3,280 posts
|
Post by Dr Tom on Jul 19, 2022 13:37:52 GMT
There is a singalong on the 18th of February 2023 that’s showing on todaytix when will this show end Great. At least five more cast changes to look forward to then!
|
|
3,280 posts
|
Post by Dr Tom on Jul 19, 2022 13:09:39 GMT
If you don't mind my asking, what seat were you in? I'm thinking about doing Rush soon and wondering what seats they give out. Mostly rear Stalls, although I saw front row on there once and sometimes mid Stalls (or higher level). Recently, they've been reducing the first few rows to £30 on TodayTix on the day, so I'd wait for that and choose where to sit.
|
|
3,280 posts
|
Post by Dr Tom on Jul 19, 2022 13:07:03 GMT
If anyone went to any of the Mountview shows earlier this year, Joe Boyle (who was Marius in their Les Mis production and was also in Carousel and Nell Gwynn) will be making his debut as JD in Heathers tonight and will be on until Friday. Robin Hayward who was in Arts Ed's Spongebob and Lysistrata Jones this year is also currently playing Kurt in Heathers And very good they both are too (that's with Joe in the ensemble as obviously I haven't seen his JD yet). Arts Ed have had a cracking year getting their students into professional productions. Ben Culleton (who played Patrick Star like Robin) is in Grease and covered Kenickie the other night. Noah Harrison is in Grease as Roger. Ciaran Rodger (Spongebob) is in The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe. I'm sure there are loads of others.
|
|
3,280 posts
|
Post by Dr Tom on Jul 19, 2022 10:49:06 GMT
Some excellent rush seats came up for tonight too.
I was tempted, but then saw the theatre doesn't have air conditioning, so I'll wait for a few days until the temperature cools down.
|
|
3,280 posts
|
Post by Dr Tom on Jul 17, 2022 18:25:01 GMT
They're still advertising this at 1 hour 15 minutes, although in practice it's more like 55 minutes, so if it starts on time you could just make a 6:30pm showing of this and a 7:30pm showing of Heathers, but it's incredibly tight. I might risk it sometime, but I hate the idea of joining another show late (even though I know Heather really well, so I wouldn't feel like I'd missed anything).
Even the Sunday performance (6pm) doesn't line up with the two Heathers showings that day (1pm and 5:15pm).
|
|
3,280 posts
|
Post by Dr Tom on Jul 17, 2022 13:25:30 GMT
It isn’t selling all that well. There are lots of offers (not all public).
I think they’ve made a huge mistake with the show times. Millennials ends after Heathers has started. If they started Millennials 30 minutes earlier, you’d have people watching both (myself included). But a trip to The Other Palace for just a one hour show really isn’t appealing (at least for this show watcher, who only just falls outside the Millennials age bracket).
|
|
3,280 posts
|
Post by Dr Tom on Jul 16, 2022 7:34:42 GMT
Do some people actually have to sit in the ball pit for the entire show and that is their “seat”? How much would they have paid for that? Yes, and they will have queued up early as those prime positions go first! Up to £35, I think, depending how savvy they are at booking cheaper seats. From the date I attended, the people in the ball pit were all female and too young to be millennials (which was the same with most of the audience).
|
|
3,280 posts
|
Post by Dr Tom on Jul 14, 2022 22:02:06 GMT
Finished at 10:40pm, although I think the second half was trimmed a bit. Not everyone made it to the end and young Belle, dressed in her finest princess dress down the row, was rather tired.
The second interval, which was meant to be only 5 minutes, still went 15.
Great show in the circumstances. Everyone did well to keep the energy up.
Got a great third row Monday day seat as well. A long way to the side and missed the edge, but really nice to see everything up close and pick up on a lot of details I missed further back.
|
|
3,280 posts
|
Post by Dr Tom on Jul 14, 2022 19:46:39 GMT
Started 20 minutes late today due to technical difficulties. Further show stop at about 8:30pm. Now just announced we’re taking an early 15 minute interval. Anyone’s guess if this will get to the end or not!
|
|
3,280 posts
|
Post by Dr Tom on Jul 13, 2022 9:20:15 GMT
I caught this on Monday night (the first performance back after several cancellations) with the always great Matteo on as Frankie.
The highlight was getting Elliot on as fourth cover Norm Waxman (and the rest of his track). Are there any roles in the show he can't play? I keep expecting him to pop up as Mary Delgado. Definitely my favourite swing right now and so great to see a Norm Waxman looking thoroughly evil but with an infectious smile. Plus, he wins the prize for greatest blood projection I've seen! I wasn't completely convinced he was playing his own instruments though. Hopefully being the alternate Frankie doesn't keep him away from covering other tracks, as I still need to see his Bob Gaudio.
Otherwise, everyone was on form and a great show all around. Even the audience behaved!
|
|
3,280 posts
|
Post by Dr Tom on Jul 13, 2022 9:11:08 GMT
An enjoyable show last night in Bromley with a busy audience. I haven't seen any of the previous tours, but that didn't matter. This has one of the weakest plots I've ever seen (a band end up in Butlins and relationship hilarity ensues) and a horrible script, but the cast of actor-musicians just keep playing, smiling and dancing.
The lead, Bobby, is played by reality TV star Jacob Fowler (looking very different to his recent role as JD in Heathers). We had Chloe Edwards-Wood covering Laura, who was fine, but doesn't have that much to do. Joseph Lukehurst stands out vocally as Norman, but everyone is good.
The highlight, really, is the always excellent David Benson as Kenneth Williams, complete with audience interaction and all the mannerisms. And, of course, somehow they find a role for Mark Wynter to sing his hits (with everything sang and performed live, as the voiceover at the start of the show announces). But, it is easy to work in any songs they have the rights for here, since these just happen to be what the Conquest band is performing during their shows.
I expect this will never tour again (although there may well be D&P 4, 5 etc, as long as they can find new songs to release), so catch it while you can!
|
|
3,280 posts
|
Post by Dr Tom on Jul 8, 2022 19:19:10 GMT
First preview over. A gentle enough song cycle that won’t offend anyone. All done by 7:40pm - and that was with a late start and a show stop. I’d imagine they could run through in 55 minutes and the audience could make the start of Heathers with practice.
The included drink is a nice tough. I was lucky enough to be one of the few attendees who didn’t need to show ID.
The transformed studio looked stunning. Get there early if you want a space in the ball pool or bath. I think everyone got a place of some kind to put their bottom on. I managed to get a stool.
A few actors in too. And a former star of Heathers who discovered how easy it was to have a drink poured over them.
The songs worked fine, but if there was a story to the cycle it passed me by. There were some audio problems, plus the show stop where the cast talked with the audience.
Lots of balls get thrown about, so prepare to dodge. If you ever wanted to Luke Bayer’s balls in your face, here’s your chance.
There’s even a trampoline built into the stage. A few near misses, so hope they get through the run without a broken ankle.
It has my two favourite Jamies in!
I’ve nearly cleaned off all the silly string.
In all fairness, rather bizarre and I rather enjoyed the experience. I have no idea why! But I’m also not a millennial.
|
|
3,280 posts
|
Post by Dr Tom on Jul 8, 2022 15:05:57 GMT
Likewise, like the look of the new cast.
Interesting that Joey Cornish, the new Joe Pesci, has tweeted that he's 2nd Cover Frankie Valli. Most of the time, the actor playing Joe Pesci has been first cover.
I wonder if they're promoting Elliot?
I will miss Ben Joyce and Matteo Johnson.
|
|
3,280 posts
|
Post by Dr Tom on Jul 8, 2022 9:45:03 GMT
|
|
3,280 posts
|
Post by Dr Tom on Jul 8, 2022 9:43:45 GMT
I'm really hooked on college productions. Already seen one in Bristol (Barnum, they did it proud) and planning to research where else in the country theatre schools put on public performances of musicals. Any tips very welcome. Likewise. I think we're about at the end of the academic year, so there won't be much more to come. Lots of universities have a musical theatre degree and so put on their own productions. There are also sixth form courses, although those shows are more geared towards the families of those involved attending. The challenge is tracking a lot of these productions down. We could really do with a list of links.
|
|
3,280 posts
|
Post by Dr Tom on Jul 8, 2022 6:41:25 GMT
I missed ... Piazza at the Royal Academy of Music but yesterday paid my first visit there for Merrily We Roll Along. I've seen some top notch college productions in the last year, especially at Mountview, but I thought this was the pinnacle so far. Superb cast, great singing, dancing and acting, full orchestra, not a weak link there and a lovely theatre. My front row seat was sold as limited view for £10 but was not in the least. I was also at Merrily, sat further back in the Stalls but still a great view. I do wish I'd gone for front row though, not the slightest bit restricted, but a rather large orchestra pit (and a large orchestra - to be expected from the Royal Academy of Music, the sound quality was excellent). Very comfortable theatre too and what looked like a decent bar downstairs, although I didn't drink. I saw cast A, who were excellent. Not the most flashy production, but everything worked and I would have this almost up at the standard of Mountview/ArtsEd, just with less of a dance focus than they usually deliver. I would certainly go to Royal Academy of Music shows again. The one thing they did badly is there was no cast board anywhere and this isn't prominent on their website. The only way to find out who the cast were was buying a thin booklet for £4. Hopefully this money goes to support the students, but I would have thought that the Academy would be aiming to promote them and making sure they had professional representation. However, they only seem to teach Musical Theatre at MA Level (presumably to students who already have an undergraduate degree), so perhaps this isn't an issue.
|
|
3,280 posts
|
Post by Dr Tom on Jul 6, 2022 16:02:28 GMT
In one of those bizarre twists of fate, I see that Luke Latchman has taken over from Ivano Turco.
Wishing Ivano a speedy recovery.
|
|
3,280 posts
|
Post by Dr Tom on Jul 6, 2022 14:54:19 GMT
The Phoenix Club have cancelled the reservation. I feel rather sorry for her. Putting on an entertainment event is a lot of work, licences, insurance, health and safety provision, rehearsals, accompanying band etc. We can all make a list. She clearly has no idea and thinks if you book a room and some musicians, you have a concert. Probably her dream concert, but she doesn't seem to have considered such little things as where the performers will change (well, she may expect them to sit in the audience with her) or that they might like to be paid. The event obviously can't go ahead, but I hope people can let her down gently.
|
|
3,280 posts
|
Post by Dr Tom on Jul 6, 2022 7:26:12 GMT
Saw this on Monday with a Stalls rush seat. There were lots of Stalls seats available at the start of the day, but by the evening, they'd closed the upper level and the Stalls were full, so make of that what you will if you're buying tickets.
This did lead to a pretty horrible audience, especially due to talking. Managed to get some people behind me to finally shut up, then an usher came over during the interval to say there had been a report of someone sitting in the same seat taking photographs. Typical.
The show is just as spectacular as last year. Quite a bit of restaging, especially during Blow Gabriel Blow, which I thought worked really well. I did miss Gary Wilmot though. Nicole-Lily Baisden's voice was rather strained. Bonnie Langford was away, so I will have to go back and see here, but enjoyed Anna McGarahan as the cover. And spotted Josh Barnett on stage as well, which is always a bonus.
Will be back later in the run.
|
|
3,280 posts
|
Post by Dr Tom on Jul 6, 2022 7:17:25 GMT
I saw it tonight, enjoyed it on the whole, good cast though found Andre a bit too cringey for my liking. No singing along from the audience, but one woman took it upon herself to yell at the top of her lungs "OH MY GOD, JASON I LOVE YOU!" during Beauty School Dropout Also there last night to see one of the few combined Peter/Jason shows. Jason must really have star power to be able to command a role where he sings for three or four minutes (with the audience mostly distracted by ushers running around to stop people filming and taking photographs), then comes back for about two lines in the mega-mix, for much of which he slips backstage. Will be interesting to see if he does more when Peter Andre is away. Otherwise, the audience wasn't too bad. Lots of celebrity and showbiz types in the central Stalls, although as usual I was terrible at recognising them. I think I spotted Layton Williams amongst them.
|
|
3,280 posts
|
Post by Dr Tom on Jul 4, 2022 5:58:40 GMT
The Arts seems to have a strategy now of short runs, then bring back shows that are a success. So I wouldn't be surprised to see this back again.
I don't think this will tour yet. There's a big difference between a cult following in London at a small theatre in London and people knowing the show on the road.
|
|
3,280 posts
|
Post by Dr Tom on Jul 3, 2022 12:04:04 GMT
I was in London yesterday afternoon and it was fantastic to see people out dressed up and enjoying Pride.
I did try and see some of the parade, but unless you'd been camped out for hours, not a chance! Everywhere was completely rammed. I could make out some of the organisations represented, but it came across to me as much more about the organisations than the people. Different to I expected.
Had to leave to try and get to a theatre, which was total chaos when I ended up with the procession between where I was and the theatre. I did manage to get to a road crossing point, witnessed a very tight squeeze across, one poor girl had a panic attack and had to be taken onto the road, then another slow and tight squeeze to the theatre (a 5 minute walk took about 20 - and that was being a more aggressive walker). Saw such odd choices at someone carrying their bike over their head. I'm sure cycling around a very long diversion would have been quicker!
Note to self is not to book a matinee on Pride day! And, I allowed plenty of extra time already, but to multiply any estimates by about 10! The buzz away from the main parade was fantastic though and I hope everyone enjoyed.
|
|
3,280 posts
|
Post by Dr Tom on Jul 3, 2022 11:48:39 GMT
This is a more of a generic question but Mary Poppins comes to mind since it’s in the middle of Soho and since I was at Pride yesterday… how do the shows cope? There’s so many people and noise etc. can it heard from inside or am I underestimating the level of sound proofing? Different theatre, but I was at Jersey Boys yesterday afternoon which is right on the Pride route (it was chaos trying to get to the theatre - show started 20 minutes late and a load of people came in after that) and you could certainly hear the parade inside. The music inside hid it, but as soon as the sound went down you could hear people enjoying Pride.
|
|
3,280 posts
|
Post by Dr Tom on Jun 29, 2022 9:50:15 GMT
They had boos for Gaston at Beauty and the Beast yesterday.
|
|
3,280 posts
|
Post by Dr Tom on Jun 29, 2022 9:48:19 GMT
Caught this in Wimbledon on Monday with one of the Stalls price promise seats. The view was good apart from losing the edge of the stage/screen. I could no doubt have moved forward like a lot of people, but I decided to stay out of the splash zone (although it didn't actually seem like a lot of water left the stage).
This is an enjoyable show and the tour cast is excellent, particularly Sam Lips and Charlotte Gooch. Tickets sales aren't brilliant though, but there is another major event happening in Wimbledon this week (and suitably chaotic tubes as a result). Worth seeing.
|
|