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Post by melly on Jan 14, 2017 13:57:32 GMT
Basic seating chart has now been added on ticketmaster. From what I can make out of the numbers, I assume more seats may be added.
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Post by melly on Sept 12, 2016 19:34:04 GMT
All the official pages were handed over to a fan a few years ago. He was very enthusiastic at posting on his fanpage for the show, so was given control of the official pages.
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Post by melly on Sept 5, 2016 18:54:01 GMT
I have eyes and ears, and that was all I needed, it was really, really clear from her 'performance'. If she comes back, please go and see the show, and then try to continue to say she tried her best. You haven't seen it, so have no idea how bad it was. If she really was completely incapable of learning lines, something a 6 year old can do, and really has no idea that someone dying would make you sad, she should have pulled out. I've no reason to defend her and I think she bears responsibility for accepting the role, as much as BK Bears it for casting her. BUT she is not an actress. The acting she's done so far has been recorded so I think learning an entire script, songs abd stage direction must have been a massive challenge for her as it would be to anyone. I couldn't do that within a few weeks. Shes been put put in a very bad position and if she backs out of it I don't blame her. If at any point she actually told the producers she couldn't do it, and wasn't allowed to leave (which of course we'll never actually know) then I take back everything I've said and would then genuinely feel bad for her, but if she went ahead knowingly, that's different. (But I have had 6 year olds learn this many lines and remember their directions, for a school performance, not a paying audience)
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Post by melly on Sept 5, 2016 18:39:47 GMT
Unless your eyes and ears give you psychic powers to see behind the scenes, all you are stating is an opinion, not a fact. I don't want to see it; I hate the show. As I said, maybe her best just isn't good enough. It could just be that. You're determined to put all the blame on her, so I won't bother continuing going round in circles with you. You might be right, I might be right, we will never know. I'm definitely not putting all the blame on her, I've said that I think the whole production is awful, and getting rid of her won't fix it, in fact I said the director was the most to blame. But when it comes to her personally being awful, that's down to her. She should not have been offered the role, so the producers are to blame for that, yes, but since she decided to take it, she's responsible for her own performance. I have seen thousands of shows, and her performance is worse than anything I've seen, including some very bad amateur performances I've sat through. But I do actually agree with you entirely that the producers should not have allowed her to go on, whether this is her best or not, and said just that in my complaint to ATG. At the end of the day, that's actually all it comes down to. The producers should never have allowed the production to go ahead in it's current state, and I'm not just talking about Sarah. It is possible that she does genuinely believe she's good and therefore thinks she's trying her best (if you had seen it, you would understand why I find it really hard to believe that, but at the same time would she really have gone on if she did know how bad she is), in which case someone who cares about her should have stepped in to try and save her from all this. If this is her being fired, I actually hope this illness is the producers at least allowing her some dignity by not firing her publicly, but if that is the case, I hope she realises this time that she shouldn't ever take another acting job.
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Post by melly on Sept 5, 2016 17:55:18 GMT
You have no idea what she did and didn't bother to do. She may have struggled to learn the lines and songs and if she wasn't ready, the producers shouldn't have let her go on. I have eyes and ears, and that was all I needed, it was really, really clear from her 'performance'. If she comes back, please go and see the show, and then try to continue to say she tried her best. You haven't seen it, so have no idea how bad it was. If she really was completely incapable of learning lines, something a 6 year old can do, and really has no idea that someone dying would make you sad, she should have pulled out.
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Post by melly on Sept 5, 2016 17:44:29 GMT
I don't think you can really speak on Sarah's behalf like that. Unless of course you have some inside info. I'm not speaking on her behalf. Her job is to play a character, saying the lines and singing the songs. She didn't even bother to learn them, nevermind think about how the character would say certain things, or act in situations. She hadn't even done the bare minimum required of her, that clearly shows she didn't put any effort in to try and be good.
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Post by melly on Sept 5, 2016 17:34:01 GMT
For those feeling sorry for Sarah, I will just repeat, she didn't even bother to learn the part.
She couldn't be bothered to put even a little bit of time and effort into the job she was being paid to do, and actually learn her lines. She obviously didn't think it was important to not be crap in front of a paying audience, so shouldn't really be surprised by the response. She should have thought about that earlier and at least learnt the script. (If there is actual bullying going on directly to her, I don't condone that.)
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Post by melly on Sept 4, 2016 14:52:28 GMT
On the plus side, the 2nd cover Molly (Lauren Drew) sounds fantastic! On the downside, she's featured ensemble, the police officer being one of her parts, and she was really bad. I think the first cover was the bank teller though, and she was actually good.
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Post by melly on Sept 4, 2016 7:42:53 GMT
I'm sorry, but I have to pull you up on your McFly & Busted dig if we're talking about people not being able to do the job they are paid for. They are all talented musicians (and sometimes childrens authors), and Matt Willis acquitted himself well as Fiyero. If you'd said Blue I could have concurred quite easily 😁 (Good call on Stenson though...is she busy? Can she get to Wimbledon for Weds?) Oh I wasn't slagging any of them off, just the producers! I was just following the trend of how casting has been done before, as these have all been used. More saying that they had to go right down to the bottom of the barrel because they were too cheap to pay for a 'good' name. (depends on individual definition of good!)
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Post by melly on Sept 4, 2016 6:29:59 GMT
I don't believe for a second that either of them auditioned.
I imagine it went something like this - We need someone to sell tickets so people will be busy going 'oh that's her/him off the telly' and won't notice how cheap everything is. Let's make some calls...
Well everyone from the last 3 years of x-factor and the voice won't do it for the money we're paying. Kimberly Walsh's people laughed at us, as did Carley Stenson's. We tried all the sugababes and even some spice girls. Nicola Roberts said no, but Sarah Harding will do it, I know she got fired from corrie, but this is only theatre... Mcfly and Busted all refused so we've got this guy off hollyoaks.
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Post by melly on Sept 3, 2016 22:40:56 GMT
Being strong enough to deal with bad reviews is part of the deal for any performer. She has had plenty of experience of that already.. Her previous acting jobs haven't exactly resulted in plaudits have they. Yes she will need support from people close to her but I really don't think we should start throwing speculation about her mental health into the mix here. Thats hugely unfair to her. Of course, but this is one of her first roles and she may have been given false hope/praise by yes people surrounding her, which could make any 'fall' seem even greater. I'm not speculating about her current mental health, just worried for its future. I could go on but I'll leave it there. Honestly her whole performance had a 'couldn't care less' vibe to it. She hadn't learned the script, she hadn't practised the songs to actually know the melody, nevermind the notes, she clearly hadn't thought about the character's actions or thoughts, and I could go on. She didn't seem to care in the slightest that people were paying to see her, so I don't really see that she could care that people aren't happy with that.
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Post by melly on Sept 3, 2016 22:30:12 GMT
I see where you're going there but I doubt they intended to make her end up looking like Joanne and Mary's mother! Oy oy oy . . . Haha, probably not! I took her greying hair to show she didn't care the way the other 2 still did though. Like she didn't need to dye her hair or be something she wasn't. But yes, she did end up looking a lot older!
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Post by melly on Sept 3, 2016 22:22:37 GMT
However, whoever it is that styles Ashleigh Gray in the second act needs to be fired. She's an absolute knockout looking gal but they've managed to make her look 20 years older than the other two when they're all supposed to be the same age! That was one of the things I liked! I thought that was done deliberately. The paths the characters took basically lead to that. I thought Lizzie's character had sort of caught up by the final age after her 'events'. While obviously Lauren's character's choices kept her looking young.
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Post by melly on Sept 3, 2016 21:55:45 GMT
One thing I haven't asked, does Sarah at least look good? In the costumes, does she look like the sexy Molly we are used too? No. Weird baggy jeans and shirts throughout, and her face is, um... strange now.
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Post by melly on Sept 3, 2016 21:23:54 GMT
I also saw this last night and would highly recommend. As well as a fabulous cast, the costumes and wigs are very well used, and such attention to detail (and the cost of) is not something I would have expected in such a small production.
The set does take up quite a lot of the small stage area so be prepared to keep tucking your feet out of the way on the front row.
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Post by melly on Sept 3, 2016 21:14:58 GMT
Also, based on that audio I posted, I don't know why anyone is saying Andy is good either, he sounds just as bad as Sarah! I think I was more accepting of him because he was at least trying, he had actually put some rehearsal time in. I wouldn't go as far as good, but his other songs were mostly not horrendous, and his acting, while not great, is better than hers. Also I think in the moment, next to her, he seemed great! Her acting is 10 times worse than her singing, so the audios do not even show the full effect.
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Post by melly on Sept 3, 2016 13:53:03 GMT
I was highly amused by this! And I don't take back what I wrote. If she had put in a little effort I might have felt some symphathy, but she couldn't even be bothered to learn the script. I will add it really isn't just her though, yes she's the worst, but it's so much more than just her performance that makes it a trainwreck.
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Post by melly on Sept 3, 2016 8:28:53 GMT
Yeah there are no computer graphics at all, never mind high tech ones. This person didn't even see the show!
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Post by melly on Sept 2, 2016 17:30:11 GMT
So there is basically no set? Wow, talk about budget cuts! There are walls that are slid on and off, another piece with the door that finishes off the apartment, and I think one piece that it lowered down with like arches which was mostly used for the bank. And there was also something with doors for the train. Not individual smaller sets to show the different locations though. The back drop includes 2 Empire state buildings and times square, so the set designer didn't know where Brooklyn is either!
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Post by melly on Sept 2, 2016 10:26:56 GMT
Thank you for putting more context into your tweets. And if you were offended by me sharing your tweets I do apologise as it was the most prominent tweets of the night so it was hard to avoid really. In terms of your first tweet, I did see it as you almost going in ready to hate it, I can see that it was a joke so I took it as a pinch of salt. But if you were at all upset by my sharing your views on here apology's, but it is out there for the world (and possibly Sarah, I respect you didn't tag her in the tweets btw) to see on twitter anyway haha, so I didn't think you would be too upset. My twitter is public, so did expect them to be seen, in fact I hope the production team see the response. I know the twitter and facebook accounts for this are actually run by a fan, so not really worth tagging them, her name seemed more useful. I hope Sarah doesn't see them, but don't have much sympathy if she does search her own name on twitter! Overall I think most of the blame lies with the director. Sarah's characterisation of Molly is awful and Willie isn't much better, 'illusion' decisions are bad, and there's little moments that existed because of the staging and set that it's like the director didn't realise the purpose off so just left in. The poster frame is still in, even though the frame isn't being used for the door illusion, girl still dies in the hospital even without the illusion, etc. Andy's accent and vocals are very similar to Fleeshman, so he has put the effort in and done his own homework, but the rest of the cast seem unaware of why they're doing things. I genuinely wondered if they'd had any rehearsal time with the set, lot's of bumping into things, pieces moving, and just generally unaware of positioning. Whole rear stalls were friends of the ensemble, lots of random screaming and cheering whenever they came on. Standing ovation from them, and good response for Jacqui as Oda Mae, but very muted for others. Andy and Sarah only bow together, so not as quiet as I think it would have been for her alone, but still obviously quieter. For those that want to know what has changed without sitting through this, a little run down (I don't know how to do the spoiler tags, don't read if you don't want to know!) - {Spoiler - click to view} Completely different set, 'orange sofa' is a orange piece of padding on top of bed frame, everything is on wheels. There's a lot more dialogue before Here Right Now, some that used to be after, some new. Here Right Now is way cut down. Pottery wheel comes out during original Unchained Melody staging, Molly pokes a piece of clay while Sam sings UM without guitar. They start the 'sex' scene then stop while Sam wheels the pottery wheel off stage, he takes her top off and they wander off stage (it's as unsexy as it sounds!)
More etc all fairly unchanged, still a full size ensemble (I thought it was meant to be cut back).
Lead up to Three Little Words matches most of the staging throughout this production, there's no different sets so they just wander round the stage. Body swap of 'dead' Sam and ghost is fully lit, slow and very obvious - as are all later ones. These are the only 'illusions' kept, but whoever is directing has no idea how to do them.
Still the new song, but back to the Broadway version of just the main hospital ghost singing it, rather than the UK tour version. Girl in background dies on hospital bed, wearing white, fully lit, clambers awkwardly off the bed while you watch, before they pull a sheet over several seconds later to look like body is still there.
Door has a sliding panel, which is (loudly) slid back for him to 'slip' through. I can't Breathe is back.
Whole Oda Mae section basically unchanged, she actually gets a table.
With You, she wanders on holding the shirts, stands holding them and doesn't actually write the letter (but it's still read out later).
Whole Suspend/I Had A Life section mostly unchanged, staging fairly similar.
Rain/Hold On - Lots of small lyric changes, although I don't know if those are all actually changes because Sarah forgot her words in this one a lot, missed whole end section basically. Choreography is awful! There's a big gap where the song used to end, then Sam continues singing an extended Hold On, people around me giggled (it's not great).
Pottery wheel comes out again, doesn't even get turned on, Molly sings UM, no loving heartfelt moment, he just stands there.
Carl scene unchanged from tour version, director didn't tell Sarah she's meant to be sad about the shirts so she was already stood at Carl's side with it when he indicated to them.
Subway Ghost scene unchanged, a newspaper floats about an inch off a bench at one point.
Talkin' Bout a Miracle is gone. Oda Mae scene only has the one client and ghost, he still 'enters' her body, but without any other cast members to hide behind, he just kneels in full view behind her. Willie's gun 'floats' between his hands, then he kneels in the middle of the stage to get hit by a 'car'.
Nothing Stops Another day is faster, Sarah doesn't know the lyrics so don't know if they changed.
Bank scene/I'm Outta Here unchanged, but still no set. Ensemble change clothes on stage for some reason.
Final scene is very badly directed. Body swap doesn't happen, she starts dancing with Molly then hands her to Sam and wanders over and stands facing a wall. I can't remember if they actually sang here, because I was too distracted by the awkwardness. Carl forgot to shoot the door before opening it, pushed it open, then closed it again and shot it (cue much laughter). His 'death' is very poorly done. He falls sort of behind the 'sofa', which has a plank of wood attached to the back meant to hide him. As he gets up fully seen, Molly is distraught about the dead floor.
Everything from here was met by a lot of quiet giggling around me, not sad or loving in anyway. Star cloth with bright light appears and Sam walks up a ramp into a space ship(?). The end.
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Post by melly on Sept 1, 2016 23:18:41 GMT
Just to note, this random Melodie girl myself and Steve have quoted, she practically went in wanting to hate it by saying before the show began: twitter.com/_MellyM_?ref_src=twsrc%5EtfwSo her views really shouldn't be bible as it is quite clear she went in with a negative mindset from the get-go. I don't usually post but going to defend myself here. I am a huge theatre fan and like most on here was very wary about the casting announcement for this, I admit I hate 'stunt' casting. Didn't realise I would be judged by joking about that on my personal twitter. I went in tonight with very low expectations because of the casting, yes. I love Ghost (despite it's faults) so definitely didn't want to hate it and was actually really hopeful I would enjoy it, but it was a trainwreck, didn't come close to even my lowest expectations. I was surrounded by other people who completely agreed. I don't watch Corrie, and quite liked Girls Aloud in their day so I had no reason to dislike Sarah Harding, but her performance in particular was awful. My 'vapid bimbo' comment was NOT about Sarah Harding (and that is actually clear in the tweet) - it was referring to how she plays Molly and describing the character, if you had seen the performance you would agree completely, and it made Molly incredibly unlikeable. She's portrayed as some sort of bimbo, stereotype valley girl. Sarah was also unable to sing any of the songs, and in fact forgot the words at least once in every single song. Actually humming along at one point in Nothing Stops Another Day. The whole production is very cheap and poor. Andy surprised me with his singing, but his acting also lets him down. People around me commented that he just looked like he was trying to poo! All but Oda Mae are badly cast, accents on the featured ensemble are painful, and I would have honestly been disappointed if I'd paid £10 to see this as an amateur production. In a professional production the cast should all be able to sing and act at a basic level, not looking for Olivier/Tony worthy here. All the illusions have been stripped out, there's no actual pot making, not a shred of chemistry between the leads, the set wobbles all over the place, and the female lead didn't even sing my favourite part of my favourite song because she forgot the words there too. So yeah, I didn't like it.
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