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Post by Mr Crummles on Jul 30, 2018 9:11:00 GMT
I also enjoyed this production very much. I think that behind the satire on terrorism, there is something more universal and quite topical: the sinister problem of fanaticism, when someone’s mind is completely taken over and controlled by an unrelenting set of ideas or beliefs, and everything else - including common-sense and humaneness - gets thrown out of the window. If you look around, fanaticism is disturbingly all around us. The whole madness of the play rang quite true too me. The acting was great throughout, especially from the Inishmore characters (more especially Chris Walley and Denis Conway). I had no inkling Aidan Turner could do comedy so well.
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Post by Mr Crummles on Jul 16, 2018 18:55:49 GMT
I think it's very rare for directors to be faithful to the age they portray in their films. The only exception I can think of is Pasolini, whose characters in Decameron and Canterbury Tales are shown toothless, unwashed and haggard, as most people were likely to be in medieval times. Even films made about concentration camps are not very realistic about the abysmally appalling looks most people no doubt had in those unfortunate places. I suppose, on the other hand, that some artistic license must be allowed to accommodate contemporary tastes. It should be done carefully, though, to avoid dating a film too much (I can think of Julie Christie in Doctor Zhivago, who looked very sixties, and Sarah Miles, in Ryan’s Daughter who had a more natural, classical look).
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Post by Mr Crummles on Apr 9, 2018 14:37:45 GMT
Oliviers here. To be perfectly honest, the Tony doesn't register much on my radar.
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Post by Mr Crummles on Apr 8, 2018 18:51:07 GMT
I saw it yesterday (Saturday) and thought this was a truly magnificent production. I couldn't help thinking that Ingmar Bergman himself would have loved it. It's about love and imagination; love and dreams. It's one of the most humane pieces of theatre I have seen in a very long while. The film is an old favourite of mine, and I was delighted to see that the production kept the Christmas song. The cast was exceptionally good, with a very impressive Alexander (I think I saw Misha Handley). Penelope Wilton was brilliant, and so was... well... everybody really.
The scenery is stunning, and used to create very impressive effects. The production - like the film - uses colours efficiently to convey different atmospheres (warm, cold, ominous, sinister, light, oppressive, etc.).
Maybe it was all discounts, but the theatre was, I am happy to report, full (well, at least in the stalls). And I had the impression that the audience genuinely enjoyed the production. I certainly did.
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Post by Mr Crummles on Mar 25, 2018 12:02:24 GMT
I was very curious about Hamilton, but, at the same time, I had a few qualms about the show: I felt nothing could live up to the hype built around it; I wasn't excited about the cast recording, especially as I am not a fan of rap, hip-hop and most of the music I heard in it; and I was afraid that, like Spring Awakening (a show that disappointed me), I would be put off by an MTV-style, new-pop choreography.
In the end, however, I was very happy with the production. Of course, it helped that I had brought my expectations to realistic levels. I thought the choreography and music were used to very good dramatic effect and it all worked very well. I thought the cast was brilliant. When listening to the original recording, I found my mind was constantly wandering off and I was never really paying attention to what the lyrics said. At the Victoria Palace, I was glued to the words, because the actors, along with singing very well, were acting them with great intensity and precision. I didn't see Jamael Westman. I saw Ash Hunter. I got the information from the lady selling the programme. My theatrical mind was happy about it, as Ash's resumé was more interesting than Jamael's, having done plenty of theatre, including Shakespeare, previously. I wasn't disappointed. His performance was one of the finest I have ever seen in a musical. His Hamilton reminded me a little of Mozart in Amadeus: an uncompromising, smart-ass brat, who feels he knows so much better than anybody else in the room, but who is so enthusiastic and passionate about his beliefs that you cannot but sympathise and even smile at the moments he comes across as arrogant. The scene after the victory at Yorktown (remarkably staged), when Hamilton's son and Burr's daughter are born, was very touchingly acted by Ash and Giles Terrera. For a few minutes we had a glimpse of the warm, vulnerable souls behind the façade of the two intractably ambitious politicians. Now, of course, I am terribly curious to see Jamael, as he must have been picked for the part for a good reason. I am hoping to revisit the show later, after things calm down a bit, and prices are a little more affordable (by the way, I had a great seat right in the middle for row M).
The new theatre is very beautiful and getting to the auditorium is not as dreadful as I thought it might be (for those who used to watch Seinfeld, I was expecting a bit of the "Nazi soup" treatment.)
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Post by Mr Crummles on Mar 22, 2018 22:03:54 GMT
After having seen one of the very first performances back in November, I was back tonight to see Network again for its final week. The understudy for Max was on tonight and was brilliant. All of the cast have really settled into their roles now - Dockery has a great time and Cranston really goes hell for leather. I am so glad that I got to see this performance twice for a total of £15 thanks to Entry Pass - this production very much deserves to go to Broadway (if there is a house that can equip it), and I imagine the prices over there won't be the same! I was back in the same seat as before B15 - {Spoiler - click to view}aka the seat two along from the assassin. For those that care I spotted him as soon as he entered the auditorium (he was the most overdressed) and really hammed it up! VERY exaggerated 'is this my row?' 'which seat number is this?' actions as he made his way along, and brought his own water (which he never drank). Before the play started he was buried in the free cast list (which he has probably memorised by now) and went on his phone. A few checks of twitter and WhatsApp but I did notice that the background on his phone of a young woman did look a lot like a stock photo... but who knows. Cranston was very funny tonight - while he was walking through the restaurant a lady returned to her table and he asked her 'were you looking for God? Any luck?', and also told the person next to me, who had brought with her a very large coat and a massive rucksack, as he moved passed her that the cloakroom is free! Probably more lines that are different every night in this production than in most pantomime corpsing/ad-libs... A really brilliant production though and feel fortunate to see it again before it leaves the National - solidified its 5-stars in my mind. I think we saw it on the same day. I had seen a very vibrant and impressive performance of Hamilton the previous evening, and I feared that Network might perhaps suffer in contrast. But it was quite the opposite. All that I remember from my recent London theatre trip is Network. I thought the last ten minutes were stunning with an amazing coup de théâtre in the end. This production in my opinion managed to surpass the original picture in terms of impact and I found the last speech, very movingly delivered, incredibly wise and relevant.
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Post by Mr Crummles on Mar 9, 2018 12:31:25 GMT
I was not sure about this one. I love the play, and I really like Christopher Hampton, but the whole concept left me in doubt. Paul (Peaky F***ing Blinders) Anderson convinced me, though. I find him very intense, sometimes sinisterly so. I think he can make a great, formidable Tartuffe. I will be seeing this in the afternoon and The Lieutenant of Inishmore at night. Interesting combination.
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Post by Mr Crummles on Feb 26, 2018 15:18:24 GMT
I live in Dublin. I'm originally from Rio. As a theatre fan, I was incredibly lucky when, almost 20 years ago, I was offered two jobs that would relocate me to a city either close to New York or London. Without hesitation, I picked the latter. I moved to Dublin before my new employer could say "It's a deal!". Dublin has a nice theatre scene and I really like The Gate's new Artistic Director, Selina Cartmell. I travel to London whenever possible, usually at least once a month, when I try to squeeze in as many shows as possible. Sometimes I take a few days off for a theatrethon in London. Having to make wise choices with such limited access to the West End, I rely mostly on this wonderful board to decide what I’m going to see. So, I am much very indebted to all of you.
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Post by Mr Crummles on Feb 24, 2018 9:52:12 GMT
15 hours ago BurlyBeaR said:
>>The other thing I found really distracting (I think this is the third thing now) is how Jack pulled that ridiculous grimace every time he took a swig of booze. Cliche central or what? “Ooh I’m acting that I’m drinking hard liquor so I’ll do that teeth bearing thing”. Come on. A bit more nuance please. If an alcoholic has downed two, nay three whole bottles of Echo Springs* they’re not balking at the taste of it one assumes. And even if they are, they’re past caring about it.
I thought it was a very clever touch actually. I don't think Brick was beyond the point of caring. On the contrary, that was a bitter reminder of how desperate he was to get to that point, waiting for oblivion, for the longed-for click that would shut down his mind, drown his sorrows, and perhaps even the bitter taste of alcohol he was obviously averse to.
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Post by Mr Crummles on Feb 24, 2018 9:48:25 GMT
I LOVE bleak. I adored it the second time around as much of the first. Enrapturing. Jack was mesmering on so many levels.
Never seen the film (thankfully) so was able to approach the piece with a total open mind. So much to take from it. The script is dynamite.
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Post by Mr Crummles on Feb 11, 2018 15:54:17 GMT
True. Smelly toilet. Reminded me of Urinetown.
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Post by Mr Crummles on Feb 11, 2018 12:36:53 GMT
I did. I enjoyed it very much and thought the whole cast was great. The audience’s response seemed a bit subdued, though, and there were very few applauses after songs, which I thought was a shame. Apart from Greg Castiglioni, none of the performers drew enthusiastic reactions. I thought Anna O’Byrne was excellent. There were a few giggles as the smoke from the train slowly advanced towards the audience.
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Post by Mr Crummles on Dec 6, 2017 10:29:00 GMT
I agree. But having seen this is a fantastic musical. I am not even American and enjoyed it immensely. It captured history much better than the Other Revolutionary Crap of Les MisAwww! You hate Les Mis...? Never mind. Even though you hate a show I adore, I'll toast Hamilton's Big Day. The time is now, the day is here...!I adore Les Mis too. Last time I saw it, it wasn't unfortunately in great shape, so I'm not sure I will be coming back again, but the sheer ambition of the show alone (a canvas of an agonising society, convulsing because of extreme contradictions, and the individual dramas that push revolutions forward) earns it considerable respect from me. I also wish Hamilton all the best, and hope I will enjoy it as much as enjoyed Les Mis.
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Post by Mr Crummles on Nov 17, 2017 19:05:47 GMT
I thought this was such an amazing production. I saw it about two weeks ago and then again last night, at the NT live screening. I think people here have already said all I thought about the show. The only think that I will perhaps differ from most comments is how specially touching I thought Imelda Staunton was. I was suprised with the comparisons made with her Mamma Rose, as I felt she was completely different in this role from the sly, guileful, down-to-earth New York matron, determined to have her own way no matter what. Her Sally was so vulnerable, so pathetically infatuated with a romantic illusion that loomed from her past that when she sang "Losing my Mind" my heart really broke. This moment and her last scene completely overwhelmed me. I think there was something of Blanche Dubois in her that really got to me. Brilliant production.
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Post by Mr Crummles on Oct 13, 2017 12:41:37 GMT
I'm a great fan of the London Cast Recording. I had seen the original French film and was amazed on how well the OLC recording captures its flavour. I frankly adored the villagers' song that brilliantly conveys the spirit of the story’s small provincial French town with all its little faults: small-mindedness, intolerance and bickering. The importance of bread in these places cannot be underestimated. Revolutions were started because of bread, and this staple plays a prominent part in French literature. Being a bread person myself, I have always enormously enjoyed the song. I find the OBC recording very short. It contains just a few bits of the show. It’s beautifully sung, but it fails to inspire from an acting point of view. Sharon Lee-Hill in the OLC wasn't brilliant vocally. Her Meadowlark has been negatively compared with other versions from more accomplished singers (Liz Callaway, Alice Ripley, etc.), but, at least in the recording, I thought she was a rather competent actress who made me understand the character. Most importantly, she made me pay attention to the song's lyrics. Alan Armstrung was extraordinary and the rest of the cast very, very good. For many years I’ve been praying to see a new production of the show.
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Post by Mr Crummles on Aug 27, 2017 17:55:20 GMT
I am forever indebted to Ben Brantley for his review of the current production of A Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. I was going to give it a miss, after everything I had read about it. Mr. Brantley, I big thank you. I had seen many productions of ACOAHTR (six at least, including the film). I always felt it was the only, of all Tennessee William’s main plays, that failed to achieve that painful level of gut-wrenching pathos the playwright is famous for. In all its previous incarnations, the play felt to me more like a worn-out melodrama, a melodrama with something incandescent buried at its core, but which somehow failed to explode and propagate. I was somehow always reminded of those old dramatic Italian paintings scattered in old museums which are covered with a thick crust of many layers of dirt. Hidden behind all that, you know there is something glorious and magnificent. You can sense it’s there, but you cannot fully enjoy it in that dimmed, reduced state. Once the masterpiece is cleaned and restored, you are frankly sick with a sense of beauty that it’s almost unbearable to experience. The vibrant colours of the human flesh, the full radiance of every little detail that compose the drama is even more intense that you could originally surmise. Human beings are predators, not very much different from those wild animals seen on BBC or National Geographic documentaries. They seem to be always hunting or being hunted. Men are, however, predators afflicted with a conscience and moral sense. I think this is the painful truth the play observes and that this new staging goes to great lengths to emphasise. Maggie is aware of that truth, and so is Big Daddy. The tragedy of Brick is that he is not. Morally outraged and disgusted with the destructive lies – the mendacity - he sees everywhere around him, lies he cannot himself understand, but only feel, he spends the play washing himself, showering listless, in an almost stupefied state, as if to cleanse and purge his soul. He can’t understand that the idealised bond he had with his mate and kindred spirit, Skipper, could have been so utterly corrupted and disfigured by the laws that moulded his own understanding of things and brought it all to a tragic end. I thought the acting was, without exception, excellent. Jack O’Donnell was the most tormented Brick I have ever seen on stage (followed closely perhaps by a stunned and slightly cynical Adrian Lester). He had pain written all over his face, which made his despair for the long-to-come click even more understandable. I really hope to see him in another play. Sienna Miller was an unusually intelligent Maggie. And Colm Meany, an unexpectedly human Big Daddy. The final scene between Big Daddy and Brick was sublimely tender and extremely touching, and reminded me of another great moment of filial love in the current version of Hamlet. If only Brick had managed to check his tongue, communication between them might finally have been possible. Finally – I have already written much more than I originally intended-, I especially appreciated the way the firecrackers were used to punctuate and heighten the drama.
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Post by Mr Crummles on Jul 26, 2017 11:21:43 GMT
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Post by Mr Crummles on Jun 19, 2017 9:42:41 GMT
I believe the play was written specifically for Maggie Smith, so it will always be hard to cast someone else as Lettice. If the actress playing the part cannot replicate the same level of exuberant and colourful wryness that is so natural in Maggie Smith, then I think the play can become very uninteresting. I think Judi Dench, however, would have been able to pull it off. It was a memorable show at the time, as far as I can remember it. The first act was especially funny. Like many other Peter Shaffer plays – such as Equus and Amadeus -, it’s about imagination, beauty and romance and this incredible characteristic human beings have of creating a wondrous world that exist only in our souls, and what a crime it is to kill it with suffocating rules and sterile pragmatism.
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Post by Mr Crummles on Jun 14, 2017 11:05:39 GMT
Every time someone lists After the Dance, a dagger goes through my heart. I still can't believe I missed it. To a lesser degree the same goes for Constellations.
If one day someone starts a thread on plays you can't believe you missed, I would, with much pain in my heart, include them.
The best plays? It's a difficult list for me... These are some that come to mind:
Six Characters in Search of an Author (Rupert Goold) The Norman Conquests (Old Vic) All's Well that Ends Well (NT - Marianne Elliott) The Threepenny Opera (The Gate, Dublin) Candide (Menier) Time and the Conways (NT) The War of the Roses (Trevor Nunn) Young Chekhov (Chichester/NT) Angels in America (the latest NT) Lettice and Lovage (the original) Medea (NT) Ghosts (Almeida) Othello (Cheek by Jowl) Hamlet (many, but will go with recent one with Andrew Scott)
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Post by Mr Crummles on Apr 6, 2017 7:45:16 GMT
There is something that always puzzles me about this play, though. I never really understand why the young couple don't leave George and Martha's house straightaway, when the embarrassing hostility between the hosts is so obvious from the first second they are there. If they did, we wouldn't have a play though, would we? Apr 5, 2017 15:49:04 GMT 1 Mr Crummles said: Probably not very different from those horror films, in which people hear noises in the basement and, despite all the dangers around, and very good reasons to stay put, they still go down to check, ALONE! :-)
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Post by Mr Crummles on Apr 5, 2017 14:49:04 GMT
I am in complete agreement with Tibidabo above. Great cast. Everyone. I was pleasantly surprised with Luke Treadaway, after some of the comments I read about him here. To be honest, it was the first time in my life that I actually paid attention to Nick and Honey. In every production I saw before, the two characters always evaporated from my mind long before I reached the theatre exit door. This time, however, I still vividly recollect the smug, up-and-coming young professor and his bewildered wife.
There is something that always puzzles me about this play, though. I never really understand why the young couple don't leave George and Martha's house straightaway, when the embarrassing hostility between the hosts is so obvious from the first second they are there. It would be the case of coming up with some lame excuse (“I forgot to feed the dog”) and leave the premises as quickly as possible… But I guess there was something a bit voyeuristic about Nick and Honey in this production.
I also find it amazing how the cast manages to do two shows a day. I saw it at a matinée and I just couldn't believe that they were going to do it all over again in the evening, just a couple of hours later...
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Post by Mr Crummles on Mar 30, 2017 14:14:35 GMT
I thought this was a really moving production, with a Hamlet as I always imagined him to be: a clever, sharp, sensitive young man, full of energy, dynamic, but distracted and edgy. His pain and distress keep pushing him to the limit of his endurance. He seems to be on the verge of a nervous breakdown.
I particularly liked the way his soliloquies are delivered. He talks directly to the audience, sharing the tumultuous feelings shaking his soul. When he discusses suicide, we can feel how almost unbearable his pain is.
Along the play he hugs many of the characters, starting with the ghost of his father, in a scene I found to be particularly touching. It felt to me that in his helplessness, in his sense of being lost, he needed to physically connect with people and with the world around him.
I thought the whole cast was excellent.
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Post by Mr Crummles on Feb 9, 2017 18:00:53 GMT
Medea was one of the best productions I've seen in the Olivier. . I agree, and remember being so surprised that Helen McCrory never got nominated for the Olivier. I would have given her the award that year.
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Post by Mr Crummles on Jan 25, 2017 10:59:56 GMT
Thanks to all those here who helped me with research last week, I've put together a (I hope) comprehensive list of tips and advice for those booking on the 30th on my blog: wp.me/p1hBZ8-nwGreat blog! It almost made me want to book again... :-)
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Post by Mr Crummles on Jan 22, 2017 11:22:39 GMT
I’m really enjoying this. I especially enjoy Neil Brand’s passion for the subject matter. It’s great to hear him playing bits of songs in the piano and then explaining why they are so brilliant and what the artists did, by playing with rhythm, tempo, notes etc., to achieve a desired emotional effect. It made me understand much better how musical artists work with notes to create powerful drama.
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Post by Mr Crummles on Jan 18, 2017 14:22:11 GMT
Yes, granted, but I also agree with Emi's point above - why not a little recognition for a brilliant piece of set design? When I saw Sunset Boulevard in New York, I remember the applause in a scene change in which Norma's mansion landed onto the stage. (John Napier design, I think).
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Post by Mr Crummles on Jan 18, 2017 11:10:42 GMT
Quick question for those who booked on here on Monday from noon: did Ticketmaster put you in a queue, or did everyone get straight through? If they did put a queue in, was it at the "pick a month" page or later in the process? Asking as I'm doing some research. Thanks. I believe I was put in a queue at the pick-a-month page. Good luck with the research!
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Post by Mr Crummles on Jan 17, 2017 10:46:59 GMT
I read about the Hamilton tickets turning up in Viagogo. I was wondering, how many?
If the current system put in place by the producers manages to stop the action of robots, that put thousands of tickets completely out of reach of ordinary buyers, then it's probably a success.
I think it would be next to impossible to stop touting completely without making the lives of regular theatre-goers difficult and awkward.
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Post by Mr Crummles on Jan 16, 2017 16:08:00 GMT
I'm guessing you've never tried to get Glastonbury tickets? Nope! Have got tickets for various in-demand concerts in the past though (Kate Bush, Take That, front row One Direction etc.) all far easier than I did this! I usually just sail through a booking process. Saw Hamilton twice with the original cast and it was a breeze to get tickets in comparison. I certainly never had to overcome so many hurdles before completing the purchase of a ticket. Having said that, despite all obstacles, it was still quicker and much less of a nightmare than buying tickets for the Benedict Cumberbatch Hamlet (five hours in the queue), or the Rory Kinnear/Adrian Lester Othello at the National, or any busy show in the Almeida site.
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Post by Mr Crummles on Jan 16, 2017 14:04:31 GMT
I got stalls, row M in the middle, at 89.50. Funny thing was that there were rows both behind me and in front classed as Premium. I hope I didn't make any mistakes, as I was a bit nervous. With all the different steps to complete the transaction (code, signing-in to Ticketmaster, proving you are not a bot), my nerves were shattered in the end.
I guess I got carried away by all the commotion, considering that I was perfectly happy to wait till things calmed down before I bought tickets, even if that meant waiting for a few years.
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