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Post by princeton on Aug 17, 2018 20:30:27 GMT
Actually, Bill Pullman (fine actor that he is) has never been nominated for a Tony Oops - guess that's my penance for pointing out someone else's mistake and then not fully researching the facts myself! Actually I looked at IBDB for The Goat (I saw the replacement cast with Sally Field and Bill Irwin) - just didn't read it correctly.
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Post by princeton on Aug 17, 2018 13:09:15 GMT
Baz B seems to have awarded both Sally Field and Bill Pullman Tony Awards - the American Theatre Wing doesn't seem to be of the same view! Both nominated - neither has won. Or maybe he has the power to see into the future.
Looking forward to seeing this - Tony Award winners or not.
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Post by princeton on Aug 16, 2018 10:26:41 GMT
I'm waiting until they announce Matthew Needham has been cast. Isn't he giving us his Cock in Chichester?!
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Post by princeton on Aug 15, 2018 20:34:11 GMT
Isn't this the concert which was criticised because they originally announced an all-white cast (billed as The Best of the West End) singing songs from shows including Dreamgirls and The Lion King Report from The Stage 25 JuneAnd got some traction on Twitter As they don't seem to have listed any additional cast members since then - presumably the promoters are trying to avoid further criticism by not having white actors sing songs from musicals which, in the context of a show, would be performed by BAME actors. And definitely down to the promoter not the venue.
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Post by princeton on Aug 14, 2018 20:49:27 GMT
I'm very fond of 'The Small House of Uncle Thomas' and it's well done in this production. However it is quite difficult to watch it now without thinking of 'Joseph Smith American Moses' from Book of Mormon.
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Post by princeton on Aug 9, 2018 11:58:20 GMT
And now from The King and I website - and not before time - official notification of planned absences from performances. Kelli's as per her twitter feed and:
On Thursday 30 August and Thursday 6, 13, 20 & 27 September (evening performances) Mr Ken Watanabe will not be appearing and Mr Takao Osawa will be playing The King of Siam. Mr Kok-Hwa Lie will be playing the Kralahome.
Seems to me that it anyone is at fault it is the producers - and now, rather late in the day, they've decided to be more open. It really shouldn't be the responsibility of individual actors to publicise their holiday dates (and some producers, as we know, do not allow this).
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Post by princeton on Aug 3, 2018 19:58:30 GMT
And an update on Kelli O'Hara's performance schedule:
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Post by princeton on Jul 22, 2018 16:59:01 GMT
No - you're quite right. It ran at Theatr Clwyd 25 June-14 July - which is where lots of the national critics reviewed it. It begins previewing at the National on Tuesday 24 July (I'm there the following evening) with a London press night scheduled for 31 July - although as noted most of main newspapers have already covered it.
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Post by princeton on Jul 20, 2018 8:43:53 GMT
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Post by princeton on Jul 16, 2018 13:30:17 GMT
Melissa Jacques has indeed joined the cast - understudying Margaret and Miss Hedge.
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Post by princeton on Jul 14, 2018 18:50:57 GMT
You’d think so - though several first night critics including those from The Times and The Stage, who were presumably sitting in the best seats in the house and could clearly see the faces on stage, praised Ruthie Ann Miles In their reviewsl. I suppose you could put it down to sloppy journalism - on the other hand......
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Post by princeton on Jul 14, 2018 17:57:40 GMT
Probably for a separate thread really - but there's such a deficit of good theatre criticism these days. Very rarely do I see a review which propels me to book for a production. The mixture of pedestrian writing, misguided opinion and factual inaccuracies mean that very few are pleasurable to read. The right balance of creativity and information is usually sadly lacking.
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Post by princeton on Jul 12, 2018 9:19:14 GMT
Fiona Mountford's reviews often don't seem complete. It feels as though she gets to the end of a sentence, does a word count and decides that's enough. Everything is left hanging.
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Post by princeton on Jul 7, 2018 18:13:46 GMT
I haven't seen this production yet - though I did work on the tour/west end revival with Kathryn Evans (eventually) as Rose and Alex Hanson as his own namesake - and as a piece it is a real oddity. On paper it is a small chamber piece about 5 people and their romantic entanglements - yet at times the music has a really epic sweep to it in the big numbers and with a full orchestra sounded amazing but some of the through sung elements/libretto are fairly pedestrian. The original production looked fabulous but it was slightly lost amidst travellators and large moving set pieces - but the pared down Menier version didn't really work either in spite of a good cast. Perhaps because you were simply too close to a bunch of fairly unpleasant people - for, with the exception of Jenny, none of the principal characters are particularly likeable. I wonder whether the piece will always be an interesting failure. I think our production was the best of the lot - with a good balance between intimate and epic (swishy curtains instead of solid panels) but still had moment which didn't work.
And the character of Alex is really difficult to play. He starts off with the really big hit song - and then suddenly it's flashback and he has to be a credible seventeen year old fan boy. Then in act two he's in his mid-30s with his own teenage fan - and there's not a lot on the page to help the character development. I've seen about seven actors play Alex and no-one has really managed all aspects of the character - either too old for 17 or too young for 35 (or both).
In fairness to Felix Mosse - he's not straight out of drama school. I think he's about 26 (just a couple of years younger than Michael Ball when he played Alex) though may look/play younger - and seems to have worked pretty consistently for the last five years including a year in Book of Mormon and a year in Les Miserables (covering Marius - I heard good things about when he went on) and recently completed the European tour of Rocky Horror Show as Brad.
I'm due to see this production towards the end of the run - and will be approaching with caution - though it will probably be tighter than the first preview. I had hoped for a string quartet as a minimum for the orchestra - but I guess that's not going to be the case!
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Post by princeton on Jul 5, 2018 22:44:22 GMT
£20.99! That''s extortionate! Isn't that pretty much the normal price for a theatre live relay at a cinema in London? I know that NTLive shows tend to be around the £20 mark and Royal Opera House live somewhat more. Given that cinema tickets in London seem to be about £15 for a regular evening screening - I'd expect these to be a little more expensive.
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Post by princeton on Jul 2, 2018 18:20:57 GMT
FEHINTI BALOGUN is playing Algie JACOB FORTUNE-LLOYD - Jack GEOFFREY FRESHWATER - Lane MATT CROSBY - Merriman TIM GIBSON is playing a character called Moulton - a gardener referred to in the play but not usually seen. www.classicspring.co.uk/show/the-importance-of-being-earnest/castUPDATE: Oops Simon - I guess you were posting as I was typing. Sorry everyone for repeating the information.
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Post by princeton on Jun 29, 2018 7:47:49 GMT
I rather enjoyed her as Nina in The Seagull at Southwark Playhouse (pre-Elephant and Castle days) in an adaptation by Anya Reiss which moved the setting to the Isle of Wight.
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Post by princeton on Jun 19, 2018 11:49:25 GMT
Jo Riding and Janie Dee on the Olivier stage again 25 years after Carousel - I might have cried. Actually Carousel was in the Lyttelton - but I agree it's great to have them reunited at the National - almost echoing the story in Follies. I think Joanna Riding will be an astonishing Sally and I actually thought Alex Hanson one of the saving graces of the ROH concert and longed to see him in a better production.
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Post by princeton on Jun 7, 2018 17:10:57 GMT
They are different Olivers. Oliver Tompsett is playing Charlie in Kinky Boots whilst it was Oliver Savile who played Bobby in the Aberdeen Company. They are both former West End Fiyeros - which might be why the confusion arose.
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Post by princeton on Apr 22, 2018 17:14:00 GMT
Might this be related - given earlier speculation
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Post by princeton on Apr 4, 2018 11:16:22 GMT
Looks like lazy subbing from his Hamlet bio to me. Replacing 'for the Almeida' with 'recent theatre'.
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Post by princeton on Mar 30, 2018 16:01:16 GMT
I think that 'I Know Now' was replaced by 'I Only Have Eyes for You' toward the end of the original 8 year Broadway run (apparently the producer David Merrick thought it a better song) - though it remained in the London production for the whole run.
'Keep Young and Beautiful' and 'Plenty of Money and You' were added for the 2001 Broadway revival - as were the new curtain call routine for Peggy and the ensemble - and the staircase ending for 42nd Street! These were all additions and didn't replace anything else.
As you mention 'Boulevard of Broken Dreams' was added for this production.
The show in 1984 was a good deal shorter!
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Post by princeton on Mar 26, 2018 13:24:05 GMT
She was so intense and talented, her stage presence filled that giant stage I first saw Wicked in December 2006 - a couple of weeks before Idina Menzel ended her limited run. I'd heard the OCR and knew that Menzel had won the Tony - but I couldn't quite understand why - as her voice on the recording was very much an acquired taste and she'd been up against some amazing actresses giving outstanding performances (inc Tonya Pinkins in the original Caroline, or Change). However it soon became obviously that Idina Menzel was indeed giving an award worthy performance and was something very special. She mined every last drop of comedy and pathos, and used her vocal idiosyncrasies to perfectly serve the character - and above all she had such natural stage charisma that you couldn't take your eyes off her. She made me laugh and she made me cry. This was a great actress at the height of her powers giving a superb performance. She was clearly working well with the rest of the cast (and in particularly Helen Dallimore) but there was no doubt who was the star - she just had IT. I saw the show several months later when Kerry Ellis had taken over the role and while overall it was more balanced - it lacked that special something. Since then I've seen several different Elphabas - most have better vocal instruments (and use more notes!) than Menzel and many have been more age appropriate. I've enjoyed them to different degrees - but none have ever matched that performance that I saw in 2006. Would I choose to listen to Idina Menzel singing the score over some of the more recent Elphabas - no thanks. Do I wish I could turn back time and see her acting the part again (and again) - you bet!
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Post by princeton on Mar 20, 2018 12:21:40 GMT
I always hate it when people get obsessed with an actor prediction for an upcoming show but LORD ABOVE PLEASE LET IT BE JENNA.With you on both counts - and it's looking as though the stars are in alignment on this.
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Post by princeton on Mar 19, 2018 21:03:49 GMT
On her agent's site it says she's second cover Dorothy Brock. Most bizarre. She was several years below Clare Halse at ArtsEd.
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