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Post by mallardo on May 8, 2016 9:12:56 GMT
Not to be a nit-picker but is it bestiality if only the head is beast-ly?
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Post by mallardo on May 8, 2016 8:44:27 GMT
No, no no, My Man is totally the wrong song in the wrong place. Whatever its virtues musically it undercuts Fanny's journey with its soft sentiment. Michael Mayer or Harvey Fierstein, or whoever made the decision (I doubt Sheridan had anything to so with it), was right to exclude it. But it was Brice's signature song!
Then find another place for it.
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Post by mallardo on May 8, 2016 7:26:32 GMT
I can't tell you how happy it makes me to read all these collection accounts. I'm not the only one!
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Post by mallardo on May 8, 2016 1:30:06 GMT
No, no no, My Man is totally the wrong song in the wrong place. Whatever its virtues musically it undercuts Fanny's journey with its soft sentiment. Michael Mayer or Harvey Fierstein, or whoever made the decision (I doubt Sheridan had anything to so with it), was right to exclude it.
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Post by mallardo on May 7, 2016 17:50:47 GMT
I just reread Steve's astute critique (^) and there's no denying the show is pathos-free but, Steve, it has to be. Pathos would be an unwelcome intruder into this particular mix. You can't have a meta-musical like this weighed down by a single moment of emotional reality. It's all about the absurdity of the form. The biggest laugh of the performance came from the Anne Frank joke, arguably the most tasteless moment in the show. But, in this case, it was fine, it was acceptable, because the rules had been established. We're going to laugh at everything! My favourite song was "Thank God She's Blind", a number which sums up the moral anarchy.
Star of the proceedings, for me, was Hannah Grover as Sarah the blind librarian, with her extendable white cane, probably because, on top of her great voice and impeccable comic timing, she is incredibly hot. I wouldn't say that about an actress in another show but in this case I feel I have permission.
Everybody's great and everybody, as has been noted, "works their socks off". Director Benji Sperring has caught the spirit of the piece and, to his credit, gone with it. No reservations, no holding back. Loved it.
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Post by mallardo on May 7, 2016 17:11:04 GMT
1) It's a new British musical. 2) It's based on a very old-fashioned movie. 3) Its subject appealed to the dirty old mac brigade of many decades ago but now they are much better served by the internet. No I completely disagree, it's not for the dirty old mac brigade, it's a radical post modernist take on the female empowerment agenda and regaining control over body image. Or at least that's what I told my wife.
Ha! Wish I'd thought of that.
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Post by mallardo on May 7, 2016 11:47:34 GMT
"Put off" by beautiful nude women? On what planet?
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Post by mallardo on May 6, 2016 15:49:22 GMT
You thought Jennifer Damiano was vocally weak in American Psycho? I'm shocked. Did you see her in Next To Normal? She has a great voice!
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Post by mallardo on May 6, 2016 8:33:12 GMT
Oddly, I found the reverse, mallardo. The songs didn't land in the theatre for me, but the CD has stood repeated playing. I'm afraid I found it fell apart as a show in the second half, where I thought there was nowhere useful for it to go and I stopped caring very much about any of them.
Hmm. Food for thought. I may have to see it again.
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Post by mallardo on May 6, 2016 6:54:51 GMT
Another visit to this tonight. A small, but incredibly enthusiastic house. Agree with Hamilton Addict, the show belonged to Ian Bartholomew tonight. I was thoroughly impressed. Tracie Bennett is a star, as is Emma Williams. My main gripe with the show is it's score. It simply doesn't serve the show properly.
I sort of disagree about the score. I think it does serve the show well in the theatre, but it doesn't impress on its own, as a listening experience, apart from the two best songs, What a Waste of a Moon and If Mountains Were Easy to Climb.
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Post by mallardo on May 5, 2016 17:13:31 GMT
Finally caught up with this, just in time. Thought it was brilliant. Alexander Hanson meticulously perfect as the overwhelmed man-child who thinks his tissue of lies is actually working - I must say I identified with him to an unhealthy degree, being myself a lifelong dissimulator who is always caught out. Bonus for me was Frances O'Connor who I have been in love with since Spielberg's AI and who is even more gorgeous in person.
I love Florian Zeller's writing, even though my instinct is to hate him for being so talented and so young. I know he acknowledges Harold Pinter as an influence and if Pinter had ever had a sense of humour and/or a talent for plot he might have written this. He couldn't have written it better though.
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Post by mallardo on May 5, 2016 16:56:26 GMT
They could not have done better than Rob McClure. Now I'd like to see his bride in Honeymoon in Vegas, Brynn O'Malley, take over for Heidi Blickenstaff, if and when.
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Post by mallardo on May 5, 2016 12:21:24 GMT
I honestly don't understand the attraction with Darius. Thought he was rather 'wooden' in Funny Girl. The amount I'm struggling not to make a really filthy joke out of that...
I think you just made it.
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Post by mallardo on May 5, 2016 10:12:40 GMT
I'm afraid I'm not sure I've even heard of "Dukes of Hazard" let alone watched it. 80s USA TV show set in the South, about the Duke boys who ran the law close. Only really watched by younger males, and only for two reasons - car chases and short shorts that came to be known as "Daisy Dukes" for good reason.
Car chases? All I remember is the girls. Broadway's Tom Wopat (Annie Get Your Gun, A Catered Affair, Catch Me If You Can) was one of the stars.
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Post by mallardo on May 2, 2016 16:58:35 GMT
The sad thing about this is that many people will read these articles and not take into account this is one show out of hundreds that she will have done by the end of the run (Menier and Savoy combined). Whether there is any element of truth or not, we are talking about British tabloids who notoriously over-exaggerate stories for the exact reaction this is getting. For the other 7 shows last week (and I'm sure for the rest of the run) she acted her socks off as she always does but I bet that won't make the front pages. On a slight side note, I do hope she wins the BAFTA next weekend for The C Word.
It may just be one show but it's a huge deal. The star of the company is supposed to be the leader of the company - in this case it seems to be just the opposite. The star is the unreliable one. It puts enormous pressure on everybody else, onstage and off. To be drunk onstage is to betray your colleagues in the worst way. And, if the report is to be believed (I believe it) she has not yet apologized to those colleagues.
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Post by mallardo on May 1, 2016 23:27:42 GMT
Just go to Mail Online. They must feel pretty secure about what they're saying.
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Post by mallardo on May 1, 2016 18:56:54 GMT
The Joe Gillis of the musical seems more complex than he turns out to be. He's pretty much one note for a long time in the first act - variations on sneering self-pity. Things improve in the second act with a little self-realization and a minute and a half of being in love. But it's hard to find anything very positive about the guy. For a leading man he's not an attractive proposition which, I suppose, is why so few established leading men want to play him. Michael Xavier is more established than most, in fact.
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Post by mallardo on May 1, 2016 18:40:52 GMT
How would the cast not know? They were on stage with her.
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Post by mallardo on May 1, 2016 17:44:47 GMT
Has anyone else here ever seen an actor drunk on stage? I have, once, a rather famous actor, and it was painfully obvious to everyone - slurred words, missed cues, ad libs, concerned looks from other actors. You KNOW. So why are the reactions of audience members who were actually there being dismissed? And, as emilyrose said, why aren't her fellow cast mates supporting her? Why aren't the producers telling us what exactly the technical difficulties were? The lack of forthrightness speaks volumes.
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Post by mallardo on Apr 29, 2016 18:52:28 GMT
Listen again, guys. Patti has great beauty in her voice to go with the power and the range. Listen to her sing "Invisible" on the Women on the Verge OBCR.
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Post by mallardo on Apr 29, 2016 17:40:20 GMT
You can't have scenes that are there just to set up other scenes - there's no room for that. The show will sag and your act one finale will be undermined. Sounds like you need to rethink the story, perhaps complicate it so that something interesting happens to other characters not being fully serviced now. Whatever. Setups and transitions are out - go from big moment to big moment. Easy for me to say, I know.
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Post by mallardo on Apr 29, 2016 16:54:07 GMT
What you really want to do in the book is to keep the surprises coming. When you come up with a scene that you like and that advances the plot, ask yourself how it could be switched up to give it a different and more interesting perspective. Always ask yourself that - don't settle for the standard take on it, ever. If the audience gets ahead of your story you're done.
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Post by mallardo on Apr 29, 2016 14:10:12 GMT
Problem is, the only plausible explanation we've heard is the one we dare not speak of.
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Post by mallardo on Apr 28, 2016 19:42:36 GMT
I understand your plight, Daniel, but, as obsessions go it's not the worst one to have. And she'll get over it. People do.
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Post by mallardo on Apr 28, 2016 19:28:53 GMT
I'm not sure what your issue is. Kinky Boots is obviously providing some sort of lifeline for her and why not? All you have to do is not go with her.
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Post by mallardo on Apr 27, 2016 12:41:50 GMT
The book is a mess because the premise is bad. The pretence that chess is a dramatic and sexy spectator sport can't be sustained - hence the emphasis on back story. Freddie's got a line to some club girl while he's grinding away on a Bangkok disco floor... "I get my kicks above the waistline, sunshine"... which is ludicrous in itself and sums up (for me) the show's problem.
The score is great, though.
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Post by mallardo on Apr 25, 2016 23:21:46 GMT
I've actually seen a production of BIG and quite enjoyed it - it's a better and funnier show than the OCR would lead you to believe. But what's the market for it? The movie is long forgotten. Or is it?
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Post by mallardo on Apr 25, 2016 21:14:01 GMT
Steve, there's no professional reviewer I know of who produces work that is as analytical and articulate and just plain fun to read as what you post here on a regular basis. I'll lay out the cash.
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Post by mallardo on Apr 25, 2016 13:36:34 GMT
Steve's review is the first thing I've read that makes me want to see this - which I think I'll now do.
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Post by mallardo on Apr 25, 2016 13:28:43 GMT
Wow, Emi... when I first read your post I read it as "I have slept with him since then"... A bit startling.
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