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Post by JJShaw on Oct 11, 2018 8:39:42 GMT
Well I've learnt the 'you snooze, you loose' lesson the hard way, literally. Noticed some bargain seats popup on DMT website last night (courtesy of dynamic pricing). Didn't bag a ticket but woke up a 6am kicking myself for not doing it. Got up and put a single seat in my basket but then realised I needed my card (upstairs) to complete the purchase, half asleep and tired decided to go back to bed for a couple of hours and complete the sale later. Got up and the seats gone now! Just checked out of curiosity and for todays matinee dress circle row J there are some tickets now for £19.50, I sat there for £25 as that was my allocated dayseat and I can tell you that £19.50 is an absolute steal for those seats so if they turn up again do it! (Interestingly for the evening those same seats are £39.50 and later on in the weeks they go up to £79!!)
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Post by JJShaw on Oct 7, 2018 12:03:10 GMT
I too saw it last night, I queued up for a daystar and while only being about 8th? in line I was given Dress Circle J14 which was actually a fantastic seat! What time did you queue? I got there just after 8am, there were a few people in front and behind me that wanted matinee seats (but there wasn't one that day) I would say around 20 people were queuing by 10am
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Post by JJShaw on Oct 7, 2018 8:35:23 GMT
I saw yesterdays matinee, went on the website about 1:15 and got dress circle F212 for £25, perhaps last minute dynamic pricing?! It was listed as Special Online Price or something but very happy to have a great seat at an amazing price!
While I wasn't very impressed with Carrie's Veronica, I felt it was a little... empty, for me there wasn't any emotion or purpose to what she was saying, I will give absolute props to her for singing that score if she was unwell enough to call out for the evening. Note perfect, just a shame the acting wasn't quite up to par with it for me. I would have preferred her to be a little more dead-pan in her comedic moments, Veronica is a brooding goth-esque "edgy" girl and I would have liked to see that more than musical comedy comedics but thats just me!
Ive known of the show since its off-broadway and have followed here on and off its changes up until this iteration of it and theres something about the show that still feels 80% there for me. I think that came down to some of the performances where my opinions don't quite match whats been said here but its always interesting to see different opinions!
This could be blasphemous but I really was not impressed with Jodie Steele, I wouldn't have minded her looking a little out of place in comparison to her other Heathers age wise but for me she only landed about 25% of hr comedy lines and was playing it way to broad. For me Heather Chandler has her power because of her subtlety, she knows exactly what she's doing, how quick and witty and evil she is, she doesn't need to scream it from the rafters. (wether this was direction or her interpretation I don't know!)
Heather Duke's new song is fun, I wish they'd really gone in on the she's so quiet no voice thing right up until her song, her arc seemed disjointed. I totally see the comparisons of Kristin Chenoweth and Heather Mc. !!! I actually really enjoyed her and thought she was the best Heather, for me she seemed to Get what her character was in this satire.
J.D was really really really good and I would be happy to see him get some nominations come awards time. Veronica's new act 2 song feels super shoe horned in and far to Disney-triumph-i-will-defeat-evil. Shine a Light was super fun and I liked her adlibbing (im assuming) while she was talking to Steve.
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Post by JJShaw on Oct 7, 2018 8:20:32 GMT
I too saw it last night, I queued up for a daystar and while only being about 8th? in line I was given Dress Circle J14 which was actually a fantastic seat!
This production is wonderful and I'm so glad to see that the word of mouth is getting round, the line was super busy on Saturday considering the theatre monkey reports were saying it had started off quiet.
Jennifer was really good as Bobbi, and considering it was just hours to learn a role that leaves the stage just a handful of times (I only really clocked her leaving for Not Getting Married) I would agree that her Marry Me and being Alive were a little soft at times but I think that was just nerves of not really doing it before.
Drive a Person Crazy and Not Getting Married were send outs for me, as well as Side by Side. The direction and visual designs were wonderfully chic and modern, juxtaposed with having the orchestra above in full view it was beautiful! Jonathan Bailey I hope will be recognised come awards season, and Patti Lupone slotted in perfectly, and her diction was impeccable!
Another Hundred People felt very out of place and as if they didn't know what to do with the song. I like some of gender swaps but I wish more of the couples were swapped too (they can still be heterosexual but would have been super interesting to see those dynamics swapped too)
Im sad I won't get a chance to see this again, I could see see them filming it or potentially a production transfer to NY?
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Post by JJShaw on Sept 10, 2018 9:40:12 GMT
just looked at ticket prices and availability, still high prices, still plenty of seats. I hope its a success but if not lets hope that thy do introduce some discounts because I really do hope that this has good audience numbers!
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Post by JJShaw on Sept 2, 2018 10:32:07 GMT
Another unique "foyer" space, but I love the regents park open air bar/eating areas, beautiful foliage and lights!
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Post by JJShaw on Aug 24, 2018 0:03:26 GMT
Well I just loved this tonight!
Very informative about nostalgia being a fantasy, but also I took a little from it about what we should value from the times past. I loved the exploration of their marriage and working together to make each other happy, the ending almost seemed very 50's with it all being happy.
Of course the set and costumes were such a visual delight, would love it to win best set as they really do go all out, even for the bathroom which is barely used.
I was in M4 which was fine and yes if you do have the higher numbers you might miss a little more than the lower numbers.
So happy to see this after the disaster of Exit the King.
I just loved it!
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Post by JJShaw on Aug 17, 2018 11:37:00 GMT
To sum up what the first 80 minutes was like, the woman sat next to me left within half and hour and the guy directly behind started to snore a few moments later - and I didn't even get annoyed. Plenty of walk outs. There is no real philosophical exploration of death and loss, just Rhys Ifans repetitively throwing tantrums in Joker make-up until the final scene with a decent farewell monologue by Indira Varma and some clever set manoeuvres. I'd be interested in seeing another version because I honestly didn't feel like the script was salvageable. I saw it yesterday afternoon purely based on the posters and the tagline, and since I got an entry pass ticket I thought I should try and broaden my horizons and see something I might not have gone to see. Boy was this just boring. Fortunately the last monologue and set staging made it interesting and was really quite beautiful, but my goodness the middle third was just so so so so dull. The 80 minutes leading up to the end are just "you're going to die" "I don't want to" "but you are" "ok but also no". THATS IT. had I not been smack bang in the centre of row C (right next to the catwalk that comes through the audience) I really did contemplate walking out it was just so boring. The only other show I considered walking out of was American Idiot (thank goodness each show was only a one act, although this felt so much longer...) Not sure if it was just for that matinee but the amount of saliva coming from the King's mouth as he spoke was unnatural, with an actual dribble at one point. you could see everyone in the first couple of rows wince when he came close to the edge of the stage, myself included when he would walk the catwalk and stop near me all I could think was please don't spit on me. Theres good diction and enunciating and then... this. He spat so much he literally washed his smeared lipstick and white make up clean off his chin leaving a peachy chin in between his white face. Both the queens were good and their dialogue was the only sort of salvageable thing to come from this play. Also the old maid/nurse lady. The Doctor didn't have the material for his character to do much and the guard was just... there? Thank goodness for the girls! Not comedic enough to be a comedy, not tragic enough for me to care, was genuinely surprised that the King wasn't dressed like Trump to try and be politically satirical (because he was so winey I assumed that would have been a fine direction to go in at the start.)
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Post by JJShaw on Aug 14, 2018 8:31:27 GMT
thankfully it didn't rain today so we get to see the whole show, yay! I enjoyed it, for the most part. mainly because its one of my favourite shows, I think its really well written, tight, and a good lesson in how to use your time most effectively for a show. I liked the new physical design and idea of greyscale and adding colour throughout. Some bits and bobs were eh? but I liked the idea and most of the execution. I didn't mind the skyscrapers in the trolleys and thought it was a good way to keep the stage moving and interesting with the lack of different locations and space limitations. at first I was confused why it was a drive in sign framing the stage but they're very American skyline-ey and also as a small homage that it was a b-movie first? it was overly choreographed and some of the direction was odd which I thought was a shame, almost as if they didn't trust the material. I liked the cast and only felt that they suffered a little from the direction and not their limitations (minus Audrey and Mushnicks weaker vocals). Vicky Vox was wonderful and i thought it was really good interpretation breaking out of the classic mould. I thought the addition of Mean Green Mother as an encore was really good and certainly made everyone leave on an energised high! Overall a good production trying to do lots of new things and break out of the classic traditional way of the show, some worked some didn't. Id give it 3.5* also sorry forgot to add the band sounded incredible!!! and the sound design was so good, very unexpected for an outdoor venue but they really were wonderful!
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Post by JJShaw on Aug 13, 2018 22:23:01 GMT
thankfully it didn't rain today so we get to see the whole show, yay!
I enjoyed it, for the most part. mainly because its one of my favourite shows, I think its really well written, tight, and a good lesson in how to use your time most effectively for a show.
I liked the new physical design and idea of greyscale and adding colour throughout. Some bits and bobs were eh? but I liked the idea and most of the execution. I didn't mind the skyscrapers in the trolleys and thought it was a good way to keep the stage moving and interesting with the lack of different locations and space limitations. at first I was confused why it was a drive in sign framing the stage but they're very American skyline-ey and also as a small homage that it was a b-movie first?
it was overly choreographed and some of the direction was odd which I thought was a shame, almost as if they didn't trust the material. I liked the cast and only felt that they suffered a little from the direction and not their limitations (minus Audrey and Mushnicks weaker vocals). Vicky Vox was wonderful and i thought it was really good interpretation breaking out of the classic mould.
I thought the addition of Mean Green Mother as an encore was really good and certainly made everyone leave on an energised high!
Overall a good production trying to do lots of new things and break out of the classic traditional way of the show, some worked some didn't. Id give it 3.5*
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Post by JJShaw on Aug 5, 2018 9:48:48 GMT
Here is a video of a local US production being done this month on an actual lake, so when the cast falls overboard ... . The last two minutes are a bit of the show in action. The first 14 are about how they designed things. that looks like an incredible production!!
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Post by JJShaw on Jul 11, 2018 16:07:46 GMT
if anyone wants to see this at TOP before its transfer there are some seats available for tomorrow and next week on their website, including a couple pairs of £29 seats!
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Post by JJShaw on Jul 6, 2018 15:34:10 GMT
Seen quite a few self-righteous twitter posts about how this show and TOP have been encouraging young people to go to the theatre more and about how many tickets are priced at £25 and under (when theyre just £25... not under) and it just bothers me because they havent done any of that!
The success of this show is that it was an already established show in the MT niche, and it was headed by a celebrity who has a predominantly young fanbase. This isn't a brand new musical even if its a UK premiere as its based on a cult film too! Yes it could have flopped and not done well, but on paper putting those things together is a rather solid recipe for at least a modest success.
Happy for its success, not happy about the delusion.
As far as the "ready for W/E" debate, I think it comes down to the show not feeling like a west end show, and it feels more like an off west end/off-broadway show, which I do agree with.
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Post by JJShaw on Jul 4, 2018 22:55:20 GMT
great to see its still got demand, but WOS and theatrecafe websites show plenty of availability, however that's what happens when you put tickets on sale at 10pm with no prior announcement! Couldnt they have waited and said they'd be on sale 10am tomorrow? Same thing happened when it was announced for TOP. Whoever is deciding to release news this late should reconsider their marketing plans as it just seems messy!!
Having said that I hope it is still successful for its transfer!
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Post by JJShaw on Jun 28, 2018 22:50:49 GMT
excited to see Richard Fleeshman and Matthew Seadon-Young, loved them both in Urinetown!
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Post by JJShaw on Jun 22, 2018 11:57:19 GMT
You do make a good point there, but this one says its based on a true story about a boy taking his school to court over him not being able to take his boyfriend to prom, sounds like an interesting story and not just a gay story where the plot is about coming out (ala Love Simon).
Its being presented in the main space, with a monday matinee too!
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Post by JJShaw on Jun 21, 2018 22:48:08 GMT
my only knowledge of the show was the new broadway cast recording and watching the proshot old vic production from 2001 on youtube (correct me if i am wrong on date/theatre) so i was looking forward to seeing a production in person.
While I thought the performances were fine there just seemed like a lack of drive and energy from the production, like it had been put on sleeper mode, could have been to do with direction, or as previously stated just being on a stage that was too big for their set, or the distinct lack of brass that i was accustomed to from the versions prior. I wasnt a fan of how Too Darn Hot was staged and was a little disappointed with Tom, Dick, Harry (one of my faves, again there was just a lack of brass instruments to give it that old school JAZZ vibe!)
Sadly it then felt quite long (and at 2hr 50, it is!) it was lovely to have all the encores, transition music and such, i wish I had enjoyed it more. Surprisingly so, so so many people were leaving at the beginning of the bows, just seemed rather rude at the Droves of elderly people leaving (i was at the matinee!), and they say the young generation is rude!
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Post by JJShaw on Jun 19, 2018 22:55:59 GMT
Very happy to hear the positive reviews but have booked a ticket for row A seat 30 and am slightly worried it may not be the best view. Is it possible to change where I am sat as the date hasn’t others avalibility or is this seat actually not too bad? I sat in A32 and it was still a good view, its quite a wide stage but they do a good job of keeping the action centred and varied on the sides, you should be fine. its great to be so close with them practically on ground floor level.
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Post by JJShaw on Jun 19, 2018 15:40:46 GMT
Also....its not like they took a brand new musical into a workshop and rewrote loads in a year. Its not amazing to take a pre-existing musical/book/score and get it staged in a year is it? this is why it doesn't feel right that they are championing it as a brand new musical which has found success (ala Jamie), this show already had a built-in fanbase in the MT community, plus a built-in rabid fan base with their lead actress, PLUS a sold-out workshop preview run last year (fair enough their studio space is incredibly small but still they sold out in record time) Having said that, its always wonderful to see shows succeed and this has such positive buzz around it (for the most part) and that's never a bad thing! Despite some of the negative press (i.e when they announced it, this recent preview/not preview debacle)
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Post by JJShaw on Jun 18, 2018 21:28:45 GMT
Ok..i am sold...is it a standard seating arrangement? Only ever been in the round at the young vic.. yes standard seating, very low stage! I would say the lower numbers would be a tad better than the higher ones but every seat is a good one
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Post by JJShaw on Jun 18, 2018 21:16:12 GMT
Saw the first preview tonight, managed to bag a front row seat on the end for £10 so I thought why not!
It is staged wonderfully, very nice set and creativity. The kids were really good and got a big applause after the title song (as did the other "moment" songs). The show is in great shape and didn't seem like a preview at all, I think the cast's performances will only deepen as they settle into them.
I will put the rest in a spoiler in case people want to form their opinions on their own:
{Spoiler - click to view} I didn't really like the actor playing Bruce, his accent was very mush-mouthed and was rather quiet (and i was front row!!) but he did capture the aloofness, rigid and secretive nature.
I forgot that Jenna Russell's part didnt have as much stage time as I remembered but when she is on she is great. Adult Alison (im so sorry her name escapes me!) did a great job of keeping the show together.
Medium Alison seemed a little... amateur I hate to say. Her mush mouth is clearly hereditary from her Father but she did do a good job of being a college kid on the verge, I just wish her voice matched her acting skill.
Joan and Roy/others filled out the cast nicely and added some great moments to the show.
There was a great set reveal I didn't see coming!
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Post by JJShaw on Jun 7, 2018 23:27:03 GMT
While its a shame theyre doing the super reduced version, it seems that SP always seem to do a kids show during christmas so this is sort of a happy medium?
Looking forward to seeing what they do with it!
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Post by JJShaw on Jun 5, 2018 22:41:17 GMT
I really enjoyed this, a score I hadn't heard anything from but was humming a couple of them once I left.
This absolutely is Caroline O'Connors show her voice is just something else, quintessentially Broadway and sounds like its had been through the sweeteners in the studio!
The show reminded me sort of Grey Gardens-esque, not the most compelling plot and I think it could be trimmed a little bit (it was longer than the stated 2 hr 10min, I think it could do well as a 1hr 45 no interval) a very enjoyable afternoon and nice to see something that is so rarely done unearthed!
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Post by JJShaw on May 26, 2018 10:17:35 GMT
I am very happy to see this is extending! Always great to see new musicals succeed with original scores and stories!
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Post by JJShaw on May 21, 2018 12:32:38 GMT
how exciting! With this and Hadestown at the NT its nice to see we are getting to see some of the more experimental theatre. (Cue cries of "but why arent we supporting new British work"? My answer is I dont know but is nice to see new work wherever its origin!)
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