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Post by Deleted on Feb 3, 2019 15:21:38 GMT
I don't understand, why is this a show that has had so many walkouts throughout its run? I mean, I didn't particularly get it, and didn't think much of the production itself, but it was never enough to get me to leave. There were things to appreciate, especially with Sharon. People have different opinions, nothing more complicated than that. And some people don't want to waste their time if they're that bored by something, or they might be tired, or ill, or a combination of all three. I walked out of Hadestown and Anthony & Cleopatra at the interval last year - for a combination of all three reasons both times! Oh I completely get that, 100% agree that is the likely reason. It just seems this show has frequented that alot more than other shows, or at least alot of people on here have reported it happening at their shows, so it appears more of an issue because of that.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 5, 2019 19:00:10 GMT
Bit annoyed. Booked a while ago, knowingly, for a restricted view seat. Collected ticket and asked if there was any chance of moving to an unrestricted view single seat - having seen there were swathes of empty seats still for sale earlier today. Sheepishly I’m told there’s nothing available with a front of awkwardness. I’m not annoyed my request was declined, don’t mind that, but as an ATG Theatre card holder at an ATG venue I don’t like being lied to. Not sure why I was made to feel as if I was being unreasonable. Need to shake this now before the show starts and I remain in a bad mood so just venting.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 5, 2019 19:16:53 GMT
Oh Lordy I’m in my seat and the narcissist inside me is happy. Older couple take their seats next to me and the husband asks her what the show is about as they sit down.... “a woman in her thirties, at her birthday. All her friends are taken or in relationships and she’s the odd one out. It’s snippets of all their lives around her. Caroline or change” Wrong show love. This ain’t Company. Wonder what this northern pair’ll make of this.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 5, 2019 19:32:59 GMT
Oh Lordy I’m in my seat and the narcissist inside me is happy. Older couple take their seats next to me and the husband asks her what the show is about as they sit down.... “a woman in her thirties, at her birthday. All her friends are taken or in relationships and she’s the odd one out. It’s snippets of all their lives around her. Caroline or change” Wrong show love. This ain’t Company. Wonder what this northern pair’ll make of this. Oh no! 😂😂
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Post by SamB (was badoerfan) on Feb 5, 2019 20:22:16 GMT
Bit annoyed. Booked a while ago, knowingly, for a restricted view seat. Collected ticket and asked if there was any chance of moving to an unrestricted view single seat - having seen there were swathes of empty seats still for sale earlier today. Sheepishly I’m told there’s nothing available with a front of awkwardness. I’m not annoyed my request was declined, don’t mind that, but as an ATG Theatre card holder at an ATG venue I don’t like being lied to. Not sure why I was made to feel as if I was being unreasonable. Need to shake this now before the show starts and I remain in a bad mood so just venting. Were there lots of empty seats once you got in? I've often seen plans full of empty seats when I've checked in the afternoon, only to get there and find it almost completely full, obviously due to papering. That might be why they couldn't/wouldn't move you?
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Post by Deleted on Feb 5, 2019 20:23:59 GMT
Oh Lordy I’m in my seat and the narcissist inside me is happy. Older couple take their seats next to me and the husband asks her what the show is about as they sit down.... “a woman in her thirties, at her birthday. All her friends are taken or in relationships and she’s the odd one out. It’s snippets of all their lives around her. Caroline or change” Wrong show love. This ain’t Company. Wonder what this northern pair’ll make of this. Well, they're in for a big surprise! Please tell us their reaction!
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Post by Deleted on Feb 5, 2019 20:42:53 GMT
Oh Lordy I’m in my seat and the narcissist inside me is happy. Older couple take their seats next to me and the husband asks her what the show is about as they sit down.... “a woman in her thirties, at her birthday. All her friends are taken or in relationships and she’s the odd one out. It’s snippets of all their lives around her. Caroline or change” Wrong show love. This ain’t Company. Wonder what this northern pair’ll make of this. Well, they're in for a big surprise! Please tell us their reaction! Interval time, the wife is complaining of vertigo and looking for a reason to leave...
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Post by Deleted on Feb 5, 2019 20:44:18 GMT
Well, they're in for a big surprise! Please tell us their reaction! Interval time, the wife is complaining of vertigo and looking for a reason to leave... 😂😂
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Post by Deleted on Feb 5, 2019 21:00:09 GMT
Oh my God! 😂😂😂 This sounds more entertaining than the show itself!
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Post by Deleted on Feb 6, 2019 17:24:07 GMT
Oh my God! 😂😂😂 This sounds more entertaining than the show itself! Indeed. They stayed for the second act, the duration of which she spend tickling my arm with her furry jacket and in various depths of sleep.. to my amusement - that wonderfully visual nodding off where the head gets lower and lower and then WOOSH shoots back up as she zones in momentarily and then back to slumber.
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Post by FrontroverPaul on Feb 8, 2019 0:59:02 GMT
I saw this today and to my embarrassment fell asleep at least twice. I'm easy to please but found this a bit boring and just couldn't stay awake. I was at the back of the Dress Circle on a £10 New Year sale ticket whereas I usually have Front or 2nd Row stalls so that's probably part of the reason.
Dress Circle was about 80% full. Two people left after about 20 minutes, another two just before the interval and at least 6 more did not return for the second half. A few gave it a standing ovation which usually spreads but didn't today.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 8, 2019 1:05:36 GMT
Just 20 minutes?! Good god people, give it an act at least! The end of the first act is great, there is confetti money! Any show with confetti immediately gets bonus points, don't let anyone tell you any different!
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Post by FrontroverPaul on Feb 8, 2019 1:26:08 GMT
Perhaps another two who thought they were seeing Company.....
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Post by Deleted on Feb 8, 2019 1:46:08 GMT
Perhaps another two who thought they were seeing Company..... Well love that finished after 20 minutes tonight anyway, so it wouldn't of made a difference anyway. 😂
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Post by craig on Feb 8, 2019 9:41:58 GMT
Perhaps another two who thought they were seeing Company..... Well love that finished after 20 minutes tonight anyway, so it wouldn't of made a difference anyway. 😂 Ha! I've got a few midweek days off next week and am thinking about taking myself to see this one evening as tickets are so well priced and readily available. TodayTix seem to be offering forward stalls for a good price. Good place to sit?
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Post by craig on Feb 14, 2019 1:06:14 GMT
I did go to see this in the end tonight and I'm so pleased I did.
What a curious show. I think I'm a little bit in love with it, as difficult as the score was in places. Sharon D Clarke was off the scale. Just wow. The entire cast were just brilliant though. It's the sort of show that would be unbearably boring without some serious talent in the cast and on directing duties, isn't it?
It's not hard to see why it hasn't been a big success in the West End, but the house was very respectably filled this evening, even if tickets have been significantly reduced. SDC got a roaring standing ovation too. But, yeah... Difficult score, difficult lead character, uncomfortable (for white people) approach to the subject matter, difficult subject matter in the first place... It definitely feels like the sort of show better suited to an arts festival or similar.
The audience demographic was noticeably jewish and noticeably black, which was cool to see.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 14, 2019 9:13:23 GMT
Just 20 minutes?! Good god people, give it an act at least! The end of the first act is great, there is confetti money! Any show with confetti immediately gets bonus points, don't let anyone tell you any different! I thought that, and then I saw ‘An American Clock.’
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Post by notmymuse on Feb 14, 2019 9:48:57 GMT
I enjoyed this when I saw it a week or so ago, but as it was late starting (and had the longest interval of all time) I had to leave early. Can someone tell me what happens exactly after Caroline hours back and tells Noah they'll be friends again? I've read what's on Wikipedia but could do with more detail! Thanks.
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Post by juicy_but_terribly_drab on Feb 14, 2019 11:27:40 GMT
I enjoyed this when I saw it a week or so ago, but as it was late starting (and had the longest interval of all time) I had to leave early. Can someone tell me what happens exactly after Caroline hours back and tells Noah they'll be friends again? I've read what's on Wikipedia but could do with more detail! Thanks. As in right at the end of the show just before the song Underwater? She basically tells Noah that the pain he's feeling from the loss of his mother will never go away but that he'll learn to live through it. And then there's a final song that Emmie sings about how she was there when the statue fell and she celebrates being the daughter of Caroline. Listen to the Broadway cast recording if you can. The show is sung-through so you'll get the entire story by listening to it and it's just a brilliant recording anyway.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 14, 2019 11:35:28 GMT
Well we now know where Rachel Hauck got the set design idea for Hadestown from.... A 2-way revolve centerstage and an upstage set that splits down the middle mid-show.
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Post by juicy_but_terribly_drab on Feb 14, 2019 14:28:02 GMT
Well we now know where Rachel Hauck got the set design idea for Hadestown from.... A 2-way revolve centerstage and an upstage set that splits down the middle mid-show. Hey, give her some credit, the Hadestown set splits in 2 places!
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Post by lynette on Feb 14, 2019 15:11:37 GMT
This is ending before my tix. Serves me right for booking more Musicals. Can’t fit it in now. 😳
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Post by showtoones on Feb 14, 2019 15:49:38 GMT
I love this show but it's clear that it's not for everyone. It's funny when a show plays off West End and sells out and they think they will get the same response when it transfers. I love Sharon and the story is so smart and performances amazing but at this point sadly, a show needs to appeal to tourists because the prices are so out of control. People don't want to take a chance on something new.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 14, 2019 15:52:45 GMT
Part of me thinks they should either have stopped at Hampstead, or skipped Hampstead all together. I love this show but I saw it in Chichester, I saw it in Hampstead, there are only so many days in the year and pennies in the coffer, so I couldn't justify seeing it again in the West End. I wonder how many people who saw it in Hampstead *would* have bought West End tickets (but didn't) if it had just gone directly from Chichester to the Playhouse.
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Post by Rory on Feb 14, 2019 17:04:27 GMT
I agree, it should have transferred from Chichester to the West End directly.
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Post by adrianics on Feb 20, 2019 9:29:13 GMT
Saw this last night.
I’m so happy I had a quick peruse of this thread and can see how polarised the opinions are on this show. To me there’s no denying how stupendous Sharon D Clarke’s performance is, how strong the ensemble is and how well the show is directed, but the show itself is a pretty hard slog. Part of me loved how unconventional it was and how deeply it explored every character, but a bigger part was bored stiff and confused as to what I was meant to be getting out of it. I love an unconventional, character-driven musical as much as the next guy but I was desperate for just one toe-tapping, conventional, memorable number that I could listen to out of context later.
I’m currently either/or on whether or not I liked the greek chorus of inanimate objects (as good as the performers were), but it took everything I had not to burst out laughing at the insane sight of a bus belting “THE PRESIDENT” over and over.
As an aside, I think the young man playing Noel last night is the best child actor I’ve ever seen on the West End. Big props as well to the actress playing the eldest daughter, she was quite outstanding and ought to be spoken about as glowingly as Clarke.
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Post by juicy_but_terribly_drab on Feb 20, 2019 9:59:49 GMT
Saw this last night. I’m so happy I had a quick peruse of this thread and can see how polarised the opinions are on this show. To me there’s no denying how stupendous Sharon D Clarke’s performance is, how strong the ensemble is and how well the show is directed, but the show itself is a pretty hard slog. Part of me loved how unconventional it was and how deeply it explored every character, but a bigger part was bored stiff and confused as to what I was meant to be getting out of it. I love an unconventional, character-driven musical as much as the next guy but I was desperate for just one toe-tapping, conventional, memorable number that I could listen to out of context later. I’m currently either/or on whether or not I liked the greek chorus of inanimate objects (as good as the performers were), but it took everything I had not to burst out laughing at the insane sight of a bus belting “THE PRESIDENT” over and over. As an aside, I think the young man playing Noel last night is the best child actor I’ve ever seen on the West End. Big props as well to the actress playing the eldest daughter, she was quite outstanding and ought to be spoken about as glowingly as Clarke. It's not exactly a toe-tapping number kind of show but I still think there's plenty of memorable and more catchy songs that people just seem to ignore? I can't tell you how many times I've listened to the cast recording and fell in love with different songs each time. How can you not love stuff like the opening sequence of songs that introduce the household objects, The Bus, Gonna Pass Me a Law, 1943, I Hate the Bus and the following trio that comes after it, Lot's Wife, Underwater and the finale. They're all great and have a more traditional song structure that feels a bit more isolated than the rest of the score which overlaps a lot? I just find there so much soul in every song and find the melodies and vocals so satisfying to listen to.
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Post by craig on Feb 20, 2019 11:04:12 GMT
I agree with both of you. There certainly isn't a toe-tapping memorable song that really works outwith the context of the show. That said, I didn't really want one. It's just not that kind of show. I haven't delved into the cast recording yet but am looking forward to exploring the songs in more detail. It's such a shame we (presumably) won't get a recording of Clarke.
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Post by juicy_but_terribly_drab on Feb 20, 2019 11:29:06 GMT
I agree with both of you. There certainly isn't a toe-tapping memorable song that really works outwith the context of the show. That said, I didn't really want one. It's just not that kind of show. I haven't delved into the cast recording yet but am looking forward to exploring the songs in more detail. It's such a shame we (presumably) won't get a recording of Clarke. It's a shame that we won't get another recording but honestly the one we have is so incredible and has the entire show so it's not too much of a loss. Tonya Pinkins voice is impressive and luckily this was recorded before she completely wrecked it so it doesn't crack at all as badly as it did later into the original run.
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Post by craig on Feb 20, 2019 12:02:31 GMT
I can't remember if I've already said this or not, but I'm in total disbelief that this is the same writer as Thoroughly Modern Millie, of all the shows! They are at totally opposite ends of the spectrum. Both great for what they are though!
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