874 posts
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Post by daisy24601 on Mar 27, 2019 9:38:26 GMT
Just checked for tickets for Friday night and there are hardly any sold! Why isn't this selling?
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1,936 posts
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Post by wickedgrin on Mar 27, 2019 11:08:39 GMT
It’s a show of its time really. A bit dated now.
I enjoyed the production at the Vaults in a small immersive venue but did think it would struggle in a large conventional space when the tour was announced.
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Post by stevejohnson678 on Mar 27, 2019 11:57:59 GMT
£20 ticket offer for Monday-Thursday performances in Manchester using code HAIRMCR.
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Post by jgblunners on Mar 27, 2019 21:00:46 GMT
Well it’s the interval and I’m not quite sure what I’m watching... I think this might be one of those ‘you had to live through it to understand it’ things. Audience are giving a warm reception but the upper circle is closed and it’s a ghost town here in the dress - a shame, as with a packed crowd the atmosphere could be amazing... sending this on tour to mid-to-large houses was perhaps not the best idea.
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Post by singularsensation10 on Mar 27, 2019 21:53:02 GMT
Saw this last night. They absolutely did not capture the heart and true potential of this show, in my opinion. It seemed caricature-y and pantomime like at times... I did not feel endeared or warm towards the tribe, nor did I believe they were a tribe at all. I certainly didn’t believe they’d ever smoked a joint or been high. It felt all too placed and perfectly choreographed which goes against the vibes of the tribe. Poorly cast also, is Jake Quickenden really that much of a draw? Is Marcus Collins that much of a draw that it’s worth rewriting the show to make him far more featured than any other person?
A real shame as this is one of my favourite shows, if not my absolute favourite show, when done right. Hair has the potential to be life-changingly touching and beautiful, as it poses some really deep questions, many of which are still prevalent in this day and age. We should fall in love with the tribe in act 1, and therefore be invested to go on the bad trip with Claude in act 2. In stead, it was very presentational and over the top (thus my pantomime comment) and lacked the heart that is needed if we are going to want to join the tribe and be invested in their story. I need to feel personally invested in them for this show to work... in stead I was left cold and in some cases irritated by some characters.
One of the positives is there were some wonderful vocals from the ensemble.
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Post by jgblunners on Mar 27, 2019 22:26:56 GMT
The pros: it’s brilliant production-wise. The look, feel, and sound are just right and I thought very highly of all aspects of the design. Most of the cast are very hard-working and very talented. The cons: as singularsensation10 said, it just doesn’t feel genuine. I think it probably did when it was in very intimate venues and led by true MT actors. Berger did not feel like a hippy tonight, he felt like the high school jock who smoked some weed and decided he was king of the pack. Marcus Collins’ character was... what? A black activist? Too broadly drawn for me to actually believe him. While I have criticisms of Quickenden (who, despite possessing a decent voice, has possibly the worst diction while singing that I’ve ever heard in a musical) and Collins, Daisy Wood-Davis was actually pretty decent, although I wanted a bit more passion from her. Paul Wilkins was the saving grace of the principals, the character I felt came closest to being truly genuine. The supporting principles and ensemble were all fantastic. Stunning vocals and great fun to watch. I hope for their sake that they don’t end up playing to 1/3- full houses for the whole tour. I enjoyed it, but I wish I’d seen it at the Vaults. Oh, and I still have no idea what actually happened in Act One.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 28, 2019 14:00:15 GMT
Bit off topic but a few years back I was at some touring show featuring Paul Nicholas and I saw a chap who I've seen on a few occasions when I've been autograph collecting at various stage doors. This chap is well into his 70's and has seen a lots of theatre over the years/ seen a lot of greats on stage etc.
Anyway he was showing me a programme from the original production which he wanted to get signed by Paul, the cast featured a young Richard O'Brien, Elaine Page, Peter Straker, Tim Curry, Floella Benjamin, Marsha Hunt etc a number of whom he'd got it signed by over the years - a brilliant piece of theatre memorabilia.
Paul was shocked to see it after so many years too and actually pointed out another name who was coming around in touring production soon.
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3,070 posts
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Post by david on Apr 2, 2019 18:54:14 GMT
Just had an email through for the Manchester stop. Using the code HAIRMCR at checkout, tickets for Monday - Thursday only are £20.
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Post by djp on Apr 3, 2019 0:59:28 GMT
Please report back djp. I know which company is doing the deal and I think the upper circle will be packed. Incidentally, by the time you pay the admin charge this company is asking, the price is not that far below the discounted price the tickets have been going at directly from the theatre (with the various offers). The main difference is, with the theatre offers you can choose to sit near the front where this show is best appreciated. I do see this being a hard sell to a modern audience, but it is a relatively cheap show to tour (small number of cast, crew and musicians, simple set that doesn't take up too much space etc). So, hopefully all the discounting has been accounted for in the planning. Looked fuller than on seat buying plan a couple of days before - but not sure if they decamped circle to stalls.
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396 posts
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Post by djp on Apr 3, 2019 1:43:19 GMT
Saw this last night. They absolutely did not capture the heart and true potential of this show, in my opinion. It seemed caricature-y and pantomime like at times... I did not feel endeared or warm towards the tribe, nor did I believe they were a tribe at all. I certainly didn’t believe they’d ever smoked a joint or been high. It felt all too placed and perfectly choreographed which goes against the vibes of the tribe. Poorly cast also, is Jake Quickenden really that much of a draw? Is Marcus Collins that much of a draw that it’s worth rewriting the show to make him far more featured than any other person? A real shame as this is one of my favourite shows, if not my absolute favourite show, when done right. Hair has the potential to be life-changingly touching and beautiful, as it poses some really deep questions, many of which are still prevalent in this day and age. We should fall in love with the tribe in act 1, and therefore be invested to go on the bad trip with Claude in act 2. In stead, it was very presentational and over the top (thus my pantomime comment) and lacked the heart that is needed if we are going to want to join the tribe and be invested in their story. I need to feel personally invested in them for this show to work... in stead I was left cold and in some cases irritated by some characters. One of the positives is there were some wonderful vocals from the ensemble. I think the ensemble are great - they sound great, look like a unit, and can act well and they do the brave stripping bit boldly- even if the story does not quite build to it properly.
I agree there's something wrong with it . The story does have a flow and sub stories running, before it hits the we are running out of time ending, that comes from nowhere for no reason. Here it doesn't work for the major male characters , which leaves the female leads, who are good, with problems with nothing much to work with too.
The main culprits are Quickenden who acts as well as one might expect from someone whose CV shows a panto, Peter Pan the musical, multiple reality shows, presenting and winning SCD . He was just annoying, his buttocks were annoying, his singing was weak and his acting unconvincing. and he was abetted by Collins, whose singing was weak, or his sound was turned down, and acting almost as unconvincingly. His CV in the brochure is worth a read though - as its almost a dissertation length X factor vote for me speech as he tells us -
The humble boy from Liverpool has never forgotten his roots and is now one of the city’s most beloved singing sons. Marcus has proved that with hard work, tremendous talent, and a little bit of help from Gary Barlow, he has been able to live his dream of pursuing a sustained and continued career in music and entertainment.
The musical itself could be so much better with some rewriting- take out the gratuitous naughty words song. Rewrite some clear plot development in between the drugged up haze, use the big numbers better, add another good , and if you want to have hippy undress, don't stick them all on for one quick flash- which is wasted because we can only focus on one of them before they vanish. A few topless moments might make the free love point better
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7,489 posts
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Post by alece10 on Apr 3, 2019 5:48:37 GMT
I know it's a minor point but Jake Quickenden won Dancing on Ice not Strictly Come Dancing.
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391 posts
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Post by Distant Dreamer... on Apr 3, 2019 6:55:51 GMT
I know it's a minor point but Jake Quickenden won Dancing on Ice not Strictly Come Dancing. Does that mean his dancing is a bit poor in the show? Maybe they should convert the floor to ice for him!
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7,489 posts
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Post by alece10 on Apr 3, 2019 9:17:07 GMT
I know it's a minor point but Jake Quickenden won Dancing on Ice not Strictly Come Dancing. Does that mean his dancing is a bit poor in the show? Maybe they should convert the floor to ice for him! I believe he zooms around on rollerskates as it's a touring production the cant ice over the stages
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391 posts
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Post by Distant Dreamer... on Apr 3, 2019 10:34:49 GMT
Does that mean his dancing is a bit poor in the show? Maybe they should convert the floor to ice for him! I believe he zooms around on rollerskates as it's a touring production the cant ice over the stages Ohhh that would have been fun on ice!
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Post by Deleted on Apr 3, 2019 23:33:05 GMT
Saw this last night. They absolutely did not capture the heart and true potential of this show, in my opinion. It seemed caricature-y and pantomime like at times... I did not feel endeared or warm towards the tribe, nor did I believe they were a tribe at all. I certainly didn’t believe they’d ever smoked a joint or been high. It felt all too placed and perfectly choreographed which goes against the vibes of the tribe. Poorly cast also, is Jake Quickenden really that much of a draw? Is Marcus Collins that much of a draw that it’s worth rewriting the show to make him far more featured than any other person? A real shame as this is one of my favourite shows, if not my absolute favourite show, when done right. Hair has the potential to be life-changingly touching and beautiful, as it poses some really deep questions, many of which are still prevalent in this day and age. We should fall in love with the tribe in act 1, and therefore be invested to go on the bad trip with Claude in act 2. In stead, it was very presentational and over the top (thus my pantomime comment) and lacked the heart that is needed if we are going to want to join the tribe and be invested in their story. I need to feel personally invested in them for this show to work... in stead I was left cold and in some cases irritated by some characters. One of the positives is there were some wonderful vocals from the ensemble. I think the ensemble are great - they sound great, look like a unit, and can act well and they do the brave stripping bit boldly- even if the story does not quite build to it properly.
I agree there's something wrong with it . The story does have a flow and sub stories running, before it hits the we are running out of time ending, that comes from nowhere for no reason. Here it doesn't work for the major male characters , which leaves the female leads, who are good, with problems with nothing much to work with too.
The main culprits are Quickenden who acts as well as one might expect from someone whose CV shows a panto, Peter Pan the musical, multiple reality shows, presenting and winning SCD . He was just annoying, his buttocks were annoying, his singing was weak and his acting unconvincing. and he was abetted by Collins, whose singing was weak, or his sound was turned down, and acting almost as unconvincingly. His CV in the brochure is worth a read though - as its almost a dissertation length X factor vote for me speech as he tells us -
The humble boy from Liverpool has never forgotten his roots and is now one of the city’s most beloved singing sons. Marcus has proved that with hard work, tremendous talent, and a little bit of help from Gary Barlow, he has been able to live his dream of pursuing a sustained and continued career in music and entertainment.
The musical itself could be so much better with some rewriting- take out the gratuitous naughty words song. Rewrite some clear plot development in between the drugged up haze, use the big numbers better, add another good , and if you want to have hippy undress, don't stick them all on for one quick flash- which is wasted because we can only focus on one of them before they vanish. A few topless moments might make the free love point better
Talking of bizarre programme bio details - In the recent Fame programme it said in Jorgie Porter's bio that she ate a Crocodile penis when on I'm A Celebrity!
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Post by Jonnyboy on Apr 8, 2019 21:32:00 GMT
What on earth did I just watch? Visually it’s strong and the production itself is decent enough but as a musical... it’s like being the non-drinker at a party where everyone is wasted. Do you need to be on drugs to connect with it? So little plot, and characters I didn’t care about. Okay, the ending is strong but there’s so much WTF in this, I was waiting for it to end.
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Post by richey on Apr 8, 2019 22:14:40 GMT
I have no idea what the heck I watched. The first act was ok but the second act, thanks to some pretty major sound issues (where the vocals were inaudible over the loud music) and an over abundance of dry ice meant I hadn't a clue what was going on. The cast are very enthusiastic and there's a few good tunes in there but it just didn't work for me. Still, it's one to tick off my list and I got a cheap ticket so I'm not complaining. The rest of the audience (and my hubby who wasn't that eager to go) seemed to enjoy it at least.
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Post by Dr Tom on Apr 8, 2019 22:19:50 GMT
Most of the second half is the hallucination. But I think it's a show you need to have seen more than once to follow it properly, particularly with the minimal set.
Surprised people are seeing it for the first time, considering this production had a long run in Manchester before. I guess this says something about how people compare fringe theatres to mainstream venues.
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Post by richey on Apr 9, 2019 6:09:28 GMT
Most of the second half is the hallucination. But I think it's a show you need to have seen more than once to follow it properly, particularly with the minimal set. I guess this says something about how people compare fringe theatres to mainstream venues. I actually go to Hope Mill quite a lot, for some reason this passed me by on it's original run. I guess it was a show that I hadn't really fancied seeing until I saw all the reviews for it
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Post by richey on Apr 9, 2019 9:14:06 GMT
There were two references I was puzzled about. Someone got called a snowflake, which I thought was a pretty modern term, has that been added? Also the songs referencing Manchester, are the the same on all the tour stops or does it change to reflect where they're playing?
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18,770 posts
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Post by BurlyBeaR on Apr 9, 2019 9:27:39 GMT
Manchester is the original song.
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Post by Jonnyboy on Apr 9, 2019 12:18:28 GMT
Most of the second half is the hallucination. But I think it's a show you need to have seen more than once to follow it properly, particularly with the minimal set. Surprised people are seeing it for the first time, considering this production had a long run in Manchester before. I guess this says something about how people compare fringe theatres to mainstream venues. Not at all. I simply missed it first time round because I couldn’t fit it in. Always prefer Hope Mill if poss. And yes, the sound was not good at times. Not being able to hear lyrics in a show without much visual plot is not ideal!
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Post by Deleted on Apr 9, 2019 13:28:17 GMT
Not being able to hear lyrics in a show without much visual plot is not ideal! Oh I don't know. It was all rather visual when I saw the last production of it with Andy Coxout.
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391 posts
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Post by Distant Dreamer... on Apr 9, 2019 14:22:25 GMT
Here's to make your day @ryan
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Post by Deleted on Apr 9, 2019 19:58:32 GMT
A good measure of a show is the audience response. Most in the circle are unengaged, with a lot of toilet trips and phone checking. This is like a sub-standard college production. Lots of flailing arms and skipping nowhere. Choreography is sloppy and cliched whilst the blocking is a mess. Sound design is also questionable, trading volume for clarity. Chap playing Burger demonstrates a naivity on stage and misunderstanding of the role. Going to stay for act 2 out of curiosity but not enjoying this evening.
All in my opinion, of course.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 9, 2019 20:03:33 GMT
What on earth did I just watch? Visually it’s strong and the production itself is decent enough but as a musical... it’s like being the non-drinker at a party where everyone is wasted. Do you need to be on drugs to connect with it? So little plot, and characters I didn’t care about. Okay, the ending is strong but there’s so much WTF in this, I was waiting for it to end. I think anyone who’s ever been stoned, dropped pills or tripped on lsd watching this would probably be just as isolated as a straight edge audience member, if not more so.
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343 posts
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Post by Jonnyboy on Apr 9, 2019 21:26:03 GMT
A good measure of a show is the audience response. Most in the circle are unengaged, with a lot of toilet trips and phone checking. This is like a sub-standard college production. Lots of flailing arms and skipping nowhere. Choreography is sloppy and cliched whilst the blocking is a mess. Sound design is also questionable, trading volume for clarity. Chap playing Burger demonstrates a naivity on stage and misunderstanding of the role. Going to stay for act 2 out of curiosity but not enjoying this evening. All in my opinion, of course. How did you find the second half? I spent tonight at the Opera House watching Abigail’s Party, far more pleasurable an evening.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 10, 2019 8:55:13 GMT
How did you find the second half? I spent tonight at the Opera House watching Abigail’s Party, far more pleasurable an evening. Do you know what, I think I enjoyed the second half a bit more than the first. With the majority of the second half being a trip/hallucination you could forgive the jolted transitions between songs more so. I think first and foremost the issue is with the haphazard book, which forgets to let characters develop in any substantial way. The poor direction over exposes this though. Why does Burger seem like the principal in the first act for Claude to take the spot in the second? Why did it rain upwards? So many other questions. Is this version of the show really relevant or necessary? Black Boys/White Boys felt incredibly dated and the two black ladies sat in front of me physically recoiled at the use of the N-word. Credit where its due, the ensemble were very vocally strong, especially in the finale acapella, but that's really the only positive I could find. There were snapshots of potential but these were marred by sloppy positioning and a misunderstanding of the text. The blocking was so messy it was distracting. The Umbrella scenes could have worked but just executed badly and looked slapdash. Worth seeing to tick off the list. Cheaper than at the Hope Mill too.
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Post by Dr Tom on Apr 10, 2019 10:08:49 GMT
Is this version of the show really relevant or necessary? Black Boys/White Boys felt incredibly dated and the two black ladies sat in front of me physically recoiled at the use of the N-word. One thing I picked up on is that they're using the original book. A lot of performances cut out the controversial parts, as well as trim the hallucination. But this must end up as a very short show. I do think it's a dated show, but it must have had quite an impact in the 1960s. I don't think anything comes across as particularly shocking, but I guess if people go in without knowing what the show is about, or think all they have to worry about is a bit of nudity, they'll be quite taken aback.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 12, 2019 17:19:34 GMT
Worth seeing to tick off the list. Cheaper than at the Hope Mill too. I was here on the same night. Went in knowing virtually nothing about the show. Very unimpressed with the sound design, struggled to make out quite a lot from front-ish in the stalls. Some of the quieter moments were pleasant. The ending was strong, most of the cast were quite good. I've been listening to the London cast album and I feel I might enjoy it more on a second viewing having the songs already baked into my brain. Overall I'd give this a miss if you're not familiar with the show already. Was disappointed given how the Hope Mill reviews went.
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