|
Post by SamB (was badoerfan) on Apr 19, 2016 9:12:53 GMT
Thanks
|
|
|
Post by SamB (was badoerfan) on Apr 18, 2016 21:33:10 GMT
Is there any indication (either from the performers themselves or just past patterns) as to how long Rachelle and Eva will be in it after May?
|
|
|
Post by SamB (was badoerfan) on Apr 8, 2016 12:42:47 GMT
£15 Band A tickets available today only via lastminute.com
|
|
|
Post by SamB (was badoerfan) on Mar 29, 2016 12:23:00 GMT
He presumably has no proof that he's half-French, either.
|
|
|
Post by SamB (was badoerfan) on Mar 10, 2016 23:41:30 GMT
When I was at the Apollo Victoria in January, the seats were new then. I didn't really notice that they were new, as I don't go there often enough to take that kind of thing in, but there was a little display about in the bar with pictures of the old, differently coloured ones.
|
|
|
Post by SamB (was badoerfan) on Mar 8, 2016 10:37:55 GMT
Claire Parrish, who was later-run understudy for Ellen in Miss Saigon, was amazing. Great singer, excellent actress, and tons of chemistry with the Chris that night too.
|
|
|
Post by SamB (was badoerfan) on Mar 5, 2016 21:02:43 GMT
I've always thought that the problem with Ellen's character is that we've barely seen her at all before the second half, and aren't given any reason to care about her relationship with Chris.
In the movie, one assumes they'd write one new song, to be eligible for Oscars etc, as they did with Les Miserables. I'd vote for a duet between Chris and Ellen, perhaps to be put in around I Still Believe, or even before Bui Doi.
|
|
|
Post by SamB (was badoerfan) on Feb 23, 2016 22:44:35 GMT
On the flip side with the people who block rows and get in the way of people trying to leave, there's the person who has sat in the middle of the row and is trying to push past to get out at the end of the show, despite the fact that the entire theatre is slowly making its way towards the exit.
I had this at Grey Gardens at the Southwark Playhouse, a man and his wife trying to push past me then being all snidely 'excuuuse me' when I didn't get out the way. I actually turned around to point out that I can't move because there is someone right in front of me, and I, along with 200 or so other people, are actually all making our way slowly towards one narrow door. I get that people have trains to catch, but sometimes there's nothing to be done.
|
|
|
Post by SamB (was badoerfan) on Feb 23, 2016 10:09:15 GMT
|
|
|
Post by SamB (was badoerfan) on Feb 22, 2016 19:54:17 GMT
Haha, yes, it's vile!
|
|
|
Post by SamB (was badoerfan) on Feb 18, 2016 17:24:30 GMT
Ahh, thank you. Will keep an eye on my other local theatres (Dartford and Bromley) tomorrow morning too then.
|
|
|
Post by SamB (was badoerfan) on Feb 18, 2016 10:41:47 GMT
Is there a full list of dates anywhere? Been searching for venues around London to no avail so far...
|
|
|
Post by SamB (was badoerfan) on Feb 17, 2016 13:53:58 GMT
They were selling day seats last week, but if you want front row, be prepared to get there seriously early. But it seems they'll continue selling what's left (generally side stalls) once the front row is gone, for £20.
|
|
|
Post by SamB (was badoerfan) on Feb 15, 2016 22:51:20 GMT
2nd understudy Sooha Kim was on. I thought she was mostly great. Her lack of experience did show but in some ways this enhanced her performance and felt more real than "acted" (much like Bjork in Dancer In The Dark) - the innocence and rawness really shone through. Her accent was strong though - it was the first time I'd heard Kim performed by a non Filipina in all the times I've seen it. SO used to that slightly American twang. Interesting - it made Kim seem more "foreign" - which is a good thing for the story and the perception, but it was sometimes at the cost of diction - especially on the faster and/or more emotionally charged parts of the libretto. This was worse for the Thuy - I could barely understand a word he sung! Why would anyone cast someone who doesn't have clear enough diction to be heard in a highly amplified, sung-through musical?!? It seems ridiculous. His acting carried him well, but honestly, for anyone not knowing the lyrics, it would simply have been guesswork 90% of the time!! Loved the Chris much more than ol' Brammer Balls! Better in every way! Stick to Casualty luvvie! A greater presence, a richer voice and more chemistry with Kim. Understudy was on for Ellen - even she was better than the woefully miscast Tamsin Carroll - nicer costumes too. I saw it on Thursday evening, and totally agree with you on the actor playing Thuy. He's woefully miscast. His accent is so strong you struggle to understand parts of what he is saying, but - worse - he just doesn't play it strong enough. I'm not sure if it's the accent getting in the way, or if it's just his manner, but this Thuy is not scary or intimidating in the slightest. I really don't know what they were thinking in casting him, he's completely wrong for the role. I saw Sooha Kim too, and agree with basically everything you said. She's great, but having seen Eva, she's not in the same league (but then I don't think anyone is). Really liked Chris Peluso as Chris, very strong and self-assured, and a very good actor too, very natural (I think it does help having an American in the role, rather than someone faking an accent). And Claire Parrish, the understudy Ellen, is my favourite of all the Ellens I've seen - she's just excellent, and when I saw her had great chemistry with the understudy Chris, Richard Carson.
|
|
|
Post by SamB (was badoerfan) on Feb 15, 2016 22:44:20 GMT
No, I don't think that's it at all. It's 'if it was only Tam we'd take him now' - but it's not only Tam, there's Kim too. They refuse to take Tam and separate him from his mother ('take a child from his mother, impossible, Kim').
So when both Kim and Tam are on the scene, they refuse to separate them, they refuse to take them both to America, so both of them have to stay in Bangkok and be supported there. So Kim takes herself out of the equation, meaning that is *is* only Tam, so Chris and Ellen will take him.
|
|
|
Post by SamB (was badoerfan) on Feb 11, 2016 11:22:28 GMT
Dayseated this morning. Brrrr!! Got there at 9:15, which is the same time I got there for a Monday performance in December, when I was 9th in the queue. Today I was around 35th! Another ten or so people had joined by 10:00. Two shows today, which may explain the longer queue, but also means the day-seat requests are spread out. By the time I was inside and could hear they were still selling front row - evening ran out before matinee, and after which they were telling people that they were selling the side stalls as day seats (I've no idea if this is general policy or just what's left today). I got B6, which is the outermost seat on the second row, but I suspect I was lucky because I was by myself - people ahead of me were getting seats on the ends quite a bit further back. edit to add: the Miss Saigon Twitter account have shared a photo of the Day Seat queue just before 10am:
|
|
|
Post by SamB (was badoerfan) on Feb 5, 2016 14:54:33 GMT
Wow, based on how full it was when I was there (and the offers that seem to be available), I'm quite surprised they can justify it.
|
|
|
Post by SamB (was badoerfan) on Feb 4, 2016 21:34:10 GMT
Also saw it last night. Definitely an uneven show for me too. I thought Rachel Anne Rayham was mightily impressive as Young Little Edie. Her scenes were my highlight in act 1. Always a joy to watch Jenna Russell, especially in a venue that size when she seems to be singing right at you (thanks Xander1 for the seating advice!) She moves effortlessly from comedy to that tear-jerking 11 o'clock number. I see it ran for around 8 months on Broadway in a house seating just under 1,000. It got me thinking if a show like that would stand half a chance in the WE in a house that size in today's climate? I'd taken Xander1's advice on seating too, so I'm guessing you must have been sat right near me!
|
|
|
Post by SamB (was badoerfan) on Feb 4, 2016 14:22:33 GMT
Saw this last night... and I *think* I liked it.
Very odd piece, and very much a show of two halves. Honestly, you could probably drop the entire first half, add some more plot to the second half and a couple of flashbacks within that, and you'd have a much better show. I have to admit that I wasn't much of a fan of the funnier scenes in the second half - perhaps because I was expecting it to be more serious and hard-hitting, and wasn't ready for comedy? I don't know... Or perhaps the very 'theatre-diva humour' isn't so much my thing.
I did feel that some of the funnier material in the second half undercut the more serious lines - particularly the argument scenes between the two women, which suddenly (to me) had all the emotion ripped out from under them by a comedy barb from one character or the other. I understand a lot of this is directly lifted from the documentary, but for me it didn't work as part of a musical.
The performances are excellent, of course, and I loved both Sheila Hancock and Jenna Russell - though I think I would have preferred if Jenna Russell were allowed to be less of a caricature, because to me it meant that her accent and way of speaking got in the way of her being able to really stun with the singing.
Very glad I went though. An uneven show with some sparks of brilliance and an absolutely excellent last 20 minutes.
|
|
|
Post by SamB (was badoerfan) on Feb 4, 2016 14:15:03 GMT
I went yesterday and was expecting it to be horrible, but it was actually fine. In fact, when we arrived at 6:40, there was no queue at all. I went back outside to eat the sandwich I'd bought and then went to the loo - after that we joined the queue which was only just starting to form.
They started letting in at 7, by which time the queue did stretch into the bar area - but I suspect if we'd only just joined it then, we'd have got perfectly good seats. It really isn't too much of a problem for a production like this where there's barely a bad seat in the house.
|
|
|
Post by SamB (was badoerfan) on Feb 3, 2016 12:55:06 GMT
Yes, a Saturday matinee will usually be Tanya Manalang, but she is off next week, so the matinee on Saturday 13th Feb will be Sooha Kim (same goes for the evening of Thursday 11th).
|
|
|
Post by SamB (was badoerfan) on Feb 3, 2016 12:45:45 GMT
It was a very limited release, only available in the theatre and at Dress Circle at the time? I do have it and it would be one of those I'd be willing to flog if the price is right since I haven't touched the CD (like most of my CDs) in years. The only "super rarity" I'm not willing to part with is the London Cast Recording of Children of Eden. It came out around the time I first got into musicals and I LOVED it and played it often. So it's a memory I want to hold on (never mind the wear and tear of the actual CD). I do have an obscure maxi-single (vinyl) of Frances Ruffelle singing "Stranger to the Rain" though, wonder if that's worth anything. Do kids today even know what a maxi single is? I own that maxi-single of Stranger to the Rain, as well as the CD single and the 7" single. Again, like the On My Own singles above, I bought them when I was a student, so I didn't pay much for them, and doubt they'd be worth considerably more these days.
|
|
|
Post by SamB (was badoerfan) on Feb 3, 2016 12:44:00 GMT
There are two different singles of On My Own by Frances Ruffelle. One is from 1985 and was released as part of the promotion for the original London run of the Les Mis, and is just the OLC recording without the 'beginning' of the song (i.e. it starts with 'on my own pretending he's beside me' rather than 'and now I'm all alone again...'). The second comes from 1987 and is a 'pop/rock' version, released as the second single of her RCA recording contract - the first single was the rather different 'He's My Hero':
As far as I am aware, neither of them are worth much money. I bought them both from EIL or eBay, I forget which, about ten years ago, when I was a student, and there's no way I would have paid a lot for them then. I doubt they've gone up much in value in the intervening years.
(edit: woah, that YT video went all embedded and massive - is there any way here just to post a link without it embedding?)
|
|
|
Post by SamB (was badoerfan) on Jan 31, 2016 18:21:09 GMT
There didn't seem to be anything or anybody stopping people moving forward (no ushers up on the sides where the seats are), so you should be fine.
|
|
|
Post by SamB (was badoerfan) on Jan 29, 2016 23:18:19 GMT
I'm starting a new thread for this as I can't see one here on the new forum...
Saw this on Monday night, with an excellent ticket (Row D, so adjacent to the catwalk). I liked it, but didn't love it - I was pleasantly surprised, as I'm not necessarily a fan of the Kinks' style of music, and when I realised two songs in that it was telling the story of the Kinks, I was worried I wasn't going to like it at all. My main criticism is that, while some of the songs are knitted very smartly into the story, for others (mainly the bigger hits) it does feel a little like they couldn't find a way to make them into part of the plot, falling back rather too many times on to 'and then the Kinks did a concert and sang a big hit'. Slightly disappointing - as it just effectively just becomes a night out seeing a (very good) tribute act.
Excellent cast, including an understudy in the role of Ray. Standout for me was probably the actor playing Dave, even if I did spy a suspiciously iPhone-shaped bulge in his pocket at one point, which moved to the other pocket following a brief period off-stage.
And BOY is it loud! Easily the loudest thing I've seen in the West End, unpleasantly so on a couple of occasions.
|
|
|
Post by SamB (was badoerfan) on Jan 29, 2016 23:01:10 GMT
Saw this last night (Thursday 28th) and absolutely loved it. What a brilliant show! I just wish more people were seeing it, as again it was probably no more than half full.
I'm trying to piece together who was playing who - there were five or six names read out at the beginning as 'will be playing tonight'. From those I can work out, Jocasta Amgill was on as Camilla (as opposed to understudying Vanessa, as I understand she has been doing), Sarah Naudi was on as Vanessa, which meant that Alexzandra Sarmiento was effectively doubling, as far as I could see it, being a key part of all the dance numbers, but also playing Carla. Looking at the photos, I think Antoine Murray-Straughan was on as Sonny, which means someone else must have been Grafitti Pete, possibly Reiss Hinds. And Philippa Stefani was on as Daniela, of course.
I thought the whole cast was excellent, with special mention for Lily Frazer and Philippa Stefani. It genuinely seemed like they were all having a great time playing the roles, and had a very enthusiastic crowd for their troubles too.
The main negative I took away from the show was the venue. I found the seats uncomfortable, but more bothersome than anything, the place was so noisy! Coming from above, I think it's the wind rattling the temporary roofing against the metal girders, and with the beginnings of the storm coming in, it was incredibly distracting. It was worst later one, and really stripped any of the emotion out of the quieter, dramatic scenes in the second half (those who've seen it will know the scenes I mean), which slightly dampened the enjoyment for me, and stripped the show of some of its emotional heft.
Is it always like that? And is this place intended to be a permanent theatre venue? Because if it is going to be, they need to sort those problems out - I wouldn't want to see something quiet and emotional there.
But overall, a great night. Hoping I might get to see it once again before it closes. I assume my odds of ever seeing Jade Ewen are pretty minimal now?
|
|
|
Post by SamB (was badoerfan) on Jan 24, 2016 12:09:37 GMT
Sunny Afternoon on Monday night, and In the Heights on Thursday. Busy week, can't remember the last time I saw two shows in one week.
|
|