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Post by Ade on Feb 24, 2017 12:31:53 GMT
Sienna aside, there is something filthily foxy about Jack O'Connell though . . . Basically the reason I'm even considering this
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Post by Ade on Feb 23, 2017 7:40:30 GMT
This can't last surely? At some point a non-performer will complain about discrimination. As long as in the job description it stipulates a singing ability, and they don't turn down people who can sing but aren't necessarily trained performers I'd have thought they'd be fine. On another note, I walked past here the other day and was hugely underwhelmed. Think it's a case of trying to add a quirk to an already established brand. The two things just don't feel like they go together. So rather than it feeling like a unified experience, it comes across more like a busker wandering around a Greggs.
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Post by Ade on Feb 23, 2017 7:34:50 GMT
Anyone see the first preview last night?
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Post by Ade on Feb 19, 2017 22:10:46 GMT
While personally I think Amber deserves it over Sheridan, I find it ridiculous she was nominated in the first place. Submitting nominations for the awards ended on 24th November and Dreamgirls only started previews on 19th November. The fact that she was eligible in the first place shows how flawed the awards are. That, I agree with. It seems like they just picked the easiest roles/places that maybe previous incarnations of the show have amazed at and got nominations through that like Jimmy and Effie being the showiest roles etc. I know audiences "pick" the nominees but there is no way, based on 5 days of performances, it could of got enough votes for their nominations. It does seriously make me doubt the credibility of it. I stand corrected and it actually would have been 6 days so 8 audiences would have seen it - just shy of 10k people. But realistically what portion of those are going to have voted? Not a high number. Perhaps you could argue that a large number of avid theatregoers would have been attending those performances, but I'd also assume a lot of them would already have given their nominations much earlier in the month when voting opened. So I can only assume that either they fixed it so that she received a nomination in the shortlist, or that people popped her name down when they were voting before they'd even seen it. Don't get me wrong, this is no criticism of her performance at all - just the credibility of the awards.
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Post by Ade on Feb 19, 2017 21:49:19 GMT
Also Amber winning over Sheridan with all her crazy fans. Really surprising year. Or WOS Awards are not taken that seriously these days so shows/actors don't campaign for votes like they used to While personally I think Amber deserves it over Sheridan, I find it ridiculous she was nominated in the first place. Submitting nominations for the awards ended on 24th November and Dreamgirls only started previews on 19th November. The fact that she was eligible in the first place shows how flawed the awards are.
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Post by Ade on Feb 19, 2017 8:29:49 GMT
Kind of enjoyed it but not rethinking the staging for this theatre was stupid! The pool effect is invisible from most of the stalls and I kept wondering why a shark kept appearing at random intervals until they started pointing at it saying look at the moon From H2 the view was fine, but the person in H1 told me she couldn't see one of the people at the table. Had a nosey in the interval and from row F forwards you can't see the table at all from seats 1 and 2 so would spend about half the play looking at an empty sofa and an abstract and pointless fire escape They do seem to have realised the problem - apparently the person in F1 was upgraded when they picked their ticket up and all of the affected seats were empty. So if you're in one of them I suggest checking at the box office. (Theatremonkey- feel free to quote on the website if useful!) Interesting if they are moving people. I've paid £20 each for F 1 and 2 for when I go, but seeing the above I nipped on to see if the seats are still on sale and found a date where F2 was down as £49...
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Post by Ade on Feb 3, 2017 17:54:41 GMT
Always loved a bit of Idina and enjoyed a couple of her tours but there's no chance I'm paying those prices. I'd be more inclined to if some of her recent TV performances hadn't been so terrible. She clearly struggles to sing some of the songs on her new album and increasingly struggles to reach the notes on her theatre songs. It's a shame because a few years ago I'd definitely have been there.
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Post by Ade on Jan 31, 2017 17:39:32 GMT
My big gripe as well as the above (but also related to the above) is that the blooming things are all different sizes. My RENT programme this last weekend was the first standard size programme I've had since my trip to Harry Potter back in July. Everything else has been Square or A4 or brochure sized. It makes them a nightmare to keep them looking tidy. It seems the days of theatres doing the nice standard sized programmes are over and they're all just doing their own thing in order to charge a bit more. I agree with this 100% I had the nightmare of sorting through all my programmes last night, that's what prompted that This House example and I have 6 plastic crates fall, so a real headache to sort out, especially with the different sizes and shapes, at least with Playbill apart com them being free they come in one standard size, which I am fine with. Exactly. And it is starting to put me off getting them. Because where I used to be able to avoid brochures and stick to popping a programme in a binder, I'm now met with Square programmes (shame on you Mr Mackintosh), scaled back brochures masquerading as programmes, and in the case of school of rock a weird not-quite-programme-not-quite-brochure size that just doesn't go alongside anything.
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Post by Ade on Jan 31, 2017 8:22:44 GMT
My big gripe as well as the above (but also related to the above) is that the blooming things are all different sizes. My RENT programme this last weekend was the first standard size programme I've had since my trip to Harry Potter back in July. Everything else has been Square or A4 or brochure sized. It makes them a nightmare to keep them looking tidy.
It seems the days of theatres doing the nice standard sized programmes are over and they're all just doing their own thing in order to charge a bit more.
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Post by Ade on Jan 30, 2017 15:00:39 GMT
Booked a May date as it was offering me rubbish seats for everything else. Now just nipped on and see the select your own seat is back on and I've got one on 3rd jan. Rather irritating but at least I can cancel the later date
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Post by Ade on Jan 30, 2017 12:30:05 GMT
Well this is a right faff - also seems a bit odd that it let you select seats during pre-sale but not now?
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Post by Ade on Jan 29, 2017 22:41:07 GMT
Ha that was a nice surprise. A great evening all round. A few mildly irritated people as she didn't do 'I'm Here', I'm sure, but then considering her vocals on the songs she did sing, they can't be too annoyed. All in all a very lovely evening.
Shame about the venue messing up on tickets, the queue and the start time... I was in nice and early, but from what I could make out they gave up issuing tickets and were just letting people in if they showed their confirmation email?
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Post by Ade on Jan 28, 2017 17:43:28 GMT
Understudies for Benny, Angel and Roger again at the matinee today. Have to say I was quite disappointed by a couple of them. First time I've seen this production. Enjoyed it overall and some of the songs were incredibly well sung. Have to admit there were a few points that felt a bit clumsy, and the sound was terrible at a few points. But overall a fitting tribute to the original production. Just left there myself enjoyed it. My gripe would definitely be the sound today and the understudy for Angel wasnt a patch on layton williams Yes I was very disappointed with Angel. He just fell flat as a character. Where were you sitting? Not ideal but can imagine it was better more central
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Post by Ade on Jan 28, 2017 17:28:04 GMT
Understudies for Benny, Angel and Roger again at the matinee today. Have to say I was quite disappointed by a couple of them. First time I've seen this production. Enjoyed it overall and some of the songs were incredibly well sung. Have to admit there were a few points that felt a bit clumsy, and the sound was terrible at a few points. But overall a fitting tribute to the original production.
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Post by Ade on Jan 28, 2017 8:55:52 GMT
A note on the "bargain seats". I'm sitting on F21 and unfortunately there is quite a bit happening on the far right of the stage, and I can't see any of that. The very last moment of Act 1 takes place in that corner and quite a long dialogue between Tom and Amanda. Of course nothing really happens, they're just talking, but it can be a bit frustrating to look at an empty stage for five minutes. For the rest of time it's perfectly fine and for 20£ I can't complain too much Ah what a shame. I'm on the opposite side in F1-2. Reckon I'll have the same problem?
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Post by Ade on Jan 22, 2017 9:29:43 GMT
Saw HP on Wednesday and absolutely adored it! I am about to write a review, but was looking for some advice. I am writing this review for my blog and want to talk about the show in depth. I don't think I can do this without saying spoilers. Do you think that posting spoilers in this review (all being marked) would be acceptable? I know that keeping the secrets is a large part of the show, but if they're marked does that make it ok?
Help would be much appreciated, thanks! My review is here if it helps at all. Think it's pretty much impossible to not say anything but I tried to speak about what it was about rather than what actually happens: westendwanderer.com/2016/07/29/review-harry-potter-and-the-cursed-child-palace-theatre-london/
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Post by Ade on Jan 20, 2017 12:18:40 GMT
Do we have confirmation of the auditorium. Wonder if they'll go for lyttleton in case of transfer potential
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Post by Ade on Jan 17, 2017 13:20:04 GMT
Is it pointless asking what people think the view from the dress circle slips may be like? If we knew where they were, it would help. If they are in the original place, half way up the sides, then the view wasn't bad. Surely to get around the card restriction is as easy as paying for it on a cash passport top-up visa type card and then handing that over at the point of selling on the ticket? But those don't have a name printed on them, do they? Ah this is true. Clearly I'm not meant to be a tout!
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Post by Ade on Jan 16, 2017 22:12:00 GMT
Surely to get around the card restriction is as easy as paying for it on a cash passport top-up visa type card and then handing that over at the point of selling on the ticket? Obviously that doesn't solve the ID issue but the touts have got around that one before.
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Post by Ade on Jan 13, 2017 13:19:07 GMT
Yeh I'm just going to wait until after the 30th I think. I'm very keen on seeing this but can't be doing with the scrum for tickets in the presale when I'm pretty sure there will be plenty of seats left well into the public booking period.
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Post by Ade on Jan 12, 2017 18:50:16 GMT
I'm most offended this is being done through Ticketmaster. Here's hoping it doesn't come with Ticketmaster's not so friendly (aka frankly ridiculous) booking fees. FAQ say: There are no additional booking fees. All ticket prices include a £1.25 theatre restoration levy. Ah I missed that!
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Post by Ade on Jan 12, 2017 18:41:11 GMT
I'm most offended this is being done through Ticketmaster. Here's hoping it doesn't come with Ticketmaster's not so friendly (aka frankly ridiculous) booking fees.
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Post by Ade on Jan 10, 2017 20:02:08 GMT
Interesting that when he was running through all the people he worked closely with on it, he didn't even mention Rachel Kavanaugh - in fact he was basically referring to himself as director.
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Post by Ade on Jan 10, 2017 19:07:52 GMT
Cameron Mackintosh has just said on the One Show they're hoping to bring Mary back to London before the end of the year
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Post by Ade on Jan 9, 2017 18:41:22 GMT
I saw this on Friday. Gary Trainor was on. Loved him in the role and a cracking voice for it. Florence Andrews I enjoyed although she sounded quite hoarse in places - couldn't quite work out if that's her natural voice or whether she was struggling with bits. Liked the kids we had on and very talented with their instruments. Was quite underwhelmed by the singing and while they were good when all singing together there were a lot of bum notes. That really showed up in the bedroom scene in act two.
Was very disappointed with the staging too - the sets felt very simple compared to the clips I've seen of the Broadway version and with such a large proscenium there were moments it looked quite lost. It kind of cheapened the experience a bit. I don't think it helped the book either which dragged a bit whenever the kids weren't on.
Still, a great night and it had some real high points in it - brilliant crowd pleaser finale.
Have since looked online at tickets for some friends and very disappointed to see that the tickets I paid £25 on the back row of the circle are now being sold at £75 for all dates i looked at (and I looked at a good selection of dates). While I enjoyed it from that seat for the price I certainly wouldn't want to pay full whack.
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Post by Ade on Jan 7, 2017 23:17:33 GMT
Anything special tonight? Any speeches? Any tears? Other than these two crazies, was the audience good? Nope nothing special at all. Audience was good but I did expect them to be a bit more full on if I'm honest.
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Post by Ade on Jan 7, 2017 23:10:04 GMT
Ugh I'm off to see this tomorrow night. I'm dreading the singing issue. Last time I saw this was the first preview of this run and I think I must have been in a lucky spot as I didn't have anyone around me misbehaving. I have seen the show 9 times (3 times at the Dominion) and it has never been an issue for me. I know this may be a lucky streak for me, but I honestly wouldn't worry about it too much. So ironically at the performance this evening the couple on the other side of the aisle had to be removed. First an usher asked her to stop violently waving her arms and singing along. Then she went to get her supervisor who gave it a go to no avail. In the end they disappeared with the husband, who then came back and had to convince the wife. Overheard the usher talking at the interval saying about the incident a few weeks ago and saying they thought they were going to have to get police again. On the plus side, the cast were brilliant as usual and it felt like a fitting end to the run.
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Post by Ade on Jan 6, 2017 6:48:25 GMT
So much singing during the show tonight, it was ridiculous. I had to cover one ear with my hand at one point so I could hear Rachel John and Beverley Knight's glorious voices (which were why I went to see it in the first place) rather than the drunken divas sitting behind me. And worse still was the attention-seeking idiot who called out in the silence before the big note in I Will Always Love You (I must be really unlucky, same thing happened when I saw Dreamgirls last month!). Beverley was (rightly) so unimpressed - she stopped singing and just held the microphone until the audience had gone quiet, then resumed the song on her terms, so good on her! If looks could have killed her stare would have roasted the idiot who ruined the moment! I'd never seen the show before, and I have to admit I've never seen the film either. I went purely to see Beverley and Rachel, both of whom I think are fabulous, before they disappear off to Canada with this show and we're deprived of their talent in the West End for a while. I thought they were both outstanding (though I think Memphis as a show suited both of them better and their accents were better then!), but I found the show as a whole a mess - it just jumps from scene to scene without any real connection, the story isn't done justice at all and it ends so abruptly. Though it does have the best curtain call to a musical since Mamma Mia. Not one I'll be going back to see if it ever does return, but hopefully its leading ladies will be back in London sometime soon! Ugh I'm off to see this tomorrow night. I'm dreading the singing issue. Last time I saw this was the first preview of this run and I think I must have been in a lucky spot as I didn't have anyone around me misbehaving.
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Post by Ade on Jan 3, 2017 19:51:13 GMT
I really do think theatres need to start doing firmer announcements at the start of the show. The days of the 'Please refrain from using your phone during the performance' are gone. Instead what's needed is an assertive 'Turn off your blooming phones, sit still, be quiet and don't you dare sing along.' - preferably with bouncers on standby to forcibly remove/taser any offenders.
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Post by Ade on Dec 13, 2016 22:12:31 GMT
What an indulgent play. Much more fun for the actors than the audience - except those fairly far up themselves! Have to say while I completely agree that it's an indulgent play, I did quite enjoy it tonight. But then I'm always a fan of anything a bit bleak.
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