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Post by wickedgrin on Sept 1, 2017 17:22:45 GMT
I'd be amazed if this did not extend. Clearly an expensive play to run but at the moment it is selling out without discounting - highly unusual for a play without a "star" name.
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Post by wickedgrin on Sept 1, 2017 11:05:49 GMT
Baring accident Charles, William and Prince George will all be elderly when they inherit the throne.
Regarding Diana..... Enough is enough is enough!!!
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Post by wickedgrin on Sept 1, 2017 7:55:04 GMT
It may have been embarrassing, but I suspect it was two dancers big moment..... Yes, indeed, but I suspect the creatives are under pressure to get the running time down as they are insisting (rightly) to play without interval, so something has to go. Where to cut? I wouldn't like to be the director that says to Imelda - " so sorry darling, you're doing so well, but the shows a tad long so we'll have to cut that slow number of yours towards the end - Losing My Mind........Imelda please put that knife down.... Imelda it was only a suggestion".
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Post by wickedgrin on Sept 1, 2017 0:11:32 GMT
NT Live - Yerma Odeon Cinema.
A girl with her mother across the aisle from me had brought a picnic which included sandwiches in tin foil which was constantly wrapped and unwrapped for each piece of sandwich.
LOTS of latecomers arriving in the first 20 minutes! One woman, alone, came ten minutes late and sat in front of me and then 5 minutes later looked around and started waving!!! She was waving to her friend across the cinema in the far aisle who had arrived even later than her to join her. The friend rather than going round the back of the cinema went around the front. She then sat with her friend in front of me and THEN proceeded to apologise for being late and tell her what a "day from hell" she had experienced!! She was told to be quiet!!!!
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Post by wickedgrin on Sept 1, 2017 0:00:52 GMT
I am not a fan of NT Live - I liked this production but I know I would have enjoyed the theatricality of it much more in the theatre. The amazing scene changes did not come across in the cinema screening or the purpose of the Perspex box - it just made the voices strange.
Loathed the noise between the scenes which came across very loud in the cinema as opposed to the dialogue which was difficult to catch at times. I thought the performances were all very good although I did not engage with the drama of Yerma - and I found the final scene seemed to come from nowhere after a slow descent previously into madness. A great performance from Billie Piper though.
The audience in my local Odeon were badly behaved as expected....see bad behaviour thread for details, which no doubt affected my engagement with the play.
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Post by wickedgrin on Aug 31, 2017 14:07:21 GMT
I wouldn't have thought the play needed a star name. I thought the play was very much an ensemble piece and with such good reviews and word of mouth it would extend anyway.
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Post by wickedgrin on Aug 31, 2017 13:53:15 GMT
Billed as a 7.00pm start at my local Odeon. Looking forward to the play - my only chance of seeing this, but not looking forward to the "cinema experience" - expect a huge post in the bad audience behaviour thread later!!!
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Post by wickedgrin on Aug 31, 2017 13:34:53 GMT
Maybe I will go and have another look with an open mind and reassess the things that I didn't like, and perhaps this time I won't have a woman next to me eating a doner kebab and massaging her foot as described in my post on bad audience behaviour! I have found in the past my enjoyment of and engagement with a show has been hugely affected by where I have been sat in the auditorium and nearby audience bad behaviour.
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Post by wickedgrin on Aug 31, 2017 8:04:23 GMT
Lived through it "live" so have no appetite to see the repeats. Clearly she still sells newspapers and gets TV viewers otherwise why the "anniversary"? It should be an entirely private matter.
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Post by wickedgrin on Aug 30, 2017 15:02:07 GMT
And....the Bladder Control Award for 2017 goes to........danieljohnson!
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Post by wickedgrin on Aug 29, 2017 9:14:19 GMT
I just say "well hello gorgeous" to everyone. I haven't had anyone object......yet!
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Post by wickedgrin on Aug 29, 2017 7:33:25 GMT
Liz Izen is indeed covering Imelda.
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Post by wickedgrin on Aug 28, 2017 21:44:57 GMT
I grew up during a time when "queer" was a pejorative word. I used to be called a f****** queer. So personally I was horrified to see adverts for the BBC's Queer Season. The word has very negative personal connotations for me.
I have given up trying to keep up with words that are now considered fashionable and PC for sexual orientation, gender, disability, race etc. because if you inadvertently get it wrong people fly off into a rage! So I find it best to keep my mouth closed. Fashions change and the use of words change and what was acceptable 40 years ago is not acceptable now and words used today will become unacceptable in the future.
I for one am sorry to see the word "Gay" dropped from Gay Pride -they are now know as Pride weekends or some such. This is because it was not considered "inclusive" enough and LGBTQA and the rest of the alphabet was too ridiculous. What has happened of course is that Pride has lost it's GAY focus and has become just a huge commercial event for a city for the entire population. Let's just have a carnival!
A very interesting topic Burly Bear!
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Post by wickedgrin on Aug 27, 2017 23:59:12 GMT
I thought Tyrone stole the show when I saw it last year and would certainly be disappointed if he was off if I saw this again. I miss him in Dreamgirls now he has left too.
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Post by wickedgrin on Aug 27, 2017 7:53:26 GMT
There is a huge difference between a minimal set (absolutely fine) and a cheap set (unacceptable).
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Post by wickedgrin on Aug 27, 2017 7:45:31 GMT
This production of Follies will go down in NT history as one of the great musical productions of a generation like the productions of Carousel, Oklahoma, Guys & Dolls and My Fair Lady.
Go...go ...go!
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Post by wickedgrin on Aug 26, 2017 16:29:35 GMT
I would agree with your appraisal tonyloco. One viewing was enough for me and I did see it from the front row of the stalls. The book and plot does not change from the front row!!
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Post by wickedgrin on Aug 26, 2017 16:24:44 GMT
I haven't seen it mentioned so I assume it hasn't, but the running time has now been updated on the website to 2 hours 10 mins w/ no interval. Yes, I was sent an email yesterday saying the same thing about last nights performance but it still ran 2.20. I really don't know how they would shorten it by 10 minutes without cutting a number! The pacing too seemed fine. Plus of course it did not start on time and had a stop for 5 mins due to a technical issue.
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Post by wickedgrin on Aug 26, 2017 16:21:55 GMT
OK, so here's my view for what it's worth......
I have never seen a better production of this show and I've seen a few. It is a "marmite" show though and if you are not keen on Sondheim or are unfamiliar with the material I can understand people not liking it. That is a fault of the material (particularly the book) rather than the production itself.
Regarding the interval debate - lots of people were complaining at 10.00pm on the way out after having sat in their seats since 7.20. It is a big ask - 2.40 without a break, but the show is written without an interval and I really don't know where one would go without breaking the magic and momentum. A dilemma for the production team that were stood at the back of the stalls on the way out. A final decision has still not been made.....
The staging and the opening sequence is amazing, although the show is set in a theatre due for demolition, this theatre appears to be half demolished already - an incredible set design by Vicki Mortimer.
I especially love actors who can sing in musical theatre rather than singers who can't act - again a personal choice and here the entire company serve the material well (although I have heard the numbers "sung" better) all the numbers are knocked out of the park! Particularly memorable for me, Imelda Staunton (diminutive in a blonde wig) with truly heartbreaking renditions of "Buddies Eyes" and "Losing My Mind", Janie Dee with "Could I Leave You", Josephine Barstow (at 76?) with a spine tingling "One Last Kiss" and Tracie Bennett stopping the show with " I'm Still Here". I felt the women stronger than the men but I think that is in the writing.
Catching the eye was Zizi Strallen as the Young Phyllis, and the senior members of the cast watched and shadowed all the time with the ghosts of their younger selves - emphasising lost hopes, dreams and happiness. I was also affected by the possibility of the current older cast being shadowed by ghosts of previous actors in their roles, no longer with us, Lee Remick, Elaine Stritch, Dolores Gray, Eartha Kitt, Daniel Massey, David Healy and of course Barbara Cook.
As previously mentioned the staging and choreography for "the Mirror number" was a show stopping highlight.
Slightly disappointing was the staging of the Loveland sequence which I thought was a bit lazy considering the technical abilities of the Olivier Theatre - how I wished for that drum revolve to have been used for this, and I felt the production lost energy during this sequence towards the end in the last 30 mins, but not helped by a technical stop.
It's not an uplifting show, it tackles huge life issues of relationships, lost love, missed opportunities, regret, wrong choices, lost youth, and will resonate differently to individuals. I loved it, truly spectacular and the orchestra was sublime -around 20 in number I believe. I will try and see it again later in the run. A real treat.
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Post by wickedgrin on Aug 25, 2017 21:57:15 GMT
Came down at 10.00 tonight. 5 mins late start and a brief stop for a tech reason just before Losing My Mind near the end. Still running 2.20 I would say.
Fabulous show! More thoughts tomorrow.
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Follies
Aug 25, 2017 11:02:50 GMT
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Post by wickedgrin on Aug 25, 2017 11:02:50 GMT
Just picked up my ticket for tonight and told no interval 2 hours 10 mins straight through.
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Follies
Aug 25, 2017 10:07:38 GMT
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Post by wickedgrin on Aug 25, 2017 10:07:38 GMT
I am there tonight and will report on the interval situation!
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Post by wickedgrin on Aug 25, 2017 3:47:28 GMT
Saturday 16th September.
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Post by wickedgrin on Aug 23, 2017 22:17:15 GMT
Yes, the title "Follies" can be misleading - it ain't 42nd St. The same goes for "Ragtime". I am going on Friday evening. I am notoriously difficult to please. I love this show, although it is problematic.
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Post by wickedgrin on Aug 23, 2017 13:28:50 GMT
I have to say that the show went down a storm (even in Brighton which I thought would know better) huge laughs and a partial standing ovation at the end from a packed theatre! Why? What's special about Brighton that the rest of "outside London" hasn't got? As Brighton (allegedly) has a high gay population and has seen many local productions of the show by amateur societies I assumed the audience would be a little more discerning.
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