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Post by oxfordsimon on Nov 13, 2022 17:48:15 GMT
Actually it has happened to me on a second occasion.
I turned up to the evening performance of Dirty Rotten Scoundrels to collect free tickets that I had been promised.
Turns out the freebies were for the matinee not the evening. Thankfully they still let me see the show.
Well maybe not thankfully as it was completely unmemorable. Couldn't recall a single song by the time we left the theatre!
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Post by oxfordsimon on Nov 13, 2022 12:21:25 GMT
This was years ago with physical tickets. We just got it wrong. Embarrassing and expensive!
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Post by oxfordsimon on Nov 13, 2022 11:20:14 GMT
I dont want him to be in pain. But I also never want to see him 'dance' again.
Either way, the show now refocuses on being more of a dance event
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Post by oxfordsimon on Nov 13, 2022 1:09:04 GMT
I am one of those people who turned up for the wrong performance.
It was for The Habit of Art at the National.
We got settled in our seats for the matinee only to be asked to leave by the people who had booked for that performance.
We were booked for the following week.
There being no seats available, we scurried away and returned the following week.
I think it came down to scanning the tickets and misreading the seat number for the date. Something along those lines.
But the usher didn't spot the mistake either...
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Post by oxfordsimon on Nov 13, 2022 0:57:49 GMT
On Sundays my mum used to make a huge massive yorkshire pudding in a roasting tin the size of the oven, cooked in beef dripping 😲. We had a piece before the roast with gravy, then a piece with the very small portion of roast meat with veg and a LOT of spuds, then if we were lucky there would be some left for afters to have with jam. Growing boys! 🙂 Yorkshire pudding.. It’s a superfood. We would probs had it served up for breakfast on Monday if there was any left (but there never was). our family tradition was to cook the Yorkshire round the meat. The best bit was then the soggy stuff nearest the meat which was always packed with flavour. My grandmother got it very wrong once on holiday and managed to render the whole batter soggy after the required cooking time. So soggy that it was poured into the plate!
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Post by oxfordsimon on Nov 12, 2022 23:36:19 GMT
Tony and Tyler had to dance off. The judges saved Tyler. Tony was eliminated
thank feck for that
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Post by oxfordsimon on Nov 11, 2022 13:24:40 GMT
It is a glorious sing. I have played Fairfax a couple of times and it is probably the most musically rich experience of any of the scores.
Act two has a great run from Free From His Fetters Grim to Strange Adventure into A Man who Would Woo a Fair Maid and When a Wooer Goes a Wooing.
Both finales have thrilling choral moments that match much of the rest of 19th century writing for the stage.
From all I have seen about the current production, they seem not to take it seriously enough. It isn't Shakespeare but if you play it with heart, it is genuinely moving.
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Post by oxfordsimon on Nov 10, 2022 22:05:20 GMT
You can get back to London from Oxford at any time of night pretty much. The coach services can be your friend Yes, but I need to get back to Cambridge. If I tried to do so by coach I'd be spending several hours of the night in Bedford bus station! The X5 is not what it once was, sadly
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Post by oxfordsimon on Nov 10, 2022 15:40:07 GMT
You can get back to London from Oxford at any time of night pretty much. The coach services can be your friend
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Post by oxfordsimon on Nov 8, 2022 20:48:52 GMT
Toad of Toad Hall works well as a school play
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Post by oxfordsimon on Nov 8, 2022 15:18:05 GMT
Another entertainment legend has passed away.
Such an iconic voice.
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Post by oxfordsimon on Nov 8, 2022 14:15:46 GMT
McCabe reportedly accompanies I have a Song on the accordion
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Post by oxfordsimon on Nov 8, 2022 13:48:45 GMT
Ellie & Johannes: Charleston to Friendship by Elaine Paige and Bernard Cribbins
Fleur & Vito: Samba to Hot Hot Hot by Arrow
Helen & Gorka: Salsa to Despacito by Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee feat. Justin Bieber
Kym & Graziano: American Smooth to Chasing Cars by Cinematic Pop
Molly & Carlos: Rumba to All The Man That I Need by Whitney Houston
Hamza & Jowita: Couple’s Choice to Jerusalema – Remix by Master KG feat. Burna Boy and Nomcebo Zikode
Tony & Katya: Jive to Land of 1000 Dances by Wilson Pickett
Tyler & Dianne: Paso Doble to Unstoppable by E.S. Posthumus
Will & Nancy: Waltz to Three Times A Lady by Commodores
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Post by oxfordsimon on Nov 8, 2022 9:46:50 GMT
After so prolonged a closure, it would have been great to see the Swan (my favourite of all the spaces in Stratford) be used for Jacobethan theatre.
Yes, this does have a decent playwright. But a deeply pedestrian director.
Roll on the new regime. They cannot arrive quickly enough
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Post by oxfordsimon on Nov 8, 2022 7:51:19 GMT
Of course... How thrilling.
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Post by oxfordsimon on Nov 6, 2022 21:22:48 GMT
I think now duet and trio. But the review (which I now can't find again) wasn't that clear
Either way it is a major mis-step
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Post by oxfordsimon on Nov 6, 2022 14:06:27 GMT
I have read in one of the reviews that the great Act 2 trio and quartet have been edited to remove Point.
That is a serious problem for me. If they have cast a Point who can't sing that, they made a big, big mistake
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Post by oxfordsimon on Nov 6, 2022 9:47:52 GMT
I was waiting for the reviews to decide whether or not to book. They're not inclining me to do so, which is a pity given I've enjoyed several of the director's productions for ON. I don't understand why the updating is to the 1950s. If they're determined to set it in the 20th centuury & want Colonel Fairfax to be under a death sentence for being a spy then why not set it during WWII, when it would be more plausible for a spy to be executed at the Tower, rather than a decade later? I was completely baffled that one review said something along the line of Rapture, Rapture being unacceptable to perform nowadays. Why? If it's objected to as being either ageist or sexist then ENO's going to have to cut chunks out of their Mikado proudction because there's far more ageism & sexism against Katisha than against Dame Carruthers. There has been a change in setting between the early marketing and the final run up. So initially the Yeomen were wearing GR tunics (and indeed still are in a lot of online advertising) but this was updated to ER as opening night got closer. So a slightly earlier setting was envisaged. Rapture, Rapture really isn't unacceptable compared to the overwhelming majority of operas staged round the world. We need to stop this hyper sensitivity and focus on real issues of concern.
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Post by oxfordsimon on Nov 6, 2022 9:41:35 GMT
Molly really isn't popular if that is the case.
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Post by oxfordsimon on Nov 5, 2022 11:37:39 GMT
Tom Reed Wilson was at the play I am currently directing on Thursday. As were three of the original cast who took the time to come to see the first revival of the script.
Was a special evening
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Post by oxfordsimon on Nov 5, 2022 11:35:56 GMT
I am a bit disconcerted by the reviews of Yeomen.
There is no need to cut Rapture, Rapture and then replace it with a quartet arrangement of the Ruddigore Matter trio.
I don't think the director gets the tone of the piece from all I have read and seen.
Not selling well either
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Post by oxfordsimon on Nov 4, 2022 14:13:17 GMT
I agree that Manchester is not the right location. Too close to the brilliant Opera North in Leeds.
Why not Bristol or Leicester or Birmingham?
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Post by oxfordsimon on Nov 4, 2022 13:57:29 GMT
English National Opera should be a touring enterprise. Taking opera in English to the regions.
They can still do regular London seasons and then bring their work to the rest of England. Just in the same way that WNO and SO do
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Post by oxfordsimon on Nov 2, 2022 12:57:51 GMT
Ellie & Nikita: Charleston to ‘Too Darn Hot’ by Kiss Me Kate
Ellie & Johannes: Rumba to ‘Alone’ by Heart
Fleur & Vito: Waltz to ‘I Guess That’s Why They Call It The Blues’ by Elton John
Helen & Gorka: Jive to ‘Tightrope’ by Janelle Monáe
Kym & Graziano: Argentine Tango to ‘Assassin’s Tango’ by John Powell
Molly & Carlos: Foxtrot to ‘You Make Me Happy’ by My Sun and Stars
Hamza & Jowita: Cha Cha Cha to ‘I Can’t Help Myself (Sugar Pie, Honey Bunch)’ by Four Tops
Tony & Katya: Salsa to ‘I Know You Want Me (Calle Ocho)’ by Pitbull
Tyler & Dianne: Viennese Waltz to ‘I’ve Been Loving You Too Long’ by Seal
Will & Nancy: Quickstep to ‘Soda Pop’ by Robbie Williams featuring Michael Bublé
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Post by oxfordsimon on Nov 1, 2022 11:48:17 GMT
They are never published. They might be shared with the contestants but they have never been made public
ITV reveals voting percentages for their competitions but not the BBC
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Post by oxfordsimon on Nov 1, 2022 11:04:52 GMT
Given that the voting stats are never made public, they can get him out at any point if they so choose.
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Post by oxfordsimon on Oct 31, 2022 0:21:35 GMT
Molly's partner is a brilliant dancer but he isn't great at showing her off to best advantage. Something dancers like Giovanni do extremely well.
I suspect that is partly why they are starting to fade a little.
Fleur isn't a big name in the grand scheme of things. Her pop career never really took off and now she is a radio presenter for a minor station. She just doesn't have a huge support base to escape the middle of the pack.
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Post by oxfordsimon on Oct 30, 2022 9:32:41 GMT
Unconfirmed But James v Fleur James out Is the current spoiler. Now confirmed
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Post by oxfordsimon on Oct 30, 2022 0:43:22 GMT
Unconfirmed
But
James v Fleur
James out
Is the current spoiler.
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Post by oxfordsimon on Oct 28, 2022 17:27:06 GMT
That is why they need a new, strong commercial hit.
They haven't had a truly successful commercial production since Matilda opened.
Hopefully the new leadership will make this a priority
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