225 posts
|
Post by ukpuppetboy on Jul 19, 2019 10:35:43 GMT
Imagine what Cats is going to be like! I just watched the trailer for it and I was expecting to be horribly unimpressed, but now I am excited! Really? Because I feel dirty..
|
|
225 posts
|
Post by ukpuppetboy on Jul 12, 2019 20:18:45 GMT
I suppose a similar effect was used at the end of the Laurence Connor production...The Phantom wraps himself in his cloak, and when Meg touches the cloak, it falls to the floor, The Phantom no longer being inside it. Indeed. It was an intentional nod to that original concept.
|
|
225 posts
|
Post by ukpuppetboy on Jul 11, 2019 11:11:36 GMT
|
|
225 posts
|
Post by ukpuppetboy on Jul 11, 2019 10:01:20 GMT
Yes, ukpuppetboy . Some I've seen, not seen one of the others. Fascinating, thank you so much.
To upload on here, you need to use the "Reply" button to bring up the full reply system. There's then an option button for uploading graphics. Thanks - but I already tried (and failed) there as they are scans on my computer and not weblinks. It’s interesting to ponder who was blacked out of the first design (with the Cambridge Theatre mentioned). I assume it was lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner before he left the project but that is just speculation...
|
|
225 posts
|
Post by ukpuppetboy on Jul 11, 2019 9:45:09 GMT
Finally found those designs but not sure how to upload the files here so had to tweet a few images and link to that.. Are these the ones you were referring to theatremonkey? Phantom Posters
|
|
225 posts
|
Post by ukpuppetboy on Jul 11, 2019 3:40:21 GMT
Opened up handbill, picked up in the Her Majesty's foyer months before the first preview. Glove holding rose.
Wish the Phantom poster with the Cambridge Theatre name on it had survived the Great Fire of Dress Circle, too. I have one of those fold out posters too (kindly given to me by the guy’s at Dress Circle back in the day). £18 top price ticket - those were the days! The various early Phantom poster designs (some with the Cambridge Theatre specified) also appeared in a book that I have somewhere. As I recall they featured more of the Phantom in shadow (a conventional eye mask and white shirt/glove?) and lacked the iconic shattered typography. For memory they looked quite rough. Though my memory maybe playing tricks on me.
|
|
225 posts
|
Post by ukpuppetboy on Jul 11, 2019 3:24:31 GMT
I love this show so much. If anybody has any similar, rare and interesting stories to share (either about the London production, or on tour) please do share, I’d love to read! I’ve NEVER managed to get an answer I was happy with as to why only the UK productions have Raoul singing in harmony in “Wandering Child” whilst every other international production has the rather jarring “Leave her” interruption. Back when Peter Land was in the London cast he suggested that ALW wanted to keep something that was specific to the original London show - (this was before the first Manchester/UK tour which I believe also kept the trio). It always seemed a little odd that THIS (and Phantom catching Christine at the end of Music of the Night instead of letting her sleep on the damp concrete floor infront of the mirror overnight!) would be THE moment chosen to be specific to London. Not that I have any reason to doubt Mr Land’s insider knowledge. He was an amazing Andre after all.. The times I have met Hal Prince I have been more interested in why he cut some of the moments in previews, and if he could put them back in. That masquerade disappearance (as originally conceived) would have been awesome.
|
|
225 posts
|
Post by ukpuppetboy on Jul 2, 2019 7:44:35 GMT
Yes, I’m Isobel Smith a secretary from North London 😆 I KNEW it! Time to collect on that bet.
|
|
225 posts
|
Post by ukpuppetboy on Dec 10, 2017 17:27:30 GMT
People really underrated Phillipa Soo when she was in the show but time and time again I hear about how every other Eliza just isn't up to scratch. They all play her like a Disney princess, no nuance whatsoever. Soo's iteration was absolutely perfect, she made a character with not much to her on the page come to life in so many ways. It was all in the body language and subtleties. Truly one of my favourite performances of all time. Anyway, disappointed to hear Rachelle is doing the same old, same old version of Eliza but I'll save my judgements until I see it I guess. Add my name to the list of people that underappreciated Phillipa Soo the first time I saw her. Such was the subtle brilliance of her nuanced performance it took a bit of distance (and a 2nd viewing) to appreciate just how complex her Eliza was in very underwritten material. I remember falling instantly for Renée and Leslie Odom Jnr and telling my friend how any talented musical theatre actress could play Eliza; which, true as that maybe ignores how Philippa's innocence and cystal clear pitch were beautiful to witness BUT her scream (and Phillip's death) and gasp in the dying notes of the show sent chills racing down your back and tears to your eyes. I am a (belated) fan.
|
|
225 posts
|
Post by ukpuppetboy on Nov 24, 2017 9:15:38 GMT
Well I'm a proud "leftie" (Corbyn fan not hander) and I loved the show last night. After seeing Aladdin on Tuesday evening it was a breath of fresh air to see a film adaptadtion that had been beautifully crafted into an even more beautiful musical - and not lazily thrown on stage like the fayre at The Prince Edward.
Yes, the design isn't amazing (though I thought it fine - again, no where near as offensive as what Bob Crowley's team overspent and under delivered for Disney), and the songs, while I remember loving them as they were happening were, for the most part forgettable after the applause. But for the book, adaptation and perfomances (from Kelsey Grammer down) were first rate and made for an unexpectedly gorgeous night at the theatre.
|
|
225 posts
|
Post by ukpuppetboy on Nov 18, 2017 9:30:12 GMT
Rewatched it again tonight at a different venue, with much better sound quality, and no subtitles. Tracie Bennett gives her life in I'm Still Here, and its glorious to get to hear Dawn Hope sing that ending of Who's That Woman with as much power and conviction as she does. It's just the perfect production for me. Imelda really got me again tonight, Losing My Mind is masterful I take it the vocals at the end of "Who's That Woman" was more 'convincing' on film than they were live. Not that I'm taking anything away from her. I loved the choreography and fair play to the ladies who were on stage way more for it than some have suggested.
|
|
225 posts
|
Post by ukpuppetboy on Sept 26, 2017 15:50:21 GMT
Maybe they were just grateful for a bit of power, strength and clarity? If only for a few minutes 😉
|
|
225 posts
|
Post by ukpuppetboy on Sept 26, 2017 13:16:20 GMT
Bring Back Dannii Minogue! Liiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiive for the oooooooooooooooone I love . . . My front of house friends at The Dominion all swore blind that Danni was miming to a recording of Tina Arena for that number... Far be it from me to comment.
|
|
225 posts
|
Post by ukpuppetboy on Sept 24, 2017 10:53:03 GMT
Declan Bennett took the roof off the Open Air theatre this evening. The whole cast were fantastic in their final performance but DB really has finessed his performance. It has much more complexity than other interpretations and blows the previous efforts by Drew Sarich and Steve Balsamo out of the park. Well I don't know what Steve Balsamo was doing in the park but to compare DB's Jesus to what he did in the Lyceum is quite frankly ridiculous. And like other poster's have said I am a big fan of Declan in Once and his own writing..
|
|
225 posts
|
Post by ukpuppetboy on Apr 12, 2017 23:22:55 GMT
"You Don't Bring Me Flowers" - with Will doing his best Neil Diamond impression.
The last time I saw Audra was The Divas at the Donmar series where she probably sang twice as many songs so I guess I would have been a little disappointed were it anyone else on that stage - but actually it's pretty impossible to be disappointed when it's Audra McDonald up there. I found her chats to Seth far more enjoyable than Patti LuPone's were when he hosted her concerts (and him less OTT in his fawning adoration). I hadn't heard her sing Summertime (or Moments in the Woods) so they were magic. The woman is a legend and can perform a song like few others. And even does an impression or two..
|
|
225 posts
|
Post by ukpuppetboy on Mar 22, 2017 7:27:43 GMT
For those that weren't lucky enough to have caught his Phantom there are a few amazing quality videos on youTube from the recent Australia/NZ tour Of Anthony and Anna O'Byrne
Mirror/Phantom of the Opera
Music of the Night
Why So Silent?
Wandering Child (with Ana Marina) - audio only
Past the Point of No Return - audio only
The Final Lair (with Ana Marina) - audio only
|
|
225 posts
|
Post by ukpuppetboy on Mar 18, 2017 13:54:36 GMT
Sorry to hear that you still haven't had any luck in finding a recording Brady after all this time. Did you ever get in touch with Martin Levan? Though I am not sure he still has his offices in Berwick Street so I'm afraid i don't have his current details. Hey, very nice to hear from you again after all this time! I never thought to contact Martin Levan, do you think he would have been involved with the production at the time? Martin Levan was the sole sound designer on the show at that time and one of his technicans would have been on the desk and made any live recordings. I'm not sure that he would have copies but worth asking. Any live recordings I have came from Christine understudies so if you have a programme from then I'd definitely check with the actress playing the Hannibal Princess :-) Keeping everying crossed for you. That version of "There's No Harm in Asking" from Hey, Mr Producer is beautiful. Another original vesion that beats the revision hands down..
|
|
225 posts
|
Post by ukpuppetboy on Mar 18, 2017 13:32:32 GMT
Sorry to hear that you still haven't had any luck in finding a recording Brady after all this time. Did you ever get in touch with Martin Levan? Though I am not sure he still has his offices in Berwick Street so I'm afraid i don't have his current details.
I have always regretted that I didn't get to see the Prince Edward original production of Children of Eden, though I do have a treasured copy of the cast recording which Is the only version I listen to. Do you have any live recordings of Martin in this? I would love to hear the whole show sometime (or preferably a video archieve with that impressive set and costume design).
Gerard Casey has indeed passed away unfortunately. A big loss to the profession - his Kodaly knocked the socks off of the one I saw in recent revival.
|
|
225 posts
|
Post by ukpuppetboy on Mar 17, 2017 20:36:25 GMT
Luke Evans as Gaston is hands down the best part of this, I think that's the only casting that I would call perfect. Awards definitely to Luke Evans and Audra McDonald for singing all their parts unassisted by machine or ghost singers. I feel the credits should be twice as long as they actually are.. Really don't understand anyone who finds the new songs anything other than bland in music and trite in lyrics. In fact any scene or song that wasn't Howard Ashman's stuck out like a sore thumb (nice that they included some of his demo Gaston words though). I'd also question how involved Alan Menken was in the score as most of it was a pale shadow of his work on the animated feature. I'd agree that the whole thing was unnecessary and only The Mob Song and Gaston were worthy of the title. And even then that pointless dance interlude to warrant Anthony van Laast's office next to the producers definitely stole time from somewhere more deserving. Beautiful to look at. But souless.. A great advert for rewatching the cartoon though.
|
|
225 posts
|
Post by ukpuppetboy on Mar 9, 2017 11:45:13 GMT
Seems like this is predominantly an ALW marketing tool which has been replaced by numerous reality tv casting shows. The man is not daft.
|
|
225 posts
|
Post by ukpuppetboy on Feb 22, 2017 13:25:42 GMT
Rosie Ashe!!!! Amazing.
|
|
225 posts
|
Post by ukpuppetboy on Feb 17, 2017 0:14:19 GMT
The first time I saw Hamilton was during Andrew Rannells tenure as King George and he was absolutely fantastic. I would be so happy if London got to share his lip pouty brilliance when the show opens here.. Seems very unlikely though. Probably more likely to be a cameo in Mary Poppins..
|
|
225 posts
|
Post by ukpuppetboy on Feb 14, 2017 17:02:16 GMT
I unfollowed him a while ago, find him a bit unlikeable. Although I enjoyed his performance when I saw it in early previews. To be fair to him he wouldn't be the first to get a west end role and think they've made it. Laura Michelle Kelly turned down Broadway to focus on her solo career for example. I think its quite common for musical theatre performers to see musical theatre as second to a successful recording career. Sadly they sometimes don't really know when they are on to a good thing I think any comparison is rather unfair to Laura Michelle Kelly tbh. She had the opportunity to write and release her own songs (probably against all safe advise) which is similarly a very unique opportunity. She has subsequently performed on Broadway and across America.
|
|
225 posts
|
Post by ukpuppetboy on Feb 14, 2017 16:34:21 GMT
I really never understood why Anthony Warlow as never brought in for Phantom. Or for any role in London, really. It was quite a strong rumour that he was coming to Phantom in London before his lymph cancer diagnosis, and unfortunately it never semed to come up again after that. To be honest I'm surprised he returned to the role in Australia for the revival given his short run in the Melbourne original - though very grateful he did as it meant i finally got to see him in the role (apparently Maria Björnson's favourite Phantom). And amazing he was too. The only other time he was scheduled to perform here that I am aware of was at a concert with Ruthie Henshall at Hampton Court Palace but he pulled out at the very last minute..
|
|
225 posts
|
Post by ukpuppetboy on Feb 7, 2017 23:20:40 GMT
I saw it last week and found the accents to be ridiculous. And there's a dialect coach credited in the programme! I spent much of the evening remembering the brilliant delivery of Tracie Bennett and Barry James from The Savoy as lines were being said and wishing I was watching that production instead. And the less said about Les Dennis the better - who keeps giving him acting roles?
|
|
225 posts
|
Post by ukpuppetboy on Jan 9, 2017 1:50:18 GMT
For anyone interested who hasn't got a copy, the cast recording is up on youTube. I haven't dug my CD out in a while (and rarely listened to it in it's entirity) but back when it was new to me "Psalm 8" and "Sheer Perfection" were played as often as anything else in my Menken back catalogue.. www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL1153B001DAD9196E
|
|
225 posts
|
Post by ukpuppetboy on Jan 9, 2017 1:24:43 GMT
TBH I never liked the score save the songs sung by the female characters (Bathsheba and..?) aka Judy Kuhn and Alice Ripley. They've done a concert version of it in Jerusalem when it was first written, and if I'm not mistaken at Carnegie Hall. NYU also had a production some years ago starring its musical theatre students. Heidi Blickenstaff (Freaky Friday, Something Rotten, Title of Show) sings a killer version of Never Again which she does in cabaret. The piece was originally conceived as an oratorio for performance in Jerusalem to commemorate the 3,000th anniversary of the city, however that production never went ahead (Tim Rice is quoted as saying it "..proved logistically and financially impossible to do it" there). Disney expressed an interest in producing the work as a concert staging to open the newly restored New Amsterdam theatre. To my knowledge it remains unperformed in Israel - though other US performances are listed on wikipedia. I spoke to Tim Rice in 1999 during Lion King previews at The Lyceum where he expressed a hope to have it performed in London - though unfortunately this also has yet to come to pass. Prior to this I'd interviewed Alan Menken and asked him which of his past projects had he been the most disappointed, in terms of the result and/or public reaction? Interestingly his answer included King David (as well as God Bless You Mr Rosewater, Newsies (movie) and Weird Romance). He said in future "I would scale back the ('King David') concert to avoid having it look like a finished piece of musical theater when, in fact, it was a staged concert of a work-in-progress". I will get around to posting the full interview with Alan Menken hopefully. It maybe from 1999 but is still interesting (and surprisingly relevant). His answers were very open and honest about everything from his numerous collaboration since Howard Ashman (including the dynamic with fellow composer/lyricist Stephen Schwartz), future projects (most of which have still yet to be produced) to his early influences.
|
|
225 posts
|
Post by ukpuppetboy on Jan 6, 2017 9:24:44 GMT
For someone who's job takes him around the world anyway, Baz always has big holidays. He tends to have a long summer holiday and also post xmas. His twitter account has said he is in California. It's the start of "Awards Season" so I guess you could kind of call that work related. Tough life...
|
|
225 posts
|
Post by ukpuppetboy on Jan 6, 2017 1:45:13 GMT
First theatrical experience: Probably a live stage show of Button Moon at Queens Theatre, Hornchurch
First musical in the West End: Chess at The Prince Edward Theatre aged 9 (April 1987) - followed by Cats and Phantom in the space of a few weeks!
First play in the West End: Romeo and Juliet at The Barbican (1992?)
First musical on Broadway: Rent OBC (August 1996) - an Idina fan from wayback 😉
First National Theatre visit: Sweeney Todd (Cottesloe 1993) Went back at least 10 times. Barry James and Julia McKenzie giving my fave MT performances EVER.
First Donmar show/First Sondheim Show: Assasins (1992)
First RSC show in Stratford: The Secret Garden (2000)
First Royal Opera House show: Sweeney Todd (2003) - an amazing contrast to the tiny Cottesloe production
First Almeida show: American Psycho (Dec 2013)
First Stage Appearance (amateur): Jack in a kids summer school production of Into The Woods at Wimbledon Theatre (August 1995)
First Stage Appearance (professional): Getting to take a bow as one of the (puppet) crew on the NT's Olivier Stage during 2 show days of His Dark Materials (2005)
|
|
225 posts
|
Post by ukpuppetboy on Jan 2, 2017 19:04:17 GMT
If she sang "Bring In the Clowns" no wonder Sondheim wanted the cast recording deleted.
|
|