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Post by samuelwhiskers on Nov 7, 2022 14:57:30 GMT
The easiest thing is if theatres just put wheelchair spaces at the front, which okay is a challenge with older theatres, but in cases like the Bridge that was custom built as new yet the wheelchair spaces are right at the back in the circle, it’s just not good enough.
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Post by samuelwhiskers on Nov 4, 2022 12:09:00 GMT
Headlong and Paines Plough have had to relocate to continue to receive funding.
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Post by samuelwhiskers on Nov 3, 2022 10:10:37 GMT
Shame I missed this. Wonder if they’ll do it again.
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Post by samuelwhiskers on Nov 2, 2022 13:14:50 GMT
Ooh front row side only £18.50!
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Post by samuelwhiskers on Nov 2, 2022 12:57:31 GMT
And people die, covid gets in the way, cast members get fired or get pregnant. Things can get in the way for even booked transfers! London could get wiped out by a meteor tomorrow. (But we’d still be arguing about which of our new mutated cockroach overlords gave the best Hamlet or something.) Tammy Faye rests so heavily on Katie’s performance I’m sure they would postpone if anything happened to her. So fair point. Anyone else I think would likely be re-cast.
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Post by samuelwhiskers on Nov 2, 2022 11:56:07 GMT
Hampstead lost their literary manager quite abruptly, I’m not sure if they’ve hired a new one yet.
Edit - looks like they’ve combined the literary department and participation department into one role.
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Post by samuelwhiskers on Nov 2, 2022 11:54:07 GMT
Interesting. I didn’t love Magic Goes Wrong as much as most of their work but Mind Mangler was the funniest character. Will give this a punt when it comes to Wimbledon.
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Post by samuelwhiskers on Nov 2, 2022 11:50:06 GMT
Agreed. I still have a credit note from 2020. Just nothing that really appeals.
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Post by samuelwhiskers on Nov 2, 2022 11:28:59 GMT
Honestly I’ve said this about six times, do people not believe me or am I just invisible? I’ve been posting about this production for years. Do you believe everything you read on the internet? I make my own mind up about whether someone is legit or not based on their posting history. Surely that’s what most people do? I’ve been a frequent poster here since 2017 and have given insider info (that has later been confirmed) tons of times about various different shows I’ve worked on, or other industry gossip. How many times over the years have I been the one to break the news about some show or casting? Most recently I shared that the NT were doing Othello this winter, before it was announced. I’ve been posting about this show for a long time (look at page 1 of this thread), obviously I’ve been careful what I post and what I don’t post but this show is important to me.
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Post by samuelwhiskers on Nov 2, 2022 10:31:25 GMT
I’m not involved in the decision when to announce.
But personally, and this isn’t based on anything except my own opinion, if I was promoting a show that had people lining up for returns every night, I’d want to encourage them to keep doing that and not go “oh I won’t bother I’ll see it in the West End” and ramp up the anticipation as much as possible. But I don’t work in marketing so I don’t know.
They may also want to tie the announcement with the release of the cast recording.
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Post by samuelwhiskers on Nov 2, 2022 10:21:33 GMT
Not “trying.” The show was created for the West End and was originally contracted to open at the West End theatre, but when RG got involved he requested a run at the Almeida first.
The West End run has been arranged literally for several years.
It’s not a case of “now the show’s a hit let’s try to arrange a transfer.” (Which honestly doesn’t happen much, except in genuine surprise hits like Six or Pride and Prejudice Sort Of.)
Honestly I’ve said this about six times, do people not believe me or am I just invisible? I’ve been posting about this production for years.
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Post by samuelwhiskers on Nov 1, 2022 15:03:52 GMT
2 new swings have been announced. Strange thing to do with 4 weeks left. Is this them getting 'west end ready"? It’s because of Covid cases in the cast.
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Post by samuelwhiskers on Oct 31, 2022 13:36:32 GMT
Well, the Sunday papers seem to have confounded the right-wing/left-wing theory of reviewer responses: Quentin Letts gave it 4 stars in The Sunday Time and Susannah Clapp gave it 3 in The Observer. Clapp compared it unfavourable to Jerry Springer: The Opera. Not the only critic to do so. I am not sure why - given James Graham’s always humanising approach - but some people seem to have expected a biting satire. They must be very disappointed with the lukewarm reviews for this - no real raves to pin on the proposed transfer. I wouldn’t call the reviews “lukewarm”, and it would take universally damning reviews and probably poor ticket sales too for the company to cancel a transfer. Ticket sales and audience feedback / word of mouth are just as if not more important than reviews. Besides no one wants to cancel a transfer unless they have to because they’d have to find something to put in its place at relatively short notice.
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Post by samuelwhiskers on Oct 30, 2022 12:13:00 GMT
James Franco was in. He got “cancelled” (for sexually harassing and assaulting a large number of women and teenage girls) but dunno if he’s A list?
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Post by samuelwhiskers on Oct 27, 2022 15:32:06 GMT
I thought it was a load of camp old tomfoolery! (I haven’t seen it) [Insert Saturday Night Live "Accurate" gif here]
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Post by samuelwhiskers on Oct 27, 2022 10:58:40 GMT
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Post by samuelwhiskers on Oct 27, 2022 9:20:06 GMT
Comments I’ve seen elsewhere online seem to imply the NY Post reviewer is not noted for his warmth and open mind towards new shows.
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Post by samuelwhiskers on Oct 27, 2022 7:36:23 GMT
I’ve said this like five times: the transfer is set in stone, or as good as exists in theatre. It was created FOR the West End and was originally going to open straight into the West End until RG came on board and requested an Almeida run to be added first.
It’s not a question of “will it transfer” but “will the existing confirmed transfer be cancelled” and I honestly don’t see that happening unless it’s a total flop, which it clearly isn’t in terms of sales and audience response. I guess it’s possible the reviews will affect this but I honestly can’t see a couple of bad reviews causing people to cancel tickets en masse. Not when public word of mouth has been so good.
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Post by samuelwhiskers on Oct 26, 2022 14:31:14 GMT
Inclined to agree with alessia and Burly - torture porn/misery porn. I’m sure it’ll be a quality show, but hard pass from me.
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Post by samuelwhiskers on Oct 26, 2022 10:35:00 GMT
It's interesting just to see a major musical exploring themes of religion so overtly, in a time when religion is having such an impact on politics (especially in America). I wonder to what extent the extremely varied religious backgrounds of the creative team played in figuring out what balance to strike in how to portray faith and organised religion as an entity.
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Post by samuelwhiskers on Oct 22, 2022 19:14:58 GMT
Surely the whole point is that the people “taking Abigail’s side” don’t share your opinion that she’s a psychopath? It’s just an opinion after all. We all have our own opinions and perspectives on plays and on characters. It's not my opinion, it is what the characters is and how she was written. There is no opinion on someone being a psychopath, they are either a psychopath or they are not. This is a fact, you can't have opinions on facts, they are just facts. Or have facts been cancelled now too and we should all just consider Hannibal Lector was someone who was really, really hungry? Now you can feel sorry for the psychopath if you like, but you know...actually I don't know because I would never do it. That the vast majority of the the population has no idea what a psychopath actually is (ironically they think they are all like Hannibal Lector) how they operate or what they are capable of is the problem here and the play is trying to rectify that. This is the whole point of giving her such an unlikeable 'opponent'. We dislike Proctor because he cheated on his wife and slept with a child and we dislike the wife for taking him back and kicking Abigail out of the house. Neither of these characters is likable, so our empathy for this child kicks in immediately and we stop paying attention to what she actually does throughout the play because our judgement has been purposely clouded. We are then given a 'hero' to help us decipher this, Mary Wallace, who knows exactly what is going on and tells everyone the truth but crumbles because no one around her will listen and apparently no one in the audience is listening to her either. The whole point of the play is that if you fall for the con woman you are complicit in the con and it's aftermath. IE If you voted for Hitler or Donald Trump or Brexit, you are complicit in what happens next because you fell for the con. In this case if you fall for Abigail's con and were there at the time, you would've been complicit in the hanging of these women. It is literally just an opinion. Opinions that are not the same are yours are just as valid as yours. It’s not physically possible to say whether a fictional character is a psychopath or not since they’re not, you know, real. It’s all just a matter of how an individual audience member chooses to interpret a fictional character, which is itself dependent on the choices the particular director and actor make (one production’s Abigail might be a psychopath, a different production might create an Abigail that is completely different.) I really don’t think we need to compare opinions on a fictional character, with supporting Hitler.
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Post by samuelwhiskers on Oct 22, 2022 17:02:49 GMT
Surely the whole point is that the people “taking Abigail’s side” don’t share your opinion that she’s a psychopath?
It’s just an opinion after all. We all have our own opinions and perspectives on plays and on characters.
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Post by samuelwhiskers on Oct 22, 2022 14:34:31 GMT
It is transferring to the West End. It was created for the West End, and the Almeida run was arranged afterwards. Rather than being an Almeida play that was successful enough for them to start talking to West End theatres.
Details are embargoed for now.
I’m not sure if they have a theatre and dates confirmed or not yet for the Broadway run. But a Broadway run has been in discussion for at least a couple of years.
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Post by samuelwhiskers on Oct 21, 2022 21:58:54 GMT
Wait. This is the PM queue? Apologies. I thought it was for Tammy Faye Returns. Apologies. Can we not just let James Graham have a bash at actually being Prime Minister?
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Post by samuelwhiskers on Oct 20, 2022 13:33:48 GMT
I accidentally sat in row AA then after the show realised my ticket was for row A the other week. The theatre was pretty empty to it was fine.
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Post by samuelwhiskers on Oct 20, 2022 13:18:13 GMT
I, for one, welcome our new lettuce overlord.
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Post by samuelwhiskers on Oct 19, 2022 21:53:11 GMT
Some shows on the West End and touring (I.e. Back To The Future) have electronic cast boards that change to show that night’s cast, while others just have bits of A4 paper somewhere in the foyer or stairwell saying who the understudies are that day (Only Fools and Horses, Six UK Tour) and some shows don’t have any noticeable boards at all, so you have to play the ‘guess who’ with the cast photos in the program. I wish that these things were standardised… The whole 'random bit of A4 paper" is just so cringe. I expect that from a fringe show above a pub. It's embarrassing when a West End or major touring venue can't at least try to look professional.
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Post by samuelwhiskers on Oct 19, 2022 21:42:24 GMT
I mean, I agree that it’s complex. But such a clean divide between "fan/stan" (who targets celebs and isn't a danger) and "traditional stalker" (who targets regular people, and is) doesn't match my experiences of having worked in theatre for a few decades, or having famous loved ones.
If someone is breaking into your house, hacking your and others' email and social media, harassing your family, breaking into your parents' homes and workplaces, turning up at your kids' schools (all things I've experience of fans doing), does it matter what motivates them or what category of stalker they are? It's really not uncommon for fans to wage years-long stalking campaigns against celebs, and the behavioural pattern of ownership/control/destroy is common among fans who have fantasised a relationship and feel slighted, for example by a celeb getting married.
Between 20-25% of people who report being stalked to police find that their stalkers are strangers. The (non-famous) women I've known who've been stalked, it's been pretty evenly divided between ex-boyfriends and, like, "some guy I smiled at when I handed him his coffee order and he thought that meant I was in love with him." I guess that's what makes it complex. I wonder how big a part erotomania plays.
Now this part I completely agree with!
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Post by samuelwhiskers on Oct 19, 2022 11:39:28 GMT
Press night is next Wed, 26th.
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Post by samuelwhiskers on Oct 18, 2022 20:06:31 GMT
Well known actors aren’t most people, though. If you’re in the public eye then you will have stalkers or at least fans who breach boundaries, it’s almost inevitable.
Some of the most horrifying stalking I’ve witnessed as been directed at playwrights or directors, people you’d never think would be “celeb” enough to be stalked by crazy fans.
Of course attitude differs a lot. Some people in theatre tolerate and seem inured to behaviour most people would consider 999 territory, while others freak out if a fan comes to see the show more than twice.
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