Twelfth Night: The Musical (YOUNG VIC)

The same one that the public theater did in NY?

Have now checked Public site and it is indeed. He directed it in NY.

Any word on when it will be announced?

It looks as though The Public Theater is reviving this as part of this year's Shakespeare in the Park season

publictheater.org/Tickets/Calendar/PlayDetailsCollection/SITP/Twelfth-Night-2018/

Clearly not a small piece - as the Delacorte Theatre seats 1,800 people.

The blurb on this version mentions lots of community participants so I'm guessing this will be the case at the Young Vic too.

If it is his opening production it does seem a bit odd to do something that he's directed in New York only a few weeks earlier. And equally odd that he'd be out of the country for several weeks immediately before his first season - though as Oskar Eustis is credited as co-director for the Central Park production - maybe Kwame is more hands off this time round.

I was at the first preview tonight, it was great. I definitely recommend this.

What was the running time on this?

Boss, thanks. Tempted by the lucky dips seats.

I walked out, I was on the end of a row and the prep for tomorrow’s dinner party was far more appealing

When the verse speaking is that bad and all you can think of was the very good Watermill and the excellent NT productions.

Direction seemed really amateur, gimmicky and panto. I just kept thinking of the Inheritance, Fun Home and marinading my chicken!!!

Hey hoe you can’t win em all

Totes hilaire!

I struggle to see how you can do justice to Twelfth Night in 95 minutes - particularly when sung material often takes longer than speech to convey the same moment (as demonstrated by the video posted a couple of days ago - which took the Ring speech and extended it into nearly 5 minutes of song)

I think there is a successful musical to be made out of Twelfth Night. I just think it deserves more than 90 minutes of stage time.

I was there tonight too.

Less bittersweet Twelfth Night, more Midsummer Night's Dream style celebration of crazy love, this colourful, carnivalesque musical, has a rampant community chorus, a superb cast singing eclectic and glorious songs, making for oodles of silly joyful fun.

Some spoilers follow. . .

With a running time sliced to 1 hour, 45 minutes, and songs that repeat lines like "If music be the food of love, play on" hundreds of times, there is little time left for any Shakespeare but his plot. And even then, it may be hard to follow if you don't already know the piece, as nearly all the verse is sacrificed for songs;

The biggest innovation of the show, and for me it's greatest strength, is it's reinvention of Malvolio, who instead of a repressed and repressive fop becomes a force of nature, a self-actualising geek of immense agency, a cross between Lloyd Webber's villainous preening Count Fosco and loveable unloved outsider, Evan Hansen. The reinvention is such that the piece emerges with more in common with Midsummer Night's Dream, than Twelfth Night, with Malvolio the most exaggerated exemplar of the craziness of love. And for his unrestrained unembarrassed all-singing all-dancing jazz hands celebratory courting of Olivia, Gerard Carey's Malvolio emerges as the principal hero of the show, a man willing to be laughed at to prove himself in love.

This transformation of Malvolio vastly simplifies the play, on the one hand, but on the other, it amplifies the celebratory party atmosphere of the show in general.

If Kwame Kwei-Armah intends this show as a statement of what's to come, he intends to entertain and include his audience, first and foremost.

Other than Carey's standout Malvolio, Gabrielle Brooks, like a slippy-slidey Michael Jackson eluding Natalie Dew's Billie Jean/Olivia, sings thrillingly and passionately as Viola, Natalie Dew herself is winning and rambunctious as Olivia, and Melissa Allan is energetic, sonorous and commanding as Feste, the chief of ceremonies (at least while Carey isn't storming on stage, looking like a bumble bee, to sting her and steal her thunder).

So, if you're seeing this, brush up your Shakespeare, then discard any thought of him, and prepare for a party instead.

4 stars.

I loved today’s matinee. Admittedly, I have never seen the play, and only studied it in school, but who knew that Shakespeare could be so much fun!

I followed the story, as the songs did a great job of developing the plot. I am not sure what was missing, but I didn’t miss a thing. The running time zipped along, and only dragged slightly towards the end for me when all the loose ends were being tied up. The score was great - instantly accessible and catchy, but with great musical theatre writing at its heart. I’m now looking forward to the release of the cast recording from the New York performances next week.

The performance itself was vibrant and energetic. I did feel a little emotional during the opening and closing songs, having to hold back tears. I don’t know if it was because it was so joyful! It was fantastic to see these community performers alongside professionals, and the underlying message of inclusion and acceptance that had. Also, I may be thinking too much into it, but the last song seemed like a subliminal political message.

Malvolio threatened to steal the show with his two songs. Yes, it relied a lot on physical comedy, but I do love that. I found it to be genuinely funny, and laugh-out-loud at points. Viola was the other character that seemed to make the most impact.

If you are after an entertaining, uplifting and ultimately heartwarming time at the theatre, GO, GO, GO!

I wonder why they didn't put this on as their Christmas show? I would have been more kindly disposed towards it if they had.  Malvolio was the highlight of the evening, but I longed to see the play. For me this wasn't a great party. My companion and the rest of the audience loved it, so what do I know?