371 posts
|
Post by popcultureboy on Nov 2, 2019 23:24:28 GMT
On the subject of O'Neill, I wonder if his plays aren't revived as often compared to Miller and Williams due to their lengths, The Iceman Cometh is 4 hours uncut and Mourning becomes Electra is also lengthy. Actually, completely uncut, Iceman Cometh is just shy of 5 hours. I think Mourning Becomes Electra is also so long in its full version that a 2 show day is not possible. The only play of his which stands the test of time is Long Day's Journey. But back on topic, I'm really looking forward to The Shades.
|
|
371 posts
|
Post by popcultureboy on Nov 1, 2019 8:24:35 GMT
Friends booking yesterday was a piece of cake. Hardly anyone in the queue ahead of me, had tickets to "Daddy" and The Shades booked and paid in under 5 minutes. Probably helped that I didn't book for Albion as I saw and hated it first time around. It does seem the pattern with the Almeida nowadays though that even Friends will hold off until casting or reviews are published, which somewhat defeats the purpose of having membership.
|
|
371 posts
|
Post by popcultureboy on Oct 26, 2019 8:57:59 GMT
13th November. Upper Circle is on sale though
|
|
371 posts
|
Post by popcultureboy on Oct 6, 2019 8:08:10 GMT
Why can’t people do 8 shows a week anymore? He’s been trained to do that and once the score is vocally set in his mind/body/voice box he will be fine. Drama school students belt their lungs out for 10 hours a day! Firstly, anymore? Alternates in demanding roles have been a thing for quite a while. Secondly, singing the score is not the sole reason the role of Evan Hansen has an alternate.
|
|
371 posts
|
Post by popcultureboy on Sept 29, 2019 8:20:34 GMT
As I see it, the decision to drop her had nothing to do with her religious views and everything to do with her homophobic views. Whether or not the two are linked is irrelevant. But this is the thing. This is the argument religious people are now constantly falling back on. "it's my belief, it's not homophobia". The absolute moral certainty that they aren't being discriminatory towards homosexuality, merely embracing their religion is even more hideous, I find. Religious beliefs are a protected characteristic, so she obviously thinks she's been discriminated against. This just doubles down on how blinkered, ignorant and unpleasant she comes across, so it'll do her career the world of good, no doubt. Compare her to someone like Laura Michelle Kelly, who is devoutly religious and has managed to somehow not drag this or any of her beliefs into the spotlight....
|
|
371 posts
|
Post by popcultureboy on Sept 29, 2019 8:08:18 GMT
If I'm reading that correctly, she is suing for the right to express her religious beliefs. She has that right. She expressed them. And now she needs to live with the consequences.
If I was 25 and my career was "in ruins" because I was an outspoken unapologetic bigot, I don't know if a public court case suing the people I believe to be responsible for my career being in ruins would really be the way forward......
|
|
371 posts
|
Post by popcultureboy on Sept 27, 2019 0:22:24 GMT
The gender/race swap was fairly pointless once the point had been made and did the play no favours Never has a point been missed more spectacularly.
|
|
371 posts
|
Post by popcultureboy on Sept 21, 2019 7:24:48 GMT
Beautiful score, terrible concept. If that score was to a completely unrelated-to-Phantom project with a different set of characters with a different narrative it could have worked, but there was far too much pressure on the "Phantom Sequel" for it to have been a success imo. Most of it had already been in Beautiful Game, to be fair.
|
|
371 posts
|
Post by popcultureboy on Sept 5, 2019 7:30:36 GMT
Saw it this afternoon. Very elegant, but honestly nothing original to say. The fact that it's saying it all on a West End stage shouldn't be dismissed though. Original or not, its message is hugely important.
|
|
371 posts
|
Post by popcultureboy on Aug 31, 2019 23:05:00 GMT
Nice acting, loved the change in the accent from ‘Russian’ to Russian English - been trying to remember where this is done in another play. Rock 'N' Roll by Tom Stoppard
|
|
371 posts
|
Post by popcultureboy on Aug 28, 2019 22:09:36 GMT
Saw this tonight at press night. As the lights went down at the close of the play, someone behind me was heard to say 'thank goodness'. I have never known a response so quiet from a Press Night crowd, or seen them so quick to vacate the building. Perhaps it was all just a bit too serious given everything that's gone on in the UK today? I thought the set was amazing though - love a Grand Piano in the background! Press night is this coming Monday, 2nd September. Fleabag press night is tonight. If the person exclaiming was expecting Fleabag, I can see why they were so pleased it was over...
|
|
371 posts
|
Post by popcultureboy on Aug 26, 2019 7:19:30 GMT
I find the popularity of this absolutely fascinating. She did a run of the show AFTER the first series had been on TV. It was at Soho Theatre and I don't recall it being that difficult to get a ticket. It just shows how popular the second TV series was. Your memory is a tad faulty there. The post series one Soho theatre run sold out inside of half an hour.
|
|
371 posts
|
Post by popcultureboy on Aug 16, 2019 8:07:29 GMT
Generally, but for Lungs they aren't. My confirmation said e-tickets would be sent the week before the date of the performance.
|
|
371 posts
|
Post by popcultureboy on Jul 31, 2019 7:23:34 GMT
Handing out pics that could have been signed by anyone(see the limo scene in The Bodyguard movie) is better than nothing,but feels patronising and a bit 50’s Hollywood Superstar...which she is not! Know a lot of people who have seen this debacle and don’t believe she has been out once.Please correct me if anyone has met her at the Palladium SD.Plays the same ‘friend of the people’ character again and again on stage/tv/concerts but not willing to do the odd SD?Perhaps saving it for paid Meet and Greets? Reminds me of a Stormzy track that my son keeps playing...something about boots? This post is really quite unpleasant. I am no fan of Smith, but to call it "patronising" that she signs loads of pics and gets the security team at stage door to hand them out to people waiting for her autograph is ridiculous. Suggesting that she's not doing stage door as she's too above herself, despite her public persona, and planning to exploit it for cash is groundless character assassination. Not one stage performer is obligated to do more than perform on stage. Nobody has to come out of stage door and do anything for anybody who is waiting for them. This entitled opinion is a relatively recent phenomenon and it's one that needs to go away and fast.
|
|
371 posts
|
Post by popcultureboy on Jul 29, 2019 14:05:22 GMT
Half a two-hander at the Lyttleton when Vanessa Redgrave appeared in the one-person dramatisation of Joan Didion's The Year of Magical Thinking. Also, Cillian Murphy did Misterman as a monologue and Ballyturk was mostly a two hander, both in the Lyttleton.
|
|
371 posts
|
Post by popcultureboy on Jul 17, 2019 22:59:41 GMT
When it first played off-broadway, it was 2 acts with an interval. I saw it that way. Eventually in the run, they removed the interval and condensed it. I'm not sure why. Oh interesting! I did see it fairly late into the run (about a month before the end, I think) and everything I googled at the time for reviews and the like only ever displayed that short no interval runtime.
|
|
371 posts
|
Post by popcultureboy on Jul 15, 2019 22:15:31 GMT
(I did a little google and on Broadway World they said it was originally 2hr 15min with an interval so clearly they've done some cuts since the off broadway run). I saw it off-Broadway and it was the exact same running time as here. Suspect the BWW info is incorrect.
|
|
371 posts
|
Post by popcultureboy on Jun 20, 2019 7:31:39 GMT
It'll be interesting to see what impact those reviews end up having. June is sold out, and the majority of July is very heavily sold, but after that the run is wide open and NOT cheap.
|
|
371 posts
|
Post by popcultureboy on Jun 10, 2019 21:35:30 GMT
Looks like I scored lucky with a £10 lucky dip! I imagine this will be heaving with A-Level groups if it's in the syllabus like previous years! It isn't on the syllabus. No Miller is, since only Brits are allowed on the syllabus now or something equally as ludicrous that rules him out.
|
|
371 posts
|
Post by popcultureboy on Jun 8, 2019 22:45:11 GMT
On the Young Vic run they were all unpaid volunteers. Well, they were paid travel expenses but that's it. Same as with People, Places & Things. At the NT, all the other "Emma" performers were supernumeraries, but when it transferred, that all changed. That Broadway schedule is weird. Three two show days, but only a five day performance week? So it's Harry Potter style Monday & Tuesday no shows, then Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday matinees? One of the main reasons, at the start of the run in the West End, that part 2 was a trickier sell was that it didn't have any matinee performances, which ruled out a fair chunk of people from being able to see it. They haven't scheduled any matinees of part 2 for Broadway either.
|
|
371 posts
|
Post by popcultureboy on May 28, 2019 6:53:45 GMT
Have to say I'm a bit disappointed and was hoping for a bigger "name" but as it's almost the end of the run they dont really seem to be bothering anymore. I've not heard him sing but he was co presenter at WOS awards and was pretty dire. You say pretty dire, I say he managed to keep the show together in the face of some pretty big obstacles. Which really makes him ideal casting for Daddy.
|
|
371 posts
|
Post by popcultureboy on May 25, 2019 7:06:52 GMT
the type of show doesn’t alter the fact it’s playing in a listed building, Exactly. It's awful, but like many other houses, the Phoenix is Grade II listed and was built long before any access considerations needed to be, well, considered. Trying to make the necessary changes in 2019 is pretty much impossible due to the listed status. At least the Phoenix can accommodate, however narrowly, the electric wheelchair she is in. The Wyndhams cannot and are unable to make any changes either, and not for lack of trying. Or she could try going to the Shaftesbury, where the accessible entrance is on one side of the venue, the accessible seating on the other. Getting to it involves some frighteningly steep ramps put down by front of house staff. Every West End venue does all they can within their limited parameters to allow everyone access, but they're all aware more needs to be done and are constantly looking at ways to improve.
|
|
371 posts
|
Post by popcultureboy on May 18, 2019 0:14:30 GMT
Sat in D16 in the stalls was a great seat and definitely helped appreciate the ending of the play as I think it’s effectiveness would have been lost if sat up in the Gods. Actually, the coup de theatre at the end from the upper circle looks forking incredible.
|
|
371 posts
|
Post by popcultureboy on May 16, 2019 0:02:45 GMT
They have moved the interval now. It's an hour 15 minutes first half, 20 minute interval and then an hour second half, so now running at 2 hours 35 all in.
|
|
371 posts
|
Post by popcultureboy on May 10, 2019 8:48:50 GMT
Ambitious pricing on this Is it ambitious, or is it just standard West End pricing? I don't see anything about the pricing here to make me clutch at pearls about how high it is.
|
|
371 posts
|
Post by popcultureboy on May 4, 2019 6:59:16 GMT
I think you're right on both counts but then again I thought that about the Arts theatre also and it received nominations for Six. If the venue isn't a member of SOLT, they can still pay SOLT for a production to be considered if they think it warrants it. The Young Vic did it with their revival of A Doll's House a few years back. I can't imagine The Bridge not sorting eligibility for this, though I also can't imagine that next Saturday will be the last we'll see of it.
|
|
371 posts
|
Post by popcultureboy on Apr 29, 2019 7:02:22 GMT
The film was reworked from the play to make it longer (Alec Baldwin's addition, for example) and the film still isn't very long. I think it is purely the set change which necessitates the interval, though having seen something like Hangmen do a complete set change in moments, it's probably possible now to do away with the interval on this and find ways to make it work without one.
|
|
371 posts
|
Post by popcultureboy on Apr 28, 2019 22:56:22 GMT
The person that decided an interval after half an hour should be strung up That'd be David Mamet.
|
|
371 posts
|
Post by popcultureboy on Apr 9, 2019 8:22:34 GMT
Quote [input type="checkbox" class="ui-manager-checkbox"] Post by Baemax on [abbr title="Mon Apr 08 2019 09:45:07 GMT+0100 (British Summer Time)" data-timestamp="1554713107000" class="o-timestamp time recent_time"]23 hours ago[/abbr] As soon as SOLT decided to nominate all six of them as the same entry for the same award even though they're playing six different characters, it was abundantly clear that they didn't consider any of them to be a serious contender for the award, so it was almost insulting of them to even bother. Not a SOLT decision. Producers decide who to submit for nomination and in what category.
|
|
371 posts
|
Post by popcultureboy on Feb 15, 2019 11:16:22 GMT
Side point, has the quite barmy queue for ticket collection been a factor throughout or was it an anomaly yesterday? Pitched up about 2:10 and the queue stretched almost to the stage door round the corner and plenty arrived after me. It moved quickly but I wonder if these things are often as much a PR stunt as anything else. The Pinter foyer is tiny and so is their box office, but the Pinter holds over 800 people on a sold out performance. So any sold out performance at the Pinter has always had mad collection lines stretching all the way round the building. Hamlet, Oslo, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf and so on. This and Betrayal will be the same. As will any juggernaut which follows.
|
|