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Post by bellboard27 on Jul 6, 2017 9:51:36 GMT
For me the following:
Best play: Too difficult to answer (quite a few jostling for top spot!) Worst play: probably The Philanthropist (I have not seen Common!) Best musical: 42nd Street Worst musical: Ballroom at Waterloo East Most annoying show: Madam Butterfly at La Monnaie in Brussels – it still makes me angry when I think about it (all about the staging rather than the singing which was great!). Funniest show: Red Mary – an opera in Prague set during the communist period. No idea what to expect, but it was excellent! Most weird staging: Endgame in Brussels Most versions of a story: The Winter’s Tale (2 different plays and an opera) Best recommendation from Theatreboard: Out There on Fried Meat Ridge Road (thanks Monkey!)
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Security
Jun 30, 2017 17:40:00 GMT
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Post by bellboard27 on Jun 30, 2017 17:40:00 GMT
The NT has changed again. Now there are no tapes funnelling people to security. The bag checkers are there but I walked in with my bag without a check. The atmosphere seems more like it used to be.
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Post by bellboard27 on Jun 30, 2017 14:39:13 GMT
huge hair curlers in the rest of the country or is that something peculiar to the North West? Peculiar to the North West. I think it depends on which area of body hair is being curled.
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Post by bellboard27 on Jun 24, 2017 15:44:08 GMT
Went to first preview. Run time was just under 1hr 20mins. Nice performances and JMA was good. However, as remarked previously, it is not a substantial piece. Some laughs, but as a piece about two writers it doesn't say a lot about writing.
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Post by bellboard27 on Jun 24, 2017 13:55:57 GMT
Met up with my sister and am unable to get back to my original position I once tried to go back to my original position. The person I was with looked disappointed and suggested that I lack imagination.
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1,064 posts
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Security
Jun 22, 2017 22:36:03 GMT
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Post by bellboard27 on Jun 22, 2017 22:36:03 GMT
I just visited the Grand Opera House in Belfast. This city knows a thing or two about security, as I experienced in earlier visits. But for this visit to the GOH there was nothing. No search, no obvious bag restrictions, etc.
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Post by bellboard27 on Jun 21, 2017 6:38:04 GMT
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Post by bellboard27 on Jun 19, 2017 21:38:12 GMT
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Post by bellboard27 on Jun 16, 2017 8:09:18 GMT
On phone heckles, I enjoyed Ian Grieve as GB in the Confessions of Gordon Brown. As a phone went off he snapped at the owner: "if that's Tony Blair tell him to f*ck off!"
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Post by bellboard27 on Jun 13, 2017 17:17:47 GMT
I am in Edinburgh. I am in a Thai restaurant. It is mid June. Yet the background music is a selection of 1950s-60s American Christmas songs. It is so odd that it seems right!
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Post by bellboard27 on Jun 13, 2017 12:04:49 GMT
With Delta sponsoring a theatre I'm surprised we've not heard stories of audience members being ejected from their seats and kicked out just before a show starts due to overbooking.
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Post by bellboard27 on Jun 13, 2017 10:06:10 GMT
Given it is only a few hours since seeing Salome, I have to report my immediate reaction is not one of enthusiasm.
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Post by bellboard27 on Jun 12, 2017 20:45:17 GMT
Went tonight. Theatre about 2/3 full. I liked some of the staging but this is dreadful.
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Security
Jun 12, 2017 17:52:00 GMT
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Post by bellboard27 on Jun 12, 2017 17:52:00 GMT
After visiting the NT enhanced security for visits to the Littleton and Dorfman I now am paying a visit to the Olivier. It's distinctly odd. Having come through security checks one is not allowed to use the lifts going up (going down is fine). This might be due to the guy sitting at the Olivier cloakroom landing saying no bags larger than the NT auditorium policy are allowed on floors further up. What if I want to collect my ticket and go down as it's one hour before the show? You still have to stow your bag. Fortunately I had my stuff a backpack into a Sainsbury's carrier bag routine ready. But why bags (once checked) are allowed on some floors and not others is not clear.
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Post by bellboard27 on Jun 8, 2017 22:45:48 GMT
Am getting through the beers and Bombay mix. I hope I've got enough to last.
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Post by bellboard27 on Jun 7, 2017 9:30:12 GMT
The Times 1 ⭐️ Whatsonstage 1 ⭐️ The Stage 2 ⭐️
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Post by bellboard27 on Jun 6, 2017 14:04:07 GMT
Tennessee Williams Eugene O'Neill George Bernard Shaw Bertold Brecht Terence Rattigan Sir David Hare Alan Bennett John Osborne Joe Orton Edward Bond Howard Barker Howard Brenton Peter Barnes Samuel Beckett Sean O'Casey Eugene Ionesco Jean Genet .... that's just off the top of my head, if I really thought about it there'd be others Haven't you just copied the list announced for the next 17 seasons of retrospectives at the National Theatre?
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Post by bellboard27 on Jun 5, 2017 22:36:04 GMT
And 4 stars in The Stage
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Post by bellboard27 on Jun 5, 2017 21:21:34 GMT
At press night at Annie, apart from the hacks, oddly there were few I recognised. In fact my famous people spotting was limited to Graham Norton and Christopher Biggins. What a combination!
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Post by bellboard27 on Jun 5, 2017 21:17:46 GMT
I was at press night tonight. Frankly I didn't mind Hart at all. The girls' dancing was fine but I really am not sure what this is doing on the West End. It is not a patch on Matilda for a start. Several of the jokes would go down well with a 1930s audience and, as parsley says, there are sound issues. Still lots of the audience around me liked it.
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Post by bellboard27 on Jun 2, 2017 16:35:01 GMT
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Post by bellboard27 on Jun 2, 2017 14:57:02 GMT
I know some on this board cannot get enough Sondheim so this might be of interest. It runs till next Wednesday in LAMDA's new theatre (rather nice!) and is put on by those graduating this year. I went and it is rather fun - some nice voices and acting and I liked the staging. Tickets are cheap so maybe worth checking out. It was nice seeing Michael Billington there showing that interest in the new generation of actors. www.lamda.org.uk/whats-on/productions-and-showcases/summer-season/assassins
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Post by bellboard27 on Jun 1, 2017 21:46:39 GMT
Can't see a thread on this. Practical: run time is 1.45 as advertised (although this performance started 10 minutes late). The £15 pit seating is great as the set up is in the round.
A barber shop is in full swing as you enter. Some of the audience take turns in the barber's chairs (don't worry there is no audience participation in the play itself).
The play is set in a number of barber shops across Africa and in London. These places are linked by characters and events. The cast is 12 men. I suppose the justification for such a gender bias is that the main topics of discussion were about father/son relationships and wider issues of masculinity as a black man. This was well done. There were odd digressions into different aspects of African politics, colonialism and race but this I felt was a bit less well done.
Overall it was very well acted with very varied characters and loads of humour. I enjoyed it.
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1,064 posts
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Security
Jun 1, 2017 18:51:39 GMT
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Post by bellboard27 on Jun 1, 2017 18:51:39 GMT
Well security at the Dorfman seems to be different to the rest of the NT. You can enter the foyer without a check and if your bag meets the NT size limit it seems you can go into the auditorium without a check. However, if you need to check your bag into the cloakroom then there is a security guy there checking it before the cloakroom guy takes it.
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Post by bellboard27 on Jun 1, 2017 17:47:45 GMT
I found general booking fine last year with good tickets for more popular dates. But I did book early once general booking was open.
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