1,064 posts
|
Post by bellboard27 on Mar 9, 2018 16:08:21 GMT
If anyone is interested RADA are doing tours at 12 noon on 17 and 24 March: www.rada.ac.uk/whats-on/rada-toursTheir tours are intermittent, so not always easy to catch. I have done it and it is interesting - visiting all three theatres and other parts of the building and learning a bit about the place and its approach. When I went most of the others on the tour were people who might be interested in applying to attend RADA - they had some useful questions! Note that for the tour I went to the usual entrance for performances on Malet Sreet (as did several others). But we had to bang on the door to get someone to let us in as they said we should have entered on Gower Street. So, if you go I would check this as it is a bit of a walk between the two entrances! At least the Gower Street entrance is open so you can ask there.
|
|
1,064 posts
|
Post by bellboard27 on Mar 9, 2018 13:05:19 GMT
Went to the Royal College of Music’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream yesterday in their (appropriately named) Britten Opera Theatre. My first time there – nice!
I thought this worked very well – lots of darkness (set, costumes, acting), lots of ethereal fairyness, lots of humour. Loved the staging – excellent use of mirrors and lighting to create good reveals and disappearance of characters. Excellent singing from most of the cast.
I went to the ENO production exactly a week before. However, for that I had to leave before the 3rd act as my last train home was very early due to all the snow! The ENO production has got good reviews, but while I liked the singing and, particularly the rich sound from the orchestra, I found the staging rather monotonous – an enormous bed. The RCM production felt more interesting.
Also seeing them together shows the effect costumes and staging have on characterisation. The ENO production is light with Oberon and Titania as very much king and queen, but the RCM production adds a dark, sinister edge that somehow fits better. The ENO puck is rotund, jolly and naughty, whereas the RCM puck is mischievous, but looks like he is just this side of positively wicked.
I’m definitely looking out for more RCM productions.
|
|
1,064 posts
|
Post by bellboard27 on Mar 8, 2018 11:28:15 GMT
Finally caught up with this again. We had not been since the very first night way, way back! (Although we caught an excellent version a couple of years ago in Malmo). So, it was great to see that it is as fun as ever.
|
|
1,064 posts
|
Post by bellboard27 on Mar 8, 2018 11:20:13 GMT
More amusing, person crunching through a large back of crisps in the row in front ON STAGE at "Jubilee." Fortunately, she pushed off and didn't come back at the interval. Anarchy only goes so far, in my book. When some people see others naked, they end up getting the munchies.
|
|
1,064 posts
|
Post by bellboard27 on Mar 7, 2018 23:24:31 GMT
I was there this afternoon also! I went in a bit wary and ended up really enjoying it!
|
|
1,064 posts
|
Post by bellboard27 on Mar 7, 2018 16:04:02 GMT
They’ve cancelled performances on 28 and 30 April. First preview now 1 May.
|
|
1,064 posts
|
Post by bellboard27 on Mar 7, 2018 13:08:48 GMT
For all the dodgy nominations and missed nominations, the one I was most pleasantly surprised to see was La Boheme at Trafalgar Studios 2. A good show that could so easily have been over-shadowed by bigger productions.
|
|
1,064 posts
|
Post by bellboard27 on Mar 6, 2018 16:45:25 GMT
It is an absolute truth to say that without Peter Hall, there would never, ever have been theatremonkey. Those very few moments he spent talking to me as a teenage visitor to the National fed a vital spark. For a moment I thought I was about to read revelations about a love child.
|
|
1,064 posts
|
Post by bellboard27 on Feb 21, 2018 17:11:03 GMT
Interesting experience today. I went to an afternoon dance show today in Brussels. I wondered how many there might be in the audience, but it was nearly packed out (about 250). Waiting to enter I noticed a lot of very young children (4-6) with parents, small groups, etc. I presumed therefore that the performance was aimed at children. It was not. It was quite good with good choreography, synchronicity, music, lighting, costumes, etc. For the hour the children were well behaved, but there were odd conversations – often triggered by stage activity. I imagine most was discussion about what was going on. I must admit I didn’t have a clue (though I still liked it). While the children could have been quieter, overall they were quite good. I suppose it is half term. However, I wondered what the children made of it all. Did they enjoy it? Will it leave a positive impression? Will they respond positively if told they are going again? I honestly don’t know. However, I’m sure some parents will have some explaining to do on the way home!
|
|
1,064 posts
|
Post by bellboard27 on Feb 21, 2018 12:26:29 GMT
The "huge" car park can get very full for matinees. If we go by car, we usually park in a side road near the theatre. Matter for you but it is a huge car park that is v handy and you will get a place. Usually it is fine but I have turned up at the car park to find it absolutely full. Bit of a shock given how much space there has been other times! (It was prior to a matinee so I parked elsewhere and moved the car in prior to the evening performance to allow for a quick getaway).
|
|
1,064 posts
|
Post by bellboard27 on Feb 21, 2018 12:13:44 GMT
“Is this a camera which I see before me, thy finger on the flash button? Come, let me punch thee.”
|
|
1,064 posts
|
Post by bellboard27 on Feb 20, 2018 20:00:30 GMT
|
|
1,064 posts
|
Post by bellboard27 on Feb 19, 2018 8:54:11 GMT
Marriage of Figaro, Tunbridge Wells Opera House:
I went to this yesterday more because of the venue than the production. I have passed the building with ‘Opera House’ carved into it for years, but only recently have performances begun again. It is a lovely Edwardian theatre that fell into trouble in the late 1920s, becoming a cinema in the 30s, with some attempts at live performances in the 40s and 50s. In the 60s it became a bingo hall. More recently Wetherspoons took it over. As a pub, the foyer area still feels theatrical with lots of memorabilia. The stalls seats are gone, with bar tables and seats instead and these are on the stage as well. There are bars at the back of the stalls and the back of the stage. The dress circle and upper circle (and boxes) are all intact. I had visited the venue as a pub and wanted to visit a performance.
Once a year opera is put on for two performances on the day. The pub transforms the stalls into dining seats and the dress circle is open for non-dining seating (I don’t know why the upper circle was not open, but the upper circle boxes were used). Both performances were sold out, so with 200 covers for meals over the two performances (plus drinks for others), I suppose the pub does not do too badly out of it. Being in the dress circle I got a better view of the state of the theatre upstairs and must admit that Wetherspoons seem to have restored it well. It is a lovely theatre in gold, red, white and blue. Given that it has not been used as a theatre for so long, it is amazing that it still can be presented as a theatre relatively easily.
As to the show. Produced by Merry Opera it was billed as ‘opera meets jazz’ and set Marriage of Figaro in 1962. While I have no problem reimagining operas into different times and places, I did have problems with the musical decision for this production. Merry Opera usually use a single piano, but this time had a keyboard, drums and double bass to create a jazz sound. However, while I found it an interesting experiment, singing Mozart as syncopated jazz just felt wrong. The beauty of the music and the voices seemed to be lost. Some voices were good and the performers put a lot of effort into comic acting, which is important. However, if the music is not right, it’s a fundamental flaw.
|
|
1,064 posts
|
Post by bellboard27 on Feb 17, 2018 19:42:16 GMT
Many years ago I lived in Peterborough and was woken by an earthquake. In my half awake state I thought it was a tube train passing underneath the house! When I woke in the morning I realised how silly that was and only when I turned on the news was the mystery solved!
|
|
1,064 posts
|
Chess
Feb 16, 2018 23:52:45 GMT
via mobile
Post by bellboard27 on Feb 16, 2018 23:52:45 GMT
I'm both a big Chess fan and a big Tim Howar fan, so I'm personally thrilled. I loved only half the cast of the 2008 concert, and I had a ton of fun seeing that live. I just kind of ignore the ones I don't care about if I love the others enough to make up for it. Re: seating, I ended up with a front row stalls (A8), cause there was a single seat available for £75 so I grabbed it. How's the view there? (Based on other nights being £100-150 for same area, I'm assuming it was cheaper cause it was a single seat.) I sat a few seats along in the centre of the front row for The Barber of Seville last Autumn. The view was good. Of course I don’t know if they might make some odd staging choice that affects the view, but I would guess it should be alright.
|
|
1,064 posts
|
Post by bellboard27 on Feb 14, 2018 14:08:47 GMT
Well, the space above the Landor Pub is open again as the "Landor Space": www.landorspace.com/Only just heard of it, but the site shows it must have been going for at least a short while given its past productions.
|
|
1,064 posts
|
Post by bellboard27 on Feb 14, 2018 10:24:33 GMT
It is a very silly show. Take G&S, add some training at the Julian Clary school of double entendre, a sprinkling of physical comedy from the school of Mischief Theatre, some dodgy sheep, a big train, randy fairies and an errant flamingo and one is ready to sit on the noble benches of the House of Lords.
|
|
1,064 posts
|
Post by bellboard27 on Feb 12, 2018 19:08:43 GMT
;-) It might be the latex, or globophobia - or I suppose they could suddenly pop, so loud bangs? I do have a fear of latext popping. But that’s probably something different.
|
|
1,064 posts
|
Post by bellboard27 on Feb 11, 2018 23:25:45 GMT
I was at the Exorcist play a few weeks back. I was sitting with a few seats either side of me empty until this strange old woman was sitting near me. She tried to engage with me. I said politely no. Then she kept on pestering me in a very croaky voice. How others sitting in my section did not notice her I'd never know. During the interval, I was going to have a go at her but she was gone. Very fast for a frail old woman. I told the Usher's but they looked at me in puzzlement. In the second act she didn't come back. Isn’t that the Phoenix Phantom? She hasn’t been seen for years. Maybe staging The Exorcist has conjured her up again.
|
|
1,064 posts
|
Post by bellboard27 on Feb 11, 2018 21:25:55 GMT
|
|
1,064 posts
|
Post by bellboard27 on Feb 8, 2018 20:57:47 GMT
Well the play's called Girls and Boys, so I'd suggest merging the two threads but correcting the title so people can easily find the discussion. If the threads stay separate, then I'd rather hang out in this one than the earlier one, as this is the one with the correct title. Hell. I’ve found out I’ve booked to see both at the same time. Now I don’t know which to choose.
|
|
1,064 posts
|
Post by bellboard27 on Feb 4, 2018 11:18:26 GMT
There is a universal law concerning people in the wrong seats. Those who have those seats will always be those who arrive at the last minute, thus giving those being moved no time to get to the seats they have actually booked. This law is particularly applied when those occupying the wrong seats have ended up in the wrong level of a theatre.
|
|
1,064 posts
|
Post by bellboard27 on Feb 2, 2018 9:45:30 GMT
Frank Skinner at the opening night of Satyagraha at the Coliseum. He seems to turn up regularly at ENO opening nights now.
|
|
1,064 posts
|
Post by bellboard27 on Jan 31, 2018 10:14:56 GMT
It's show *business*; if revisiting Amadeus and Follies can make up for the Salome/Common/George triple-failure, then by all means GO for it. Steady on! I'm not sure we should let them off that easily.
|
|
1,064 posts
|
Post by bellboard27 on Jan 30, 2018 15:22:08 GMT
|
|