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Post by emsworthian on Nov 5, 2016 16:09:16 GMT
Surely that stage is just aching for Camelot, A Little Night Music and Arcadia?! Arcadia was done at Chichester in 2000 - maybe too soon for a revival? ALNM was done in 1989- I gather it was a Marmite production which quite a lot of people loathed.
I'm not aware of Camelot being done before at Chichester. I've only seen the film and it's not a favourite of mine but the musical does seem to have its fans on here.
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Post by emsworthian on Oct 26, 2016 10:40:54 GMT
I saw his production of "An Enemy of the People" at Chichester Theatre in April this year and really enjoyed it. He also did an excellent production of Somerset Maugham's "For Services Rendered" at the theatre last year. I discovered his work fairly recently and now I wish I'd seen a lot more of it. RIP
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Post by emsworthian on Oct 22, 2016 11:56:13 GMT
I saw LLL last week and loved it. Sadly I can't get to Much Ado but I'll try to get hold of the DVD.
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Post by emsworthian on Oct 18, 2016 13:52:32 GMT
Apologies to Phantom of London. A Freudian slip - or mistype rather.
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Post by emsworthian on Oct 18, 2016 11:59:38 GMT
Thanks for that review. I was wondering about seeing it when it comes to Chichester in 2017 but I won't bother now.
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Post by emsworthian on Oct 18, 2016 11:43:23 GMT
When I saw the show in Chichester I concurred with mrmusicals' view that it was a five star production of a three star musical; it was entertaining and frothy but lacked dramatic tension.
Since then I've been amazed by how many local people said they loved it and it was the best thing they have seen at the theatre for ages. Before anyone goes on about the geriatric audience at Chichester, several people said that they went in a family group representing various generations and all loved it.
I agree with Phantom of the Opera that it could do reasonably well; I can see it appealing to those who want to combine seeing a show with pre-Christmas West End shopping.
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Post by emsworthian on Oct 10, 2016 9:54:06 GMT
A revival of James Graham's This House opened at Chichester on 23 September and will run until 29 October before opening at the Garrick on 19 November. It has been reviewed by the local papers but I haven't seen anything in the national press; presumably they will do so when it opens in London.
I know there was a thread here when it was on at the National but I can't find it so I've started a new one. I loved the play when I saw it on live transmission at the cinema so I was interested to see it live with a slightly different cast. Phil Daniels returns as Bob Mellish and so does Lauren O'Neil as Anne Taylor. Malcolm Sinclair replaces Julian Wadham as Humphrey Atkins and although Julian Wadham perhaps has more the looks and air of someone "to the manner born", Malcolm Sinclair was excellent as the supercilious Atkins. Nathaniel Parker is Jack Weatherill and Steffan Rhodri is Walter Harrison with Kevin Doyle as Michael Cocks.
When I saw the NT transmission I thought that Phil Daniels was possibly miscast as Bob Mellish, although I like Phil Daniels as an actor. This time I thought he was just right so I'm not sure if he has grown into the part or if I have mellowed. Also, the music I found intrusive the first time I saw it but I enjoyed this time; again perhaps I have mellowed.
In the intimate setting of the Minerva, you really had a sense of being at the centre of the action. The front three rows of seats have been converted into leather benches and the Members' Bar on stage was open during the interval. The audience reaction was very positive. I had forgotten how moving it was in parts; the woman next to me was in tears at one stage.
At the end there was a short speech from Christopher Godwin, who play "the Doc", about the late Jo Cox, MP, and a collection was taken for the charities established in her memory.
A nit-picking and probably irrelevant point but one that bugs me is that Peter Landi is described in the programme and during the performance as the MP for Oxshott (he is the one with a military manner who joins the Whips' Office late in the play). There is no Oxshott constituency and I'm sure in the cinema transmission the part was described as MP for Esher. Also, in the programme's list of MPs appearing in "This House" there is Esher MP David Carol Mather but no Oxshott MP. As Carol Mather (ex- Army and ex-Whip's Office) is dead and cannot sue, I wonder why they made the change. I thought the way he was portrayed was reasonably sympathetic, if possibly a bit clichéd as an ex military man.
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Post by emsworthian on Oct 2, 2016 10:29:55 GMT
Bit ironic given all these comments about audience chomping that the final advice at "Buddy" was "Don't forget to eat." Actually, the audience at the Kings, Southsea, wasn't too bad. Some crisp munching at the beginning but I didn't see any full scale picnics.
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Post by emsworthian on Sept 11, 2016 9:34:35 GMT
I was once an early leaver and although it happened about 30 years ago I still feel guilty. I went with my future husband to see "Marika's Café Theatre" at Hammersmith studio Theatre, where Marika Rivera gave a one-woman show about her life. We had booked to go to dinner afterwards and I misjudged how long the show would last. Eventually, fearing that we would be too late for the restaurant, we crept out before the end. The meal was disappointing and I immediately started feeling guilty about the snub; especially as I had been really enjoying Marika's account of her extremely interesting life. I meant to write a letter of apology to her but it became one of those letters you endlessly compose in your mind but never send.
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Post by emsworthian on Aug 22, 2016 7:04:13 GMT
I was really looking forward to this, the more so since the 4-star press reviews had been published, but it tested my patience - though I think the perennial concern about the journey home courtesy of Southern Rail didn't help. I'm afraid that my sympathy for the steel works strikers in the play was somewhat undermined when I got to the station and found that the train I had been planning to catch had been cancelled due to industrial action.
BTW it is Julian Glover who had originally been cast in the play - not Gover. I spotted my mistake after the edit time had expired.
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Post by emsworthian on Aug 21, 2016 18:36:32 GMT
Not in the same league as Ben Affleck but BBC journalist Nick Higham was at "Strife" at Chichester at the Saturday matinee.
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Post by emsworthian on Aug 21, 2016 18:21:57 GMT
John Galworthy's "Strife" has just opened at Chichester and is Bertie Carvel's debut as director.
I did the play for O-level many years ago and I remember enjoying it but I've never seen a production until now. I was interested to see whether it would grip a contemporary audience or if it is a museum piece. The play deals with industrial conflict in the steel and tinplate industry in South Wales in 1909. In a recent interview in the "Telegraph", Bertie Carvel talked about the fate of TaTa Steel and how relevant he saw the play.
This production starts with a clip of BBC's John Humphrys announcing a news item on TaTa and then there is a brief selection of clips about recent industrial disputes. The stage becomes a foundry and what appears to be a molten steel bar is hoisted over the stage. The bar then become the table at which members of the board of directors sit to discuss the strike in the Trenartha Tinplate Works. Some of the newspaper reviewers thought Carvel was trying too hard to demonstrate the relevance of the play but the opening sequence got a round of applause at the matinee I attended and it helped to enliven what is a slowish start to the play with quite a bit of exposition.
The strike is an unofficial one and the union negotiator wants the men to moderate their demands. Their leader, David Roberts (played by Ian Hughes), refuses as for him the strike is one of principle. The board members, concerned about how much the strike is costing the company, urge the chairman John Anthony (William Gaunt) to seek a compromise. But Anthony built the company from scratch and is resolute he will not give in. This confrontation and what it costs the two men I found gripping. William Gaunt stepped in to replace Julian Gover, who was originally cast in the role but became ill. As the strike takes its mental and physical toll on Anthony, I became concerned by how frail Gaunt seemed (He appeared a bit more robust for the curtain call) but his speech towards the end where he justifies his outlook was impressive.
The strike also creates conflict between the workers and this comes to a head at the end of the first half in a dramatic scene. Some humour is provided by the well-intentioned but patronising attempts of Anthony's daughter Enid (played by Lizzy Watts) to intervene.
There was some race and gender blind casting; I could accept Asian board members with the connection to the purchase of TaTa Steel but I wasn't so sure about the butler being played by a woman.
As I was coming away, I heard one man say: "If you want escapism and jollity, "Half A Sixpence" provides it but this play makes you think." I'd agree with that.
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Post by emsworthian on Aug 8, 2016 14:30:29 GMT
I saw an am-dram production of this a year ago and that had a running time of 3 hours, including a 20 minute interval. There is some lovely music in this musical but I can see why it was a flop.
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Post by emsworthian on Aug 6, 2016 6:12:56 GMT
Good job it was ballet. I can imagine a dog trying to join in an opera! Pooch-ini?
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Post by emsworthian on Aug 4, 2016 6:34:16 GMT
Saw this at a packed matinee yesterday and a thumbs up from me. I wouldn't describe it as a great musical but a hugely enjoyable one (It lacks the emotional depth to be great). The Stiles and Drewe numbers I'd describe as "pleasant polyfilla" with the exception of "Pick Out A Simple Tune." That was definitely catchy and the routine where the starchy upper classes at a musical soiree let their hair down was hilarious. I'd watch the show again just to see that.
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Post by emsworthian on Aug 4, 2016 6:25:10 GMT
If the queue for the ladies at yesterday's packed matinee at Chichester had been any longer then another elderly-ish woman might have ended up smelling of wee (namely me). At one point I almost started to yearn for the days when the triumvirate ran CFT and they put on productions that few people wanted to see; in those days the foyer was almost deserted plus I could move across from my cheap seat to a more expensive one.
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Post by emsworthian on Jul 21, 2016 19:22:06 GMT
I did a !!! at Michael York, who I mistook at first for George Burns. The programme was entertaining enough but I expected it to be better researched. Compared to the Julie Andrews' series on the history of the musical, it was poor.
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Post by emsworthian on Jul 16, 2016 20:55:09 GMT
I saw the matinee of this today. I was unfamiliar with the play, other than knowing this is the one that features a dog, but decided to see it without reading about it first, which possibly was a mistake. As well as cross-dressing, this version has women taking some of the traditional male roles (Launce is played by a woman as David J has noted) and then there are actors doubling roles so I became confused about whether certain actors were supposed to be in disguise or were playing another role.
I wasn't sure about the 60s setting either. According to the programme, Verona represents the music of Jim Reeves, Milan the Bossanova and the woods, the music of Bob Dylan. Hmmm.
There was a group of about 50 Italian students in the theatre and although they behaved very well, I did wonder if this was the right play to introduce them to Shakespeare. Possibly they enjoyed some of the music. And the dog was fun.
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Post by emsworthian on Jun 22, 2016 8:57:13 GMT
Would it be in the main theatre or the Minerva? I can't see it selling well enough for the main theatre.
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Post by emsworthian on May 16, 2016 7:57:51 GMT
I saw it on Saturday and enjoyed it. I felt the 30s setting worked well. Beforehand I was worried that the twitterati would titter in inappropriate places and spoil my enjoyment. There was some laughter when Stockmann (Hugh Bonneville) said "I'm sure the liberal press will be on my side." There was also laughter when Mrs Stockmann (Abigail Cruttenden) said to her husband "You've been very busy recently." But these didn't jar as there was quite a lot of humour in this adaptation by Christopher Hampton; I don't recall humour in the few Ibsen plays I've seen previously.
I remember reading an interview with Christopher Hampton in which he said he had streamlined the play as parts of the original translation didn't make sense. I have a volume of Ibsen plays which includes "An Enemy of the People" and the introduction to it says that its running time is nearly three hours (whereas this production lasted 2hrs 30 minutes with a 20 minute interval).
I'd be interested to hear the views of anyone who has seen other adaptations of this play as to what they think of the Christopher Hampton version. I enjoyed it but then I've never seen it before and I've yet to read the text.
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Post by emsworthian on May 10, 2016 7:59:34 GMT
Have we had Pickwick? and the short lived Hard Times? Does Cox and Box count? Isn't "Hard Times" set in Coketown, aka Manchester?
How about "Bashville" and "Bashville in Love" - both based on the G.B. Shaw play "The Admirable Bashville"? Parts are set in London.
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Post by emsworthian on May 9, 2016 8:12:59 GMT
I was surprised during the Obit section that there was nothing about Alan Rickman as I first became aware of him with his portrayal of Obadiah Slope in "The Barchester Chronicles."
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Post by emsworthian on May 9, 2016 6:28:31 GMT
Regarding Sophie Okonedo being too old, I saw the Peter Hall/John Barton version on TV in the 60s and the part was played by Dame Peggy Ashcroft when she was 56! (Admittedly those were the days before HD TV) I remember Margaret being more of an ingénue in the early scenes whereas in this version she appears scheming from the start. That could be the way the play(s) have been abridged.
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Post by emsworthian on May 8, 2016 18:20:06 GMT
Interesting. I saw an amateur production by Portsmouth University last year and I was told this was the first production in the UK. I'd described it as flawed but with some lovely moments.
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Post by emsworthian on May 7, 2016 10:43:03 GMT
Another thumbs down for Pravda from me. I saw it at the NT with Anthony Hopkins and only sat through it for Hopkins' performance. When it was revived at Chichester, although I'm a big fan of Roger Allam, I really couldn't face seeing it again.
On a more positive note, I'd like to see Simon Gray's "Otherwise Engaged" or "Simply Disconnected."
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