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Post by showoff on Apr 13, 2018 8:08:01 GMT
The only thing that did not ring true for me, as an Australian who lived through the 1940s and 1950s in Sydney, was the inclusion of several non-white performers in the ensemble. Now before you call for me to be deported, I do know and understand about colour-blind casting and diversity and all that sort of stuff in the theatre today. I am just saying that in Sydney or Melbourne in the 1940s and 1950s you would not have seen any black or coloured people competing in ballroom dancing competitions. From 1901 to the mid 1960s Australia vigorously pursued what was known as the White Australia Policy, so much so that in the mid 1950s Ella Fitzgerald was refused entry into Australia to sing in a pop concert because she was black. The native black Australian aborigines did not participate in any way in social or cultural activities so to see those non-white ballroom dancers on stage tonight just looked wrong, especially when all the rest of the details establishing the Australian setting were well observed. As true as all of this is, if we only have white casting in pieces set before modern day, well then we'd be enforcing the 'White Australia Policy' too. It would almost be giving credence to the way things were then. It's a musical, it asks you to suspend belief. I mean, it's not 'real' that Will Young would be strolling amongst them, or touching them when dancing, or sitting atop a drinks machine. In Hamilton, none of the founding fathers had a drop of melanin, but look at how they are cast, and the show is better for it. I don't feel it looked wrong at all. It's an obtuse film/musical. It's not very grounded in the very depths of reality. The characters are caricatures. If we can accept that, then having BAME people cast isn't a big deal, and I cannot comprehend it looking 'wrong'.
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Post by showoff on Apr 12, 2018 10:12:39 GMT
I was there last night. I actually didn't know I'd booked for the press night until I arrived. I pulled up in a cab and there was photographers and a group of girls behind a barrier. I wondered if someone famous was coming so I asked the usher and she told me. I thought they'd already had it, so I was pretty surprised.
I enjoyed it, but obviously there's nothing new there. The actress as Roxie is the standout though. It was strange seeing Ruthie as Morton, because to me she still looks very much like a Velma, so when they have their scenes together, for me, it seems as though they are the present and future versions of Velma.
Cuba, well where to start? His voice in All I Care About Is Love was quite shocking, it sounded as though he was losing it in a lot of places and I wondered if the standby would have to be put on in his place, but no, apparently that's how he sings. I was sitting between rows, in front of me was a group and behind a group, who I presume are producers or somehow involved in the show. In the interval the women in front were lauding Cuba to those behind and exclaiming 'Cuba can dance'. I presume she must mean the country because I saw no evidence of it on that stage last night. His feet seemed oddly flappy and there wasn't anything good to say about it. At times he looks oddly misplaced on stage, as if he suddenly realised he was on the stage and didn't understand how he got there. He's pretty awful.
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Post by showoff on Apr 9, 2018 15:15:36 GMT
I was surprised at how poor the diction was during the Hamilton extract. I guess it could have been the sound - but that wasn't the impression I got. Just was lacking the same punch I have seen different ensembles give at US events. I really don't have FOMO with Hamilton. I love the score but am just not buying into the hype for the London production. No, that's pretty much what you get from this cast when you see it at the theatre. Like you I've listened to different casts and I do find this one lacking. And I know he won last night, but I'm still not convinced of Giles signing this, not just because of his diction, but his phrasing seems off, especially in the faster paced numbers.
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Post by showoff on Apr 9, 2018 13:47:23 GMT
It has to be the Tony's, no?
I mean you want to win an EGOT not an EGOO.
BAFTA's are not as big as the Oscars and the Oliviers are not as big as the Tony's.
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Post by showoff on Apr 9, 2018 10:08:59 GMT
Also King George... very funny part but I can’t see what Michael Jibson does with the role to make it a winner over the other nominees?! What am I missing? I'm not sure, but I'm missing it too. When I went, to be blunt, he was utterly out of tune. I found it so bad that I was looking around to see if anyone else was noticing it.I find it quite bemusing that he actually won. To me he was butchering the part. The ridiculous thing being that Obioma Ugoala was by far the best thing on that stage, and they awarded three supporting nominations to Hamilton, yet not one to the most deserving (in my opinion).
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Post by showoff on Mar 30, 2018 17:21:31 GMT
Who exactly is the average Will Young fan? I mean I bought his second album and a couple of individual downloads after that, but that’s that. Are they a particular demographic? He doesn’t strike me as the kind of artist to have some rabid fan base - this is coming from someone who was part of the crazy Michael Jackson fan community for most of my life. From what I saw yesterday the super fans/fanatics are women who are roughly middle aged. I knew a few people who were crazy fans of his during the Pop Idol days, and I think some of them have lived on. As Shady says, everyone seems to have an element of these fans lately. I'm a fan of Roger Federer, in that I enjoy watching his tennis, but there are some crazy fans of his, wearing RF earrings, dresses and talking and following him around like he's Jesus.
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Post by showoff on Mar 30, 2018 15:11:42 GMT
If this gets panned I wonder how long it will run. This has coach trip written all over it and doesn't exactly scream fangirl from an outside perspective. If people haven't booked already, will they with possible mixed to bad reviews? We shall see. I'm intrigued by it, and will go for the three leads. I may have to join @ryan in the box though. If this gets panned I wonder how long it’ll take Will to run... I swear, this is actually how I read the original post. I presumed they were talking about his time in the other Strictly.
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Post by showoff on Mar 30, 2018 13:15:35 GMT
Well, they were out in full force last night. One woman was telling me she was here with a group from his online fan club. Literally bursting with excitement whenever he so much as moved. And beforehand when one group picked up their tickets at the box office the creaming lasted a couple of minutes. The question now is, was it a typo, or is this what I meant to write? Either way, it's pretty apt.
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Post by showoff on Mar 30, 2018 12:04:09 GMT
*Arrives armour plated* Ach. You lot make me laugh. You don't complain (well ok, you do, but not as vociferously as this) at having purchased Chess tickets and they stick in Mickey Ball and here they put in someone *readjusts armour* with a far superior voice and you're all up in arms! Well I was actually in the process of booking when the pipe burst. So there. I'm going. And looking forward to it. (Hope the costumes didn't get wet.) For me, it's not even his voice, it's what he's doing there. He's in the way most of the time, actually touching the dancers while they are dancing. Or he's hopping around while Scott is actually dancing. It's just odd at times, especially when he has a dress over his outfit and he's just sitting there in it.
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Post by showoff on Mar 30, 2018 11:57:07 GMT
please tell me they still have that wonderful spanish flamenco number that closes act 1. Time after time sung by the two leads when they were dancing was so lovely in Leeds. Just found the whole show to be magical and i really liked the original songs. I will still see it but feel so deflated. We didn't get that far, just approaching the close of act one when Kiki was told to walk straight off the stage and Will was left on and his mike turned off (at last).
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Post by showoff on Mar 30, 2018 11:38:17 GMT
Oh dear, I’m glad I haven’t forked out for this. Despite liking Mr Young if I wanted a Will Young show I’d go to his concerts. However having done that many a time I know how erm vocal his fans can be...probably give this one a wide berth. A shame as I adore the film. Well, they were out in full force last night. One woman was telling me she was here with a group from his online fan club. Literally bursting with excitement whenever he so much as moved. And beforehand when one group picked up their tickets at the box office the creaming lasted a couple of minutes.
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Post by showoff on Mar 30, 2018 10:23:53 GMT
I am almost sick to my stomach that i have tickets to this and have to listen to Will young all night,. i thought the show was great in Leeds. Loved it in fact. Will woe is me young does nothing for me at all. cant even begin to express my disappointment. The trouble is, you go to another show and you don't like someone's singing voice, you get to hear a lot of other cast members sing. In this one, if you're not enjoying how Will sings, you're screwed. That's not to mention that he's just in the way all of the time, even touching the dancers as they are dancing. For me it just doesn't work at all.
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Post by showoff on Mar 29, 2018 22:42:15 GMT
Well, I was also there tonight, pretty unbelievable turn of events everything coming to a close a couple of minutes before the interval. I wonder how most of the audience will feel once they've sobered up and realise they only saw half of the show. Apologies, but it was pretty clear a lot of the audience were at least half in the bag, as proven by Happy Birthday being sang before the guy had even explained why on earth the show was coming to a close.
The show was two halves for me. A lot of it was pretty much dead on for the film, which I would have loved. But my god, Will Young does not go away, he's constantly there, shadowing people, and getting in their way a lot of the time. I have no idea why he needs to be right next to people as they are dancing, or needs to shadow a character when they are having a quieter, intimate moment. It's all too much, and I was cringing a lot of the time, especially as he was half dancing or jumping. And for a long time he was wearing a dress on a hanger over his neck, for a reason I do not know. He could be taken out of the show, he's really not necessary. But please don't tell his fans, some of which were sitting in front of me in the dress circle, and I do not exaggerate in saying they were pretty much wetting themselves with excitement from the off. For me, he's ruining it all and I would love to hear at least one other cast members voice, especially a woman's on Time After Time. It makes zero sense having him sing everything,the Will Young fans who were in the house were all delighted, I wanted a bit more of a variety.
Also, the dancers are too squashed together, there's not many couples, but they were bumping into each other. I think they should remove the band from the stage and spread the set out. The dance will have more impact, especially in the parts where he breaks loose, if it's given more room.Right now it's too small, it feels they are dancing small and contained.
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Post by showoff on Mar 27, 2018 20:23:16 GMT
I had no trouble at all understanding what Giles said. Jason Pennycook on the other hand... I'm baffled by his nomination. I'm on the fence - I loved him as Jefferson but couldn't understand a word when he was Lafayette. See, I didn't really like his Jefferson, his accent was one of those completely fake American ones that grated a bit and seemed really forced.
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Post by showoff on Mar 25, 2018 12:34:39 GMT
Ooh it's weird you say that showoff because I had a few moments of 'is he miming?' which I put down to where I was sitting/poor sound etc. I wasn't bothered by his lisp particularly- after all I feel bad saying someone shouldn't have a job because of it when he was perfectly understandable. But he does have a slightly 'mechanical' tone to his voice at times. His acting carried it through for me, but I can see how it might bother people. That's funny you thought it too, I wonder if they have recorded certain parts then? It would be interesting if anybody else has thought or picked up something similar. I feel bad about the lisp thing, because I can't help it, when the role is so dense with words and the speed and rhythm is so important, I'm not sure that a thicker lisp works. And I'm not saying anyone with a lisp should never work in musical theatre, but when a role like this is so crammed, I'm not fully convinced it's the best fit for a thick lisp. And clearly they are having to do a lot of work to counter it.
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Post by showoff on Mar 25, 2018 11:23:19 GMT
9 - Hamilton - Victoria Palace - 22nd March The story of American founding father Alexander Hamilton - from the revolutionary war to being the right hand of George Washington, along the way he is instrumental in setting up the American financial system and then finally his downfall via adultery and a date with destiny via a duel with the Vice President of the USA.Well this isn't the second coming of the musical but then again its also not the emperors new clothes of a musical either. For all the talk of the radical introduction of hip-hop and rap into the world of the musical for around 80% of the runtime this is actually a very conservative take on the strictures of musical theatre. I personally don't think it fully works - it runs out of steam drastically in the second half and there seems to be an awful lot of repetition going on with the songs. Its structurally odd in that it feels the need to wheel out King George three times when he has absolutely no requirement to be in the show at all, that he gets the biggest pops of the show is telling about the other issues I had with the show. Which were the two leads. Jamael Westman doesn't give anything in his performance to indicate why Hamilton was such a charismatic and successful character. Here we have a Hamilton that is whiney, arrogant, stupid but yet still reaching the heights of achievement but Westman doesn't invoke the character with any of those attributes - he appeared to be going through the motions. The performance of Giles Terera is odd - from the moment he opens his mouth to start singing he sounds off, to my ear it sounded like he was being autotuned and not very well which led to several moments where he sounded like he was playing Dalek Number 3 in Doctor Who - The Musical. And he's our narrator and our entry point into this 300 year old world but the sound coming out of his microphone is off putting.The other 19 performers fill their roles adequately with Waylon Jacobs making an exuberant Thomas Jefferson and Marsha Songcome heaving her cleavage in an engaging way at Hamilton in her role as his Mistress and also in her second role as the sister in law of our titular lead. Its an entertaining 7/10 but I'd probably wait until the hype (and prices) die down before going to see it. There was times when it was off putting when I went. At times it sounded so produced I did wonder if it was even pre-recorded and he was miming, because it didn't appear to be coming from him anymore. It was a bit too much, but his lisp was less discernible compared to early recordings of the show.
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Post by showoff on Mar 25, 2018 10:33:24 GMT
Will Young is on Sunday Brunch, channel 4+1 to talk about the show.
I'm going on Friday, not sure if it's going to be for me. I love the film, but I don't like the sound of Will's role in it. We'll see.
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Post by showoff on Mar 7, 2018 17:23:24 GMT
I signed up to the ENO access membership, and they've emailed me about the tour for the London Coliseum tour and I'm rather intrigued in going one day.
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Post by showoff on Mar 6, 2018 22:17:23 GMT
The driver should go to jail for a very long time. She has a history of running red lights. She said she had a seizure and blacked out. Why should someone with a history of seizures be allowed to drive? It's ridiculous, even if she had this, if she knew she did and continued to drive, she's still legally responsible. I have a condition where I lose consciousness, standing up, sitting down, whatever, and I'm not allowed to drive, so I don't. It so angers me when people put other people's lives at risk for their own pleasure/convenience. Something seems off here, as if she has some sort of connections or something for her to be walking away without any responsibility.
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Post by showoff on Mar 6, 2018 15:10:09 GMT
Yeah, she really was. She has to be one of the hardest working women on any stage in London, and yet it all seems effortless for her.
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Post by showoff on Mar 6, 2018 14:15:59 GMT
I’m genuinely a bit stunned that he didn’t get the nomination Absolutely. I know it’s the most Hamilton heavy category, but I’d have picked Obioma over Jason Pennycooke. Absolutely, actually for me, he was the stand out performance, he really stood out, so I am really quite surprised how many noms there was for the show, and yet he was left out.
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Post by showoff on Mar 6, 2018 14:10:17 GMT
I think 42nd street was also robbed in a few awards like actress and actor ,Also feel is odd that girl from north country got actor and actress in a musical but am glad Shelia Atim got a nom.havent seen Hamilton yet but is Michael Gibsons role Oliver nomination worthy, don't think so as it is really a cameo. Personally I feel Hamlet was a bit robbed with Juliet not getting a nom for supporting actress and Robert Icke not getting director, Im happy for all the nominees and there will always be performers that wouldn't get nominated Personally, no. I have to confess to not enjoying his performance at all, and his singing left a lot to be desired. When I went he just couldn't find right key and it was a little painful to listen to. But I know he makes people laugh, so maybe it's easy to disguise?
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Post by showoff on Mar 6, 2018 13:19:46 GMT
This is just so awful, there are just no words, those poor families, and for what? Getting somewhere two minutes earlier, how senseless. The driver was just not even kept or tested for drunk driving or anything. She was just let go. Wow. How is this even possible? She's taken two children's lives with her actions, I just can't understand this.
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Post by showoff on Mar 5, 2018 10:44:31 GMT
Going to try my luck with some of the cheaper seats in the dress, there's an awful lot I want to see this year, already a lot booked, so I'll take a chance with the lower priced tickets for this one. I have never actually sat there myself yet, but from what the Theatremonkey says in his book, the seats at the ends of the rows in the Dress Circle are cheap (£20 for 'Kiss Me, Kate') because the view is partly obstructed by the boxes alongside the proscenium arch and the ones at the back are obstructed by the overhang from the Upper Circle above that cuts off the top of the stage. I have taken a chance and booked a £20 seat near the end of F row that is £75 for 'Chess'! I've given the row H seats a go, hopefully they'll be all right, as you said, they're £75 for Chess, so it's quite a good price.
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Post by showoff on Mar 4, 2018 15:57:50 GMT
There's still an awful lot of tickets, especially considering the very limited run.
Going to try my luck with some of the cheaper seats in the dress, there's an awful lot I want to see this year, already a lot booked, so I'll take a chance with the lower priced tickets for this one.
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Post by showoff on Feb 25, 2018 18:30:42 GMT
Oh my word, for me Hamilton just gets better and better. I am one for whom the original cast recording did very little nitially, but I ate my words upon first seeing it live. And for me, that final song/scene is especially stunning. Saw it for the 4th time recently and I still keep picking up on little things I hadnt noticed before. Lovely to see youngsters genuinely enjoying live theatre, too. That seriously makes me happy. But I will try to block out of my memory that girl who tried to sing The Schuyler Sisters along with the cast with mum practically encouraging her. Ugh! Maybe me leaning over to her mum with a load of money as refund for daughter’s less-than-effective singing lessons was a touch naughty! And as magnificent as the leads are, I have loved seeing others covering roles over my visits: of particular note, Miriam-Teak Lee as Angelica was exceptional...a tall powerhouse of total “wow” (love, love, love her!); Sifiso Mazibuko as Burr was superb, and I loved Marsha Songcome’s Eliza. Mind you, I have always loved seeing undertudies in my 40-odd years of theatre-going It's funny how we are all so different and that's what makes the world go around. For me, I really didn't enjoy the last song after the death. I felt to me like it was just a reeling off a list of facts, a poor epilogue, but not a finale of a musical, especially one with so much intended energy throughout, it felt a little flat.
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Post by showoff on Feb 23, 2018 8:31:03 GMT
I don't know who Lulu is - so not sure people in their 40s and below may know who she is? (I'm 39). Maybe I'm just naiive? LOL I think quite a lot of people know Lulu, I'm 31 and I know her, when I grew up Shout was used a lot, then she sang with Take That too, and she was also on Strictly. I have to say though, I really don't like her and can't see her in this. I'm not sure the age matters too much, when I saw this the audience's average age was well over 40.
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Post by showoff on Feb 20, 2018 10:29:18 GMT
Had a quick look for tickets and was surprised to see the prices.
Looking in dress, and for the seats I would like they're £150 each, so two tickets are £300, it seems quite a lot. Do people think they will reduce them, or will thy be this high all the time?
Theatres really are inflating their prices.
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Post by showoff on Feb 18, 2018 18:22:22 GMT
See, for me it doesn't gel with the young and scrappy revolutionary. There's a lack of energy in him at the beginning, which doesn't fit with the uprising, the energy that inspires change. It doesn't even fit in with the words he's singing, 'young, scrappy and hungry' and 'a lot of brains but no polish' he appears to be completely polished from the off, to the point of being very stiff. ...see, I felt he became giddier and scrappier the more time he spent with the other founding fathers; like he’d been let into a really cool club and then realising the difference that he can make anyway. The hunger came later... But he's rapping about his hunger early on, that's what doesn't gel for me. He shows no hunger at all during my shot.
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Post by showoff on Feb 18, 2018 17:16:53 GMT
Since Burr narrates from the start his character feels complete immediately (to me) whereas Jamael’s Hamilton literally goes on a journey. I was also surprised just how much he sounded like Lin after a while! See, for me it doesn't gel with the young and scrappy revolutionary. There's a lack of energy in him at the beginning, which doesn't fit with the uprising, the energy that inspires change. It doesn't even fit in with the words he's singing, 'young, scrappy and hungry' and 'a lot of brains but no polish' he appears to be completely polished from the off, to the point of being very stiff.
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