page and add 4 numbers in Amex box on left! Won't let you do this if you are logged in!
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Post by Latecomer on May 3, 2017 8:21:09 GMT
My sister and I strolled in at about 5 minutes to 2, thinking the curtain was 2:30... We got downstairs and were surprised how quiet the bar was, and then heard the bell and rushed into the packed auditorium. So basically, turning up 5 minutes before is fine . haha luckily I remembered to check curtain time before booking transport...otherwise I'd likely be doing the same! But thanks, my instinct was it wouldn't require quite such a level of early bird-ness! I was surprised that people did actually arrive really early! Top tips...if you want merch there is a queue, nip in as soon as you are in the theatre and can look on line to see prices first! Ask the ushers for "keep the secret" badges on the way out of first part (they don't hand them out automatically any more but keep some in their pockets in case people ask and they are free!). If you want to go down the street to the exhibition/sale of Harry Potter film art (they hand out flyers to the queue) then well worth it but go straight after coming out of first part as it is very small tall building and building soon gets full...they form a queue outside and let people in a few at a time but if you zoom straight away you avoid this! Enjoy!
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Post by Latecomer on Apr 30, 2017 13:30:32 GMT
Front Row Forum at Ferryman at Saturday matinee for me Peggs and Zoephile....we will try to uphold the honour of the forum, I shall be badged....come and say hello!
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Post by Latecomer on Apr 28, 2017 18:11:28 GMT
Evening. Sadly we shall not meet unless you go shopping and then come back for a drink. I will be in the bar area upstairs from half an hour before the show.... 🙄🙄 So near and yet so far! Sadly have to rush home and see patient long suffering husband....can't answer for Peggs...she is deciding whether to come or not...I am sure you would have swung it Lynette! One day...one day!
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Post by Latecomer on Apr 28, 2017 15:02:06 GMT
13 th May, the 'death stare' ! Of course I might get all carried away like....😜 Oeer! The same day as me and Peggs are due to go...we are at matinee...no longer in the front row, taking your seats Lynette, but up in the 3rd row of the circle! Are you matinee too?!
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Post by Latecomer on Apr 27, 2017 17:58:56 GMT
Welcome sf!
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Post by Latecomer on Apr 27, 2017 17:49:24 GMT
Latest book I read at local reading group was Tell the Wolves I'm Home by Carol Rifka Brunt. Made me cry! We have over 200 reading groups in our local authority and a scheme where you can borrow a set of 12 books for free! We have 100s of titles and librarians pick you a book off a "wish list" you have submitted and send the box of books to your local library. All free!
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Post by Latecomer on Apr 27, 2017 17:45:49 GMT
Just got interested in some of your excellent recommendations for books and thought I would check online with my local library to see if they had any of them. Only to discover that my nearest public library ( a large library, much used by local people) will be totally shut from now until mid September, so that they can permanently close whole sections of the library, remove the cafe and make it more self-service. All to save money due to cutbacks. That wouldn't be such a joke if they had not (and not many years ago either) closed it totally for 15 months in order to modernise it (change the room functions, remove lots of books and add more dvds) and add a cafe. Honestly, if they remove any more books they might as well not bother. I understand cutbacks are necessary, but honestly the peanuts they will save by cutting back on a couple of staff members will take years to be felt, balanced against all the costs of these endless building works. Oh well, off to Amazon. Even though the cost of borrowing is zero the Tories would have you believe austerity and therefore cut backs like this are necessary. They are not. Looking round London.... there are flash cars and people spending vast amounts of money on luxury goods...the bankers caused the problems, not the ordinary people. Austerity is a political choice (and one that did not work after the Wall Street Crash!) Do not believe the propaganda. It is not a choice between for example social care and libraries...we are a rich country (the 6th richest in the world!) we should be able to have a system where we adequately fund both! We have put up with these lies for long enough. Ok, rant over......I am sorry your library is closed. Woops...you got me started a bit there....it may have been that buffoon Boris on TV telling us it is better to make a decisive decision (even if that means you are a dictator and not bothering to consult parliament) rather than take the time to make a reasoned decision!
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Post by Latecomer on Apr 27, 2017 16:44:27 GMT
I do like their return policy too...can return for credit,like the National, up to 48 hours before for £2 per ticket fee. This always makes me book well in advance and is soooo much better than the West End in general (Harry Potter excepted)....and the stuff they have coming up next looks fun too. I fear I too am one of the ideal-seaterati......
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Post by Latecomer on Apr 27, 2017 13:11:00 GMT
Lenny Henry was excellent in Fences at Oxford Playhouse a couple of years ago...I think people are bring a bit unfair!
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Post by Latecomer on Apr 26, 2017 19:52:03 GMT
Well I've had a brilliant day. Spent 30 mins in garden before tripping over my own feet, catching a foot on an outside light, slipping on some posts we'd just had delivered and crashing about 10" onto the patio shattering my right elbow. Nearly 4 hours in A & E, need to have an operation to repair it but they couldn't fit me in today so am now home sporting a very fetching backslab from wrist to shoulder. Hopefully, they can do it tomorrow but I have to get there about 8:30 and just wait..! So sorry to hear this! I once broke some ribs falling over the edge of the pavement....I am naturally rather clumsy. Good luck tomorrow!
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Post by Latecomer on Apr 26, 2017 18:02:56 GMT
I liked this. It made me chuckle a lot....very silly at times....Mark Addy has great timing. Enjoyed Quentin too....Good singing, liked the storyline and thought it easily as funny as One Man Two Guvnors! Also quite political here and there...votes for women (and commoners!), enclosure, class difference all touched upon...plus some nice Shakespeare references along the way. If you like funny silly then this one is for you!
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