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Post by robertb213 on May 20, 2021 22:20:39 GMT
Just announced by the lovely Louise. http://instagr.am/p/CPG-pX6HpHc Not a musical that I know anything about, but having Louise back on a stage is something to be celebrated 😍
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2,379 posts
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Post by robertb213 on May 20, 2021 22:21:42 GMT
Mods, feel free to edit the title to give Louise her full name! 🤣
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Post by FrontroverPaul on May 20, 2021 22:47:06 GMT
Seems to have been slotted in between the operas and not yet on sale.
Tried to get an idea of likely pricing from other shows there and they seems to be pitched around West End musical theatre level.
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Post by ThereWillBeSun on May 20, 2021 23:18:05 GMT
Mods, feel free to edit the title to give Louise her full name! 🤣 Just amazing. And Siobhan.😍 Don’t know this show at all, but what a treat.
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Post by ThereWillBeSun on May 20, 2021 23:19:22 GMT
Mods, feel free to edit the title to give Louise her full name! 🤣 Absolutely and Siobhan alongside - dreamy. 😍 Can’t say I know this show but what a treat.
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4,596 posts
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Post by Someone in a tree on May 20, 2021 23:28:54 GMT
Just announced by the lovely Louise. http://instagr.am/p/CPG-pX6HpHc Not a musical that I know anything about, but having Louise back on a stage is something to be celebrated 😍 ♥️♥️♥️ X 1000
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4,471 posts
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Post by Being Alive on May 20, 2021 23:43:01 GMT
A great piece for Louise - she'll be superb in it as she is in everything.
Enjoyed Siubhan in Guys and Dolls too so excited to see her as well!
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1,010 posts
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Post by David J on May 21, 2021 1:17:39 GMT
I saw the 2012 tour with Connie Fisher, Michael Xavir and Nic Greenshields.
A pretty underrated musical this. Has the right combination of your typical American light-comedy musical with heart. And a surprisingly diverse ensemble of interesting characters, and the musical somehow finds time with every one of them.
Some good numbers including Ohio and Pass the Football.
And the end of the first act comes out of nowhere with one of the most bonkers moments I've seen in a story.
Only thing that lets it down is that having focused on so many characters the musical rushes to an underwhelming ending.
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Post by oxfordsimon on May 21, 2021 1:24:58 GMT
'A little bit in love' is probably my favourite track from the score. 'Wrong Note Rag' is fun. 'One Hundred Easy Ways' is a comic classic.
There is much to enjoy in terms of songs. Good on OHP for giving it an outing.
Hopefully they continue this in future years
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Post by theatreian on May 21, 2021 8:56:57 GMT
I saw the 2012 tour with Connie Fisher, Michael Xavir and Nic Greenshields. Yes I saw that too in Birmingham. Remember enjoying it but don't remember too much about it. Having the sublime Louise Dearman however adds another level to what I am sure will be a great show.
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4,967 posts
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Post by TallPaul on May 22, 2021 10:34:52 GMT
With lyrics by Betty Comden and Adolf Green, Elaine is guaranteed to go into meltdown everytime she mentions it!
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7,538 posts
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Post by alece10 on May 22, 2021 11:05:24 GMT
With lyrics by Betty Comden and Adolf Green, Elaine is guaranteed to go into meltdown everytime she mentions it! I can hear her giggling away now.
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4,596 posts
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Post by Someone in a tree on May 24, 2021 14:16:49 GMT
Does anyone know anything about this? Nowt on the OHP website
It's on for 4 performances. Concert or staged?
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4,471 posts
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Post by Being Alive on May 24, 2021 15:29:49 GMT
Does anyone know anything about this? Nowt on the OHP website It's on for 4 performances. Concert or staged? Semi staged as they've got a choreographer. Tickets on sale Thursday.
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4,596 posts
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Post by Someone in a tree on May 24, 2021 15:42:34 GMT
Does anyone know anything about this? Nowt on the OHP website It's on for 4 performances. Concert or staged? Semi staged as they've got a choreographer. Tickets on sale Thursday. Thanks
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4,596 posts
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Post by Someone in a tree on May 24, 2021 16:23:10 GMT
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3,927 posts
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Post by Dawnstar on May 24, 2021 18:03:13 GMT
Does anyone know anything about this? Nowt on the OHP website It's on for 4 performances. Concert or staged?
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4,596 posts
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Post by Someone in a tree on May 27, 2021 9:08:02 GMT
Booked. Out of everything I've got planned I'm looking forward to this the most.
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Post by phantom1986 on May 27, 2021 9:35:04 GMT
I've booked for the final night. I can't wait - have never visited this venue before and it looks simply fabulous.
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Post by FrontroverPaul on May 27, 2021 10:21:48 GMT
I've booked the opening night. Not many single seats, got a front row side view for £53.50.
Is there a better way to spend a summer evening than open air musical theatre with the sublime Louise Dearman ?
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4,458 posts
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Post by poster J on May 27, 2021 10:44:25 GMT
Booked for the Friday night - managed to get one of the few £40 single seats. Never been to this venue so looking forward to it!
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Post by phantom1986 on Jul 2, 2021 14:39:25 GMT
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Post by singingbird on Jul 2, 2021 17:24:28 GMT
I saw this last night. I'd never seen it before but have long loved many of the songs. And, musically, it's really smart and clever. the book, however, feels very dated and very silly. Not offensive in any way - quite enjoyable, really - but the songs have a weight and depth that the book can't support.
The staging is very simple, which means the storytelling isn't very clear at times, but it's performed with heaps of gusto. All in all a really enjoyable evening, even if that's sometimes despite rather than because of.
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Post by FrontroverPaul on Jul 3, 2021 3:00:50 GMT
The show is light as a feather, the choreography and performances top notch. However my enjoyment was marred for unexpected reasons and I've made that clear from the feedback I left.
The seats. It's not really an open air venue, and when you walk in the auditorium looks like an antique chair exhibition with dozens if not hundreds of different types. Some are almost armchairs, mine was I'm sure a former infants school chair. Small, wooden, hard backed, one thin cushion. I was given an extra cushion almost immediately but that wasn't enough to make it anything like comfortable. Each seat was supposed to have a tag with its number. Mine didn't, nor the one next door which was about twice the size of mine and well padded. The usher had acknowledged there were seats whose numbers had come off. An even-more-elderly-than-me gentleman was sitting in the other/my seat. The usher had confidently said I was in the correct one. but I soon noticed the two seats immediately to my right did have number tags and were A57 and A58, my ticket was for was A51. I then found out the other man's ticket was A54. I don't think a seating pattern of A54,then A51, then A57/58 is very likely. it wasn't fair to ask him to swap when it wasn't his fault.
Half way along each side block is a stack of speakers about twelve feet high. These reduced the view from my seat to zero occasionally, and restricted it regularly, but it was not sold as restricted view at all. I accept that the speaker location probably wasn't known until quite recently. The performance wasn't sold out and at 7.25 there were at least 10 empty seats in my eyeline. Right then an usher came along. I explained I had been given the wrong seat and my chair very uncomfortable and pointed out the high speakers. I asked whether after about 20 minutes I could move to a vacant seat further back, the reply was I'm not sure but I'll find out for you. Curtain up wasn't till about 7.38 but nobody returned. I did move but only to the next seat which remained empty. Better comfort but no better view.
So 8/10 from me for performance but poor comfort and even poorer customer service. If they use the same seats for operas I'm surprised they get away with it and the lack of numbers on seats is very unprofessional I think. Am I being too "moany" folks ?
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4,596 posts
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Post by Someone in a tree on Jul 3, 2021 7:04:30 GMT
The speaker thing was disastrous about a, third of the audience must of had a restricted view. Thankfully we complained and got moved, much further back but at least we could see. The placing of those speakers smacks of arrogance "oh the folk in the cheap £40 seats will be fine"
Also, huge apron that did accomadate all the tiny company and so most of the action was staged on the rear stage which made the entire performance incredibly distant. As apron and pit was always in the foreground.
Zero set and huge empty stage so no intimacy. So many missed opportunities. Such a shame as the performances all appeared great.
The director and producers really need to try harder and understand the space and respect the audience.
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4,458 posts
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Post by poster J on Jul 3, 2021 9:14:46 GMT
Agree the speaker location was dreadful. I was in one of the "cheap" (£40) tickets and luckily at the end of a row with no-one beside me so I could move my seat to get a better view. The ushers were very helpful and quite happy to let me do that (and I also appreciated the offer of a blanket in the interval!). However I did find it odd that they repeatedly announced that latecomers wouldn't be admitted but happily let about 10 people in late in two separate batches!
There is barely any rake so anyone with someone tall in front of them will struggle as they haven't staggered the seating properly.
The sound balance is also terrible. I appreciate it's outside, but Regent's Park this ain't (because there they at least have the sound sorted). Probably partly an issue because the speakers were placed where they were, as it meant those of us sitting on the sides got hardly any sound at all. I could barely hear half of what was sung, I lost count of how many times microphone cues were late and the orchestra (fabulous though they were) just drowned everything out.
Enough has been said already about how dated the book is - it just isn't a good show anymore. I didn't believe for a second that Ruth and Eileen were sisters but it didn't really matter as most of the characters weren't believable.
The performances were good and sometimes great, and it was lovely to see a talented bunch of West End performers back on stage and doing some interesting choreography really well (you could tell that about half of them have done stints in Hamilton!). But it was all marred by the extent of the technical issues, which really should have been sorted out.
A pleasant enough evening, but nothing more than that.
Also, I don't want to generalise, but all the Opera Holland Park members I encountered last night came across as entitled so-and-sos, skipping the bar queue, demanding that they get a free programme instead of paying and berating the bar staff when they were told the free programme didn't apply to this show! Really made for a rather unwelcoming atmosphere.
The staff were great though, and apart from the failure to sort any kind of queuing system for the bar the venue is well laid out).
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3,927 posts
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Post by Dawnstar on Jul 3, 2021 14:43:17 GMT
If they use the same seats for operas I'm surprised they get away with it and the lack of numbers on seats is very unprofessional I think. Am I being too "moany" folks ? I can't go to Holland Park this year but going by your description the set-up sounds completely different to how it was pre-covid, when I typically attended 2 or 3 operas per season. The seats then were all identical, tip-up, well-padded & comfortable. I never recall any problem with numbers missing. The only issue with people getting the wrong seats was that many people didn't clock that there was a row AA so got the wrong row by one row. As for the speaker view issues, I assume they have had to install extra speakers due to it being an amplifed musical. Having only ever seen unamplified operas there, the speakers were never an issue as they only had small speakers hanging from the lighting grid because they were only needed for pre-show & interval announcements.
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Post by phantom1986 on Jul 3, 2021 15:59:46 GMT
We loved it this afternoon. Had a perfect view and no sound issues - although could spot the speakers and a few people moved during the first act. Yes it’s a very dated show but Louise Dearman is absolutely incredible as Ruth. What a star turn. Great choreography too.
A hugely enjoyable old fashioned musical comedy. Just what we need right now.
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Post by southstreet on Jul 5, 2021 11:44:53 GMT
I also saw the Saturday matinee and the speaker did block parts of the stage for me at times, which was really annoying. That said, I didn't pay full whack for my ticket, so didn't feel like I could complain, but if I had paid the £80 my seat was supposed to be (according to the seating plan) I would have been pretty unhappy and definitely would have complained. I was confused by the lack of mask wearing in the audience, having only been to inside theatre apart from JCS at Regent's Park last year, which also required the audience to wear a mask, but I guess as it was 'kinda' outside, it was fine. And I found the mix of seats and the signage of them quite cute. I had a fairly hard wooden chair but a nice plump cushion, so didn't get an achey bum.
As for the show itself, the cast was fab, especially Lou Dearman and I enjoyed the music but the book really hasn't aged well and I found the ending extremely abrupt.
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4,596 posts
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Post by Someone in a tree on Jul 5, 2021 14:48:41 GMT
The below is part of what I got back from OHP. Such a shame as the performances all seemed great. I'm guessing next year the old auditorium will return which has comfy seats and fab sightlines - please do another musical ❤️❤️❤️
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