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Post by Jon on Apr 12, 2024 15:18:29 GMT
It's good manners not to finger point publicly, we saw what happened with Cinderella and ALW when it was closing. Well, yes, but it's also bad manners for the producers to fingerpoint at just about everything but the cause – poor concept and direction. I don't appreciate being labelled a 'hater' by their social media team just because I saw and disliked an incoherent mess (in my opinion). Nobody ever takes ownership of problems any more and a bit of introspection from them wouldn't go amiss. But if you're a producer who would like to work with the likes of Ivo van Hove again, you're not going to slag him or the other creatives in off the press release.
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Post by Jon on Apr 12, 2024 14:06:40 GMT
That's unfair, it's just disappointment that it didn't work out. It’s more than that- it’s a disaster however they choose to spin it and portion blame anywhere else but with those who created it. It's good manners not to finger point publicly, we saw what happened with Cinderella and ALW when it was closing.
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Post by Jon on Apr 12, 2024 11:19:59 GMT
£39.50 as the lowest price point. Madness. I get it's a small theatre but it'll be discounting in no time,
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Post by Jon on Apr 12, 2024 11:08:48 GMT
Producers and creatives give the impression that they have created something amazing and can't believe the audience reaction. Some super egos I suspect not used to failure. That's unfair, it's just disappointment that it didn't work out.
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Post by Jon on Apr 12, 2024 10:34:45 GMT
Very intrigued to see how @sohoplace can showcase its flexibility at last after all its in the round shows. I mean, it won't be too exciting, I'm sure, but will be nice to see at last, even with that hideous Heathers set. I think it'll be in thrust configuration for Heathers similar to the Donmar's layout. I've seen pictures of how the theatre would look in various configurations so thrust should work but the capacity will lowered.
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Post by Jon on Apr 12, 2024 9:18:08 GMT
Tommy wasn't successful first time around in the West End so the revival might be seen as a risk.
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Post by Jon on Apr 12, 2024 8:09:01 GMT
While I didn't find this show totally unwatchable myself, and again I'm sorry for the loss of jobs with it closing, I don't particularly agree with the defence that at least it was trying something "bold and new/unusual" in the West End, as that does a discredit to the many other bold and new shows in the West End that quite frankly just did "bold and new" a lot better. SO MANY plays and musicals in recent years have been incredibly inventive and unusual in their staging and/or narrative structure, but they just did it better. Saying that the loss of shows like this is a slippery slope to a West End full of jukebox musicals is false. Jukebox musicals continue to come and go. There are still new and exciting works popping up without the clunky dialogue and lyrics and baffling directorial choices of Opening Night. This idea that Opening Night has flopped entirely because people don't "get" inventive or avant garde theatre undermines the fact that there are many regular theatregoers who have seen and enjoyed ALL kinds of theatre who just thought this was badly done. I always think jukebox musicals get a bad rap but there's a reason Mamma Mia! for example has run for 25 years and Opening Night only 10 weeks. Ivo had a huge hit with A Little Life last year and to me I think when he has to restrain his box of tricks, it makes for a better experience. I'm sure he'll be disappointed this hasn't worked out but he will bounce back with his next project which I believe is The Shining.
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Post by Jon on Apr 11, 2024 14:11:22 GMT
I'm guessing Ibsen's Ghosts which recently was at the Wanamaker Playhouse.
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Post by Jon on Apr 11, 2024 12:04:40 GMT
Saddened by this news. Hopefully I can make it before it closes. I wonder what they have chosen to replace it. Choose your 'Day'... Groundhog or Just For One... It will be neither since it'll only run for 8-9 weeks.
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Post by Jon on Apr 11, 2024 11:54:55 GMT
Ending in January 2025 would make sense as the Bridge would want to have a season or two in place before closing Guys and Dolls.
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Post by Jon on Apr 11, 2024 11:16:24 GMT
It's only a month run which suggests that it's filling a gap before going back on tour.
I would imagine @sohoplace will be able to reconfigure itself for Heathers.
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Post by Jon on Apr 11, 2024 10:25:57 GMT
Five weeks notice for closure is reasonable.
Wessex Grove will have lost money on it but I imagine they'll still be keen to work with Ivo Van Hove again.
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Post by Jon on Apr 10, 2024 13:16:41 GMT
Drunken behaviour is not on but I think banning sweets or non alcoholic drinks would be excessive and risk making theatre a no go or elitist. I think there is nothing wrong with keeping food and drinks out of the auditorium. They can be enjoyed before the show and during the interval. If not being able to munch a can of pringles while scarfing down wine during the show is a turn-off, good riddance to them. Theatre owners need to prioritise the theatrical experience, not the F&B one. Its making many of us who spend a lot of money on seeing shows want to go less and less. I suspect a theatre that had no F&B would go bust very quickly.
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Post by Jon on Apr 10, 2024 12:45:16 GMT
Drunken behaviour is not on but I think banning sweets or non alcoholic drinks would be excessive and risk making theatre a no go or elitist.
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Post by Jon on Apr 7, 2024 13:30:44 GMT
Three million wasn't a huge budget even twenty five years ago, and there were no star names attached to bump up the costs. Judy Craymer was taking a huge risk with a show that few people believed would succeed, but it paid off big time. I think it's out of print but in the Mamma Mia! book, Judy said she wanted either the Piccadilly or the Prince of Wales and when she and her fellow producers went to Cameron, he offered them the Prince Edward which was a lot bigger than either theatre.
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Post by Jon on Apr 7, 2024 1:56:53 GMT
Apparently the show cost £3m to produce back in 1999 which for the time must have been a lot of money but clearly it's paid off for Judy Craymer, Benny and Bjorn plus Universal.
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Post by Jon on Apr 6, 2024 22:45:08 GMT
Hugh Jackman is going to make his West End debut in a panto? Not a transfer of any of his broadway hits or something new? Plus the economics of a short Christmas run and Hughs salary wouldn't add up Don't see it A panto salary for a lot of celebs is actually probably comparable with a Broadway "name" lead so its economics add up better than one might think. There are some who get paid absurd amounts just for the Xmas season all over the country. I've also heard, although I don't know if it's true, that the Palladium panto doesn't actually turn that much in terms of actual profit, and is instead a large cog in the much larger "Crossroads" machine, so that particular production (sets, costumes etc) enters the Crossroads circuit and makes plenty more money down the line for them. I believe Michael Harrison mentioned in an interview when Qdos/Crossroads first did the Palladium Panto, they didn't expect to make money from it but I imagine they do make a profit even if it's a small one nowadays. I wonder if that's true for the Newcastle panto which has been new shows like Pinocchio last year and The Little Mermaid this year but I imagine the costs are a lot cheaper compared to the Palladium so it's likely they make money.
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Post by Jon on Apr 5, 2024 18:49:37 GMT
Calling Romeo and Juliet 'quota casting' is eye rolling considering that last year the Almeida production had similar casting and no one bat an eyelid.
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Post by Jon on Apr 5, 2024 15:56:14 GMT
TBH investors of plays and musicals rarely make their money back.
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Post by Jon on Apr 5, 2024 12:26:17 GMT
If Opening Night closes in say May then it'll just be a filler show because Frank Skinner is scheduled for August.
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Post by Jon on Apr 5, 2024 12:04:39 GMT
TBH we can't lambast the Sun and The Daily Mail for criticising Opening Night when some on here have called it career ending for Ivo Van Hove. For Sheridan, she'll be fine, she is still in demand and one show not being a hit doesn't kill a career.
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Post by Jon on Apr 4, 2024 0:11:15 GMT
Why has the Menier lost its mojo? Everything seems to be papering and just not getting much buzz. It seems a long way off from its glory days of multiple transfers to the glittering West End. Pacific Overtures sold out so people still are going to the Menier for the right show. I do wonder if they would benefit from a new AD and have David Babani in a more business oriented role.
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Post by Jon on Mar 31, 2024 12:46:46 GMT
Sheridan will be fine. She's popular and one dud won't kill her career.
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Post by Jon on Mar 30, 2024 23:34:39 GMT
Do latecomers count as bad behaviour? I know, I know. Things happen. But today, cruel intentions matinee, TWO groups arrived halfway through the SECOND ACT How does that even happen? And of course they were sat front and centre of the second row. So half the row had to get up and let them in. Twice in like 5 mins. It depends, sometimes it out of your control such as bad traffic, delayed trains etc but missing most of the show is insane,
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Post by Jon on Mar 29, 2024 18:06:36 GMT
I do think it's a exaggeration to say civilisation is collapsing, we're not in Walking Dead or The Last of Us territory just yet.
I do agree that some people are very selfish and my idea for dealing with bad behaviour is tasering and bad behaviour tanks.
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Post by Jon on Mar 29, 2024 18:04:34 GMT
I saw Freema in God of Carnage and she was pretty good in it.
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Post by Jon on Mar 28, 2024 12:15:24 GMT
The weekend performances are fairly early with 1pm and 5pm performances.
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Post by Jon on Mar 27, 2024 23:43:35 GMT
Saw a clip on ITV News London and it looked fun,
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Post by Jon on Mar 27, 2024 14:55:48 GMT
I understand many criticisms of this show, really I do, but for All That Dazzles to say Ivo Van Hove has (and I quote) "a severe lack of understanding for theatre and its connectivity in general" is objectively hilarious. I get the sense some people really hate Ivo and want him to lose his career.
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Post by Jon on Mar 27, 2024 0:04:09 GMT
Have to say, the puppetry looks great, not sure on Herc and Phil's costumes though.
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