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Post by anthony on Aug 1, 2023 21:23:19 GMT
I’ll post full feelings later, but I enjoyed it for what it was. I actually didn’t think the staging was too bad for something advertised as a concert. Was more than I was expecting in that regards, to be fair.
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Post by longinthetooth on Aug 1, 2023 21:25:48 GMT
Well, I was at the matinee and loved it, as did the vast majority of the audience! I'm not saying it was perfect, but I left happy. 4.5 stars.
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Post by dan28 on Aug 1, 2023 21:26:02 GMT
Reading all the reviews I wonder why they didn't choose to hire a strong, capable and suitable Eva.
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Post by anthony on Aug 1, 2023 21:31:33 GMT
Reading all the reviews I wonder why they didn't choose to hire a strong, capable and suitable Eva. I thought she was wonderful this evening. I’d go as far as saying probably one of the stronger performances. I don’t think she was helped by the outfit direction, as odd as it sounds. Having her dressed like every other female ensemble member during the entire first act made it much more difficult for her to stand out when she wasn’t the focus point.
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Post by FrontroverPaul on Aug 1, 2023 21:50:06 GMT
Reading all the reviews I wonder why they didn't choose to hire a strong, capable and suitable Eva. IMHO, and judging by the standing ovation which only became near-total when Auli'i came back on stage, they did hire a near-perfect Eva.
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Post by FrontroverPaul on Aug 1, 2023 22:01:19 GMT
Don’t let my patience in trying to write a review which is as balanced as I can manage fool you. I loathed this. It must be rotten to buy a ticket and be looking forward to a show, use a fair chunk of a day and money to travel to the theatre and back, but then not enjoy it at all. All I personally want and expect when I go to the theatre is to be entertained by people who have more talent in one finger than I have in my entirety. I guess I'm lucky because that's fulfilled in 99% of the 200 + shows I choose to see each year.
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Post by ceebee on Aug 1, 2023 22:23:32 GMT
Reading all the reviews I wonder why they didn't choose to hire a strong, capable and suitable Eva. IMHO, and judging by the standing ovation which only became near-total when Auli'i came back on stage, they did hire a near-perfect Eva. London audiences give standing ovations to everything. Hardly a measure of success.
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Post by vickyg on Aug 1, 2023 23:08:40 GMT
I would have thought you would aim, at minimum, to cast someone who has the range to sing all the notes in the score.
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Post by 141920grm on Aug 1, 2023 23:15:18 GMT
surprised to hear about the apparent mistakes at the matinee- just back from the evening show and thought it was very slick and cleverly staged, especially impressed with the ensemble, not one step out of place (and i WAS looking). score sounded gorgeous with the orchestra, but i struggled to make out quite a few of eva & che’s lines- not sure if it’s the sound mix or diction issues.
thought auli’i’s high notes could be stronger at the beginning, where she either struggled slightly or got too shouty, but i felt that tone/approach worked for the character the further the story progressed. matt was charismatic but unintelligible at times. echoing others, jeremy’s peron was perfectly sung/acted, and emily’s mistress was another standout, her ‘another suitcase in another hall’ gorgeously vulnerable.
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Post by theatremadhatter on Aug 2, 2023 0:27:30 GMT
I really enjoyed this, I thought the cast all had moments of brilliance.to be fair. Yes Auli’i struggled at times and at other times she sounded great. But considering the amount of time given and little direction I think it’s unfair to hold them up to previous productions such as Grandage. This is a concert after all. I’m not a huge fan of all the British accents and laid back delivery of Che but again this is a concert so should we expect more?
What I am more disheartened by is how these ‘concerts’ are thrown up, according to the cast at stage door in 4 days with one orchestra rehearsal before a show. They thought they’d be standing with sheet music and instead the producers choose to go for this semi staged version which inevitably leaves them with less time to learn and really gel with the characters and music. Then the cast members like Jeremy and Matt who have done the show before many many times will of course shine out.
Of course I like seeing a semi staged concert over one just stood and sung but I think it’s ridiculously hard to hold up any of these performers performances when put in that position.
My reservations & thoughts I had when watching (what I agree with some this evening was a 4.5 star show) were completely dissipated when I learnt that they’d had so little time to rehearse. Good on them for pulling through. It’s not an easy piece.
So the blame lies with the producers. They want to set high ticket prices so they then have to deliver more than a concert but then they can’t afford to pay for proper rehearsals which inevitably affects the quality of the show. Which then essentially leaves us feeling short changed as it wasn’t as good as it could have been. Sound balance issues etc would have all been ironed out with a proper rehearsal and preview period.
Some of the prices were ridiculous as you can see the producers attempt to recoup and make a profit in 3 shows. Maybe they need to do a series of Monday / Tues concerts to make it viable enough to have a proper rehearsal.
Of course the Orchestra have an easier job as they sit playing and reading the music so less likely to make mistakes. They were glorious.
Anyway like many here I still enjoyed it and enjoyed the orchestra. But I know in the future I’d just rather see a properly rehearsed show than the trend of these pop up ‘concerts’ that attempt to be staged.
Fairer on all all around.
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Post by toomasj on Aug 2, 2023 2:23:03 GMT
Thank you theatremadhatter for the above post. I wanted to address this portion of your post: “But considering the amount of time given and little direction I think it’s unfair to hold them up to previous productions such as Grandage. This is a concert after all.” Now, while you go on to address - very fairly and eloquently in my view - the difficulties in arranging this kind of production, I don’t think the above quote marries up. I don’t want to confrontational about this, but because you brought it up Grandage’s revival starred Elena Roger, Matt Rawle and Philip Quast in a fully staged production and ensemble of 16. Now, Elena Roger was infinitely superior to the Eva I saw. Matthew Rawle is the same and Jeremy Secomb is impressive as ever. Grandage’s Evita - with a better cast, actual sets (and crew), and being fully rehearsed cost £80 for a premium seat. A concert directed by the choreographer of the Kenwright tour, an ensemble of eight and a desperately poor Eva was offered out at double the price. Again, the performance I attended Eva literally didn’t sing lines at one stage having missed a cue to… be on stage (Rainbow Tour). This is below am-dram. I remind you of the cost. So going back to the original quote: it’s unacceptable. Cast better. Direct better. Give a few more days rehearsing. Hire people who know the material to cut down on mistakes. In my view what I saw is the pits of what commercial musical theatre can do. £25. Fine. I come away feeling dejected as I wanted it to be good. £150? I’d be downright furious.
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Post by couldileaveyou on Aug 2, 2023 5:47:25 GMT
Grandage’s Evita - with a better cast, actual sets (and crew), and being fully rehearsed cost £80 for a premium seat. A concert directed by the choreographer of the Kenwright tour, an ensemble of eight and a desperately poor Eva was offered out at double the price. I mean you're absolutely right on everything you said, but to be entirely fair that was 17 years ago and today you'd have a hard time finding a stalls seat for any of the major show for that money. And with inflation 80£ of 2006 are more or less 130£ today.
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Post by theatremadhatter on Aug 2, 2023 6:36:37 GMT
I don’t want to confrontational about this, but because you brought it up Grandage’s revival starred Elena Roger, Matt Rawle and Philip Quast in a fully staged production and ensemble of 16. Now, Elena Roger was infinitely superior to the Eva I saw. Matthew Rawle is the same and Jeremy Secomb is impressive as ever. Grandage’s Evita - with a better cast, actual sets (and crew), and being fully rehearsed cost £80 for a premium seat. A concert directed by the choreographer of the Kenwright tour, an ensemble of eight and a desperately poor Eva was offered out at double the price. So going back to the original quote: it’s unacceptable. Cast better. Direct better. Give a few more days rehearsing. Hire people who know the material to cut down on mistakes. In my view what I saw is the pits of what commercial musical theatre can do. £25. Fine. I come away feeling dejected as I wanted it to be good. £150? I’d be downright furious. Absolutely. We are actually saying the same thing. We saw different shows for certain, in the evening no cues were missed, it just wasn't as I said as good as I felt it could have been with a proper rehearsal /sets. There were some stand out moments along with the orchestra. But this was billed as a concert not a fully fledged production. We got something in between. Which was essentially a show still in rehearsal. I just lie the blame with the producers and these 'concerts' overall, not with a cast who don't know the show, expected to do staging, costume changes and learn a whole score / cues and to find out it was all in 4 days and one orchestra rehearsal. I don't think any other performer who hadn't already done the show like Matt & Jeremy would have been better in the circumstances. Evita is a very difficult part and it's churlish and somewhat cruel for the producers to expect for anyone to get that under a belt in such a short time. Auli'i said she'd never heard of the show before being cast in her interview on this morning. That was never going to come off in a week and the producers should know better. Especially as you say with the price of some of the tickets. So I agree if they continue to do this cast people who know the show or have done it in the past so they have a chance!
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Post by BurlyBeaR on Aug 2, 2023 6:53:02 GMT
I don’t want to confrontational about this, but because you brought it up Grandage’s revival starred Elena Roger, Matt Rawle and Philip Quast in a fully staged production and ensemble of 16. Now, Elena Roger was infinitely superior to the Eva I saw. Matthew Rawle is the same and Jeremy Secomb is impressive as ever. Grandage’s Evita - with a better cast, actual sets (and crew), and being fully rehearsed cost £80 for a premium seat. A concert directed by the choreographer of the Kenwright tour, an ensemble of eight and a desperately poor Eva was offered out at double the price. So going back to the original quote: it’s unacceptable. Cast better. Direct better. Give a few more days rehearsing. Hire people who know the material to cut down on mistakes. In my view what I saw is the pits of what commercial musical theatre can do. £25. Fine. I come away feeling dejected as I wanted it to be good. £150? I’d be downright furious. . Evita is a very difficult part and it's churlish and somewhat cruel for the producers to expect for anyone to get that under a belt in such a short time. Auli'i said she'd never heard of the show before being cast in her interview on this morning. That was never going to come off in a week and the producers should know better.
This ☝🏻 I’d love to hear Patti Lupone’s opinion on it!
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Post by shownut on Aug 2, 2023 7:14:59 GMT
I was there last night and would give it a solid 3 stars.
Even with a couple of performances under their belt, it felt/sounded quite unrehearsed with missed cues, wrong words/lyrics and some pretty cringy harmonies, especially in "Goodnight and Thank You" where at one point, both Matt and Auli"i could not locate their notes at all.
Auli"i was a misfire but with potential. She got stronger in the 2nd act but simply didn't have the voice of the presence for a solid Eva, even in a concert version. Yes, she could manage the high notes, but everything else was often pitchy, occasionally sharp and she was clearly challenged in terms of keeping in tempo or on the mark with the orchestra. That said, if she had a proper six weeks to rehearse and a decent director, there might have been potential....and she might have had an easier time with the lyrics which she muddled on more than a couple of occasions.
The staging was quite amateurish. What they were doing with "Art of The Possible" is anyone's guess but they clearly thought musical chairs was too much of a challenge. And having several entrances upstage with the conductor nearly centerstage meant 1/3 or more of the house, at least in the stalls, could not see what was happening.
Matt Rawle was ok and like Auli"i, was stronger in the second act. "And The Money Kept Rolling In" was thrilling despite some weird choreography happening stage right (don't try and stage a crowd scene complete with bodyguards when you only have 8 players....totally naff).
The saving grace was the orchestra which sounded rich and full, in spite of some uneven tempos.
At the prices they were charging, this really should have been a LOT more professional and not something that looked thrown together in a day.
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Post by BurlyBeaR on Aug 2, 2023 7:19:05 GMT
I have to say though, if you really had never heard of the show but managed to get cast as the lead in a west end concert wouldn’t you listen the f*** out of every cast recording you could get your hands on for WEEKS before rehearsals started? She was announced 2 months ago, what’s she been doing since? Playing Disney soundtracks?
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Post by tommy on Aug 2, 2023 7:51:09 GMT
Saw the matinee, having seen several full stage versions of Evita, I was really curious to this concert version and expected/hoped the music to sound glorious (let alone in this iconic theatre), and I think this was absolutely the case! The orchestra sounded stunning - especially in the big songs - like did the actress who played Evita too (she felt so at ease in those well known songs). Strong performances from the other leads, especially the actor/singer who played Peron stood out giving a masterclass performance to the part. Not to forget the amazing, stunning ensemble - pitch perfect in my opinion, not in the least in the choreographed parts!
I read somewhere in the comments above about 4 days of rehearsals - gosh even more remarkable how they did put together this semi-staged version for only 3 shows! Some of the performers I understand were already (very) familiar to the show, but even with much professional experience, it must have been challenging, not in the least the part of Eva Peron.
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Post by distantcousin on Aug 2, 2023 7:52:10 GMT
Reading all the reviews I wonder why they didn't choose to hire a strong, capable and suitable Eva. More important to hire a name, especially one that would get the Disney fans in. She clearly wasn't up the the role.
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Post by mrsbutler on Aug 2, 2023 7:54:12 GMT
Really poor matinee performance yesterday. Lead roles were worst especially Evita, to the extent that I wondered if they were hungover. The lady who sung Another Suitcase was far better. Acting was wooden and there was absolutely no chemistry between the lead characters. Felt unrehearsed and pitching was awful at times. Very disappointed.
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Post by ceebee on Aug 2, 2023 7:55:32 GMT
Building off the above posts, it feels to me like producers / directors might kill the trend for theatre concerts if they keep putting on under-rehearsed dross like this. I'd rather have actor/singers standing still doing nothing but knowing the lines (though given that there were autocue screens all around the auditorium in Drury Lane, there's not really any reason to fluff a line). This experience will make me think twice about going to see concert events, as the quality was not good enough despite the excellent orchestra and a couple of strong singing performances. For me, this trend for "live in concert" style events dumbs down the source material (think Matt Lucas as Thenardier - turned a really great character into a panto turn). "Spend £130 to see a few people you recognise off the telly or stage butcher your favourite shows, with minimal/no set, but experience orchestras how they used to sound 25 years ago - retro theatre... we've taken out the actors but replaced the musicians." Who'd have thought it would be possible? A very easy way for producers to make a quick buck and gauge appetite for future full productions. (So a glorified workshop then...)
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Post by vickyg on Aug 2, 2023 8:15:22 GMT
Even with a couple of performances under their belt, it felt/sounded quite unrehearsed with missed cues, wrong words/lyrics and some pretty cringy harmonies, especially in "Goodnight and Thank You" where at one point, both Matt and Auli"i could not locate their notes at all. It was at this point that I genuinely thought I might actually be losing my mind... and my hearing. I thought the issue must be with me because it couldn't possibly be as bad as I thought I was. A leading lady who shouts, screams, can't reach the notes and isn't on a *large* proportion of notes she could reach. How can you let that go ahead. These concerts always have issues so, on one hand, I don't know why I'm surprised. On the other hand, people are paying real money, as much, and in many cases, more money than they would for a longer running production and shouldn't have to settle for this.
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Post by shownut on Aug 2, 2023 9:43:05 GMT
Even with a couple of performances under their belt, it felt/sounded quite unrehearsed with missed cues, wrong words/lyrics and some pretty cringy harmonies, especially in "Goodnight and Thank You" where at one point, both Matt and Auli"i could not locate their notes at all. It was at this point that I genuinely thought I might actually be losing my mind... and my hearing. I thought the issue must be with me because it couldn't possibly be as bad as I thought I was. A leading lady who shouts, screams, can't reach the notes and isn't on a *large* proportion of notes she could reach. How can you let that go ahead. These concerts always have issues so, on one hand, I don't know why I'm surprised. On the other hand, people are paying real money, as much, and in many cases, more money than they would for a longer running production and shouldn't have to settle for this. Same here in terms of "Goodnight and Thank You". My hands involuntarily went over my mouth. It was just so bad.
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Post by max on Aug 2, 2023 9:48:22 GMT
You'd think that after a terrible run of artistic outcomes and even more dreadful publicity that ALW/Really Useful would be demanding that everything is top notch, or just vetoing it if in any doubt. Someone at RUG needs to get a grip - including on their main asset ALW.
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Post by ceebee on Aug 2, 2023 10:03:23 GMT
You'd think that after a terrible run of artistic outcomes and even more dreadful publicity that ALW/Really Useful would be demanding that everything is top notch, or just vetoing it if in any doubt. Someone at RUG needs to get a grip - including on their main asset ALW. Exactly this. I actually like very many of ALW's works, but these days he is a loose cannon who should not be allowed any where near the place where artistic decisions are made. If I was ALW I would be entrusting the artistic integrity and legacy of my productions to a group of trusted advisors who I know would then protect my assets whilst I am alive and when I am gone. The last thing anybody who has created a legacy portfolio wants to be thinking as their last thoughts is "I wonder if Cinderella would work better if she had a bob... I wonder if The Beautiful Game would work well on a football pitch?... Can we try leasing the railways on strike days for a giant mainline production of Starlight?... CatsGPT might work - Memory would take on a post-modern irony... Evita - sponsored by a well-known wholegrain cracker product - yes, that might work... Jo-Seph and his technicolor popcorn bucket, hmm, seems contrived..." So I agree - instead of killing the golden goose, RUG ought to assert greater control on everything that goes out with the ALW name affiliated. Seems they protect their physical assets (such as theatres) more than their intellectual property (productions, though not necessarily ALW himself).
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Post by actorsinger on Aug 2, 2023 10:09:12 GMT
I have a feeling there are a lot of wannabe producers out there who are trying to make a buck by putting on all these one off, highly priced, under rehearsed, concerts instead of actually doing any producing: or putting the time and effort into raising enough money to fund a proper “production”. They blag themselves a half famous name (usually from the states) sling it on the poster and hope for the best. It’s getting so boring. If they were smaller, cheaper “try out” concerts, to discover ways the show can work, to rework old classics etc, I might understand. But I’m afraid all I see here is lazy greed.
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Post by distantcousin on Aug 2, 2023 10:21:52 GMT
I have a feeling there are a lot of wannabe producers out there who are trying to make a buck by putting on all these one off, highly priced, under rehearsed, concerts instead of actually doing any producing: or putting the time and effort into raising enough money to fund a proper “production”. They blag themselves a half famous name (usually from the states) sling it on the poster and hope for the best. It’s getting so boring. If they were smaller, cheaper “try out” concerts, to discover ways the show can work, to rework old classics etc, I might understand. But I’m afraid all I see here is lazy greed. Agreed. All the worst habits/excesses of theatre producers.
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Post by max on Aug 2, 2023 10:26:55 GMT
You'd think that after a terrible run of artistic outcomes and even more dreadful publicity that ALW/Really Useful would be demanding that everything is top notch, or just vetoing it if in any doubt. Someone at RUG needs to get a grip - including on their main asset ALW. Exactly this. I actually like very many of ALW's works, but these days he is a loose cannon who should not be allowed any where near the place where artistic decisions are made. If I was ALW I would be entrusting the artistic integrity and legacy of my productions to a group of trusted advisors who I know would then protect my assets whilst I am alive and when I am gone. The last thing anybody who has created a legacy portfolio wants to be thinking as their last thoughts is "I wonder if Cinderella would work better if she had a bob... I wonder if The Beautiful Game would work well on a football pitch?... Can we try leasing the railways on strike days for a giant mainline production of Starlight?... CatsGPT might work - Memory would take on a post-modern irony... Evita - sponsored by a well-known wholegrain cracker product - yes, that might work... Jo-Seph and his technicolor popcorn bucket, hmm, seems contrived..." So I agree - instead of killing the golden goose, RUG ought to assert greater control on everything that goes out with the ALW name affiliated. Seems they protect their physical assets (such as theatres) more than their intellectual property (productions, though not necessarily ALW himself). I don't think it's been done before, but what RUG needs is to recruit an Artistic Director.
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Post by toomasj on Aug 2, 2023 10:27:05 GMT
It was at this point that I genuinely thought I might actually be losing my mind... and my hearing. I thought the issue must be with me because it couldn't possibly be as bad as I thought I was. A leading lady who shouts, screams, can't reach the notes and isn't on a *large* proportion of notes she could reach. How can you let that go ahead. These concerts always have issues so, on one hand, I don't know why I'm surprised. On the other hand, people are paying real money, as much, and in many cases, more money than they would for a longer running production and shouldn't have to settle for this. Same here in terms of "Goodnight and Thank You". My hands involuntarily went over my mouth. It was just so bad. Oh my goodness, it’s flooding back to me. I had almost exactly the same reaction. There were quite a few moments where I involuntarily cringed. The “crowd” scene (lol) staging in “A New Argentina” mentioned above, and “The Art of the Possible” were just incredibly badly put together. There were moments of a simple lack of care and attention to detail; for example at the benefit concert before Peron’s speech Che sets up a microphone downstage centre. Got it. But then Peron gives his speech half way up the staircase. Why?! The end of “Oh What a Circus” didn’t get applause (in the Royal Circle at least) because of the unclear staging. “Santa Evita” was sung by a fully grown woman. “The Waltz” was a mess in every department, from the dull amateurish staging through to the botched harmonies.
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Post by BVM on Aug 2, 2023 10:28:13 GMT
Mods - can we add the star rating please to see what the average consensus is for this?!
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Post by BVM on Aug 2, 2023 10:29:57 GMT
Gosh poor old ALW.
First everyone says he needs to step back from creative control and trust other people to have a go.
Now he needs to step right back in and protect his legacy.
He can’t win!
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