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Post by emsworthian on Jul 15, 2018 18:27:07 GMT
Hello, David. I'm glad you enjoyed your tour. I did the Royal Albert Hall trip with my book group earlier this month. We had Patrick as well. He was good but, at the risk of sounding pompous, I already knew all the points you mentioned. What I didn't know was all the money raised for both the Albert Memorial and the Royal Albert Hall was spent on the former and the money for the RAH was then found by selling boxes at £100 a time (a huge amount of money then but an absolute bargain for anyone who did take advantage of it.)
My book group did the Royal Opera House tour a couple of years ago and all those who had been on both said they preferred the Opera House tour as you had more of a sense of being backstage with it.
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Post by emsworthian on Jul 12, 2018 10:44:39 GMT
the story of how the England Football team didn't win something. But set in the 16th Century "Hamilton Athletic." Have we had a thread on football themed musicals?
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Post by emsworthian on Jul 11, 2018 16:31:34 GMT
I do admire his skill and staying power but we could do with a bit of drama. Your wish is granted. He's out.
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Post by emsworthian on Jul 8, 2018 6:34:06 GMT
THE COUNTRY WIFE - CHICHESTER, MINERVA
After the beautiful set for "The Chalk Garden" in the Festival Theatre, the set for this was distinctly drab; a dark grey backdrop with words such as "SEX", "POX", written in dark pink on it. It was a modernish setting; I wasn't sure if it was supposed to be 60s. Everyone wore black, dark grey or black and white, apart from Susannah Fielding as Margery Pinchwife, who wore Primrose yellow throughout.
Susannah Fielding was excellent and also special mention to Lex Shrapnel as Horner and Michael Elwyn as Sir Jasper Fidget. Belinda Lang also was good as Lady Fidget.
The run ended on Saturday but I couldn't find any comments on the Theatre thread so I posted here.
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Post by emsworthian on Jul 3, 2018 20:07:37 GMT
Perhaps others knew this but I didn't: I read in the Telegraph obit that Dame Gillian even had an affair with Errol Flynn. Respect.
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Post by emsworthian on Jul 2, 2018 9:27:30 GMT
Even though she was 92, I am still shocked by her passing. I remember when she picked up a BAFTA, I couldn't believe her age. She had the litheness and suppleness of a woman 30 year younger.
I found the tweet put out by her husband moving.
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Post by emsworthian on Jun 21, 2018 5:55:18 GMT
Thank goodness for Norman Lamb, who did his best to get to the truth. He's one of the few politicians I respect.
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Post by emsworthian on Jun 19, 2018 11:49:17 GMT
If Chichester's production of "The Chalk Garden" does transfer to the West End, as one person suggested on the thread for it in plays, then I would have thought the set design would be up for a nomination. I loved it.
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Post by emsworthian on Jun 17, 2018 15:10:04 GMT
I was in B6!
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Post by emsworthian on Jun 17, 2018 9:09:18 GMT
Were you at the matinee, Tmesis? I was there in row B as well. I thought the set was absolutely stunning; I wanted to go and live there. Having been underwhelmed by Dame Penelope in "The Way of the World", here she was at her best in full Grande Dame mode, uttering acerbic one-liners in her unique way. I thought the cast was strong and I seem to be the only person not to have an issue with Emma Curtis as Laurel; I thought she was fine.
I did find the play a bit dated and despite enjoying it, it is not one I would bother to see again. However, I laughed out loud at least half a dozen times, although I wouldn't go as far as to agree with the Kenneth Tynan quote that it was the funniest play since the Restoration.
Anyway, I am looking forward to watching a bit of Restoration filth next week with "The Country Wife" at the Minerva.
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Post by emsworthian on May 29, 2018 6:17:01 GMT
It’s a good job it says ‘based on a true story’, otherwise it would be in a bit of trouble regarding its embelishments. More Richard III than docudrama. It’s wildly entertaining though and seems almost profligate in its casting with great performers getting just a few lines here and there (watch out for a very rare Patrick Marber acting appearance). I'm interested Cardinal Pirelli on what you regard as embellishments. There was an interesting article in "The Times" by Danny Finklestein discussing how much is true and how much theatrical license. Finklestein's main objection was to the way David Holmes was portrayed; apparently Holmes was a far more intelligent and cultured man than he appears in this - he was just hopelessly out of his depth trying to organise a hitman.
Norman Scott's wife walked out on him when still was still pregnant rather than after the baby was born but the bit about her spending money intended for food on clothes, books and peacock feathers was true and Scott had to forage for food.
The infamous incident with the Vaseline jar is according to Scott's account; you have to decide whether it's true, but Finklestein points out that Thorpe's mother's bedroom wasn't next to the guest room, as claimed.
The adaptation leaves out a lot of Bessell's dodgy financial dealings. Otherwise it is pretty much true, according to Finklestein. The hitman did get Dunstable and Barnstable confused; the riotous event in Blackpool with Newton getting drunk is pretty much spot on.
People have criticised RTD for depicting an attempted assassination as a black comedy but some aspect of the case are so bizarre that I can understand why he did so.
Plus it is hugely enjoyable.
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Post by emsworthian on May 28, 2018 6:21:54 GMT
I recommend reading the book by John Preston. There are lots of wonderful details in it which RTD had to leave out for reasons of time. One is: Norman Scott's Christmas present from his soon-to-be in-laws was a mug with "Strychnine" printed on it.
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Post by emsworthian on May 23, 2018 7:02:32 GMT
Excellent production, brilliant performances all round. I remember the 'scandal' very well and also that most people seemed to believe that Jeremy Thorpe could not possibly have been involved in anything so shocking. Indeed, someone I worked with uttered the immortal phrase "That poor man, I feel so sorry for him. I bet he doesn't know which way to turn..." Most of my friends at the time believed Thorpe was as guilty as hell.
I saw Thorpe a few years after the trial at Earls Court Station. He looked ill (he had been diagnosed with Parkinson's) and really seedy. I found it hard to believe that he had once been seen as a glamorous figure.
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Post by emsworthian on May 22, 2018 19:15:13 GMT
I don't know if this is unpopular, but pushchairs. Mainly when parents are in groups with say three pushchairs, walking in a line, slow as anything who then proceed to get arsey if you ask them to haul ass politely. Agreed - scary mothers who come hurtling towards you on four wheels and will not stop. I'm surprised I've still got toes left the amount of times they have been run over by pushchairs. Someone once barged in front of me in a queue in Starbucks 'because she had a pushchair', naturally I did the usual British thing and tutted at her! My step-mother-in-law (aged 86) was knocked to the ground and broke her hip when she tried to enter a butcher's shop as a woman with a buggy on a mobile phone was coming out. Needless to say, the buggy-pusher didn't stop and it was the shop's customers and staff who looked after her and rang for an ambulance. She died a few months later. Admittedly, she had cancer but the fall couldn't have helped. I really feel the police should have been involved and the woman with the buggy should have been charged with assault.
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Post by emsworthian on Apr 9, 2018 13:02:23 GMT
What makes Sir Peter Hall's omission even stranger is that they included John Barton in the memorial segment and many people of my generation associate John Barton with Peter Hall and their production of "The Wars of the Roses."
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Post by emsworthian on Mar 7, 2018 7:54:39 GMT
Wouldn't it have made more sense if the man with the walking frame had a false beard? Wouldn't you know if you were living with someone who wore a false beard? Plus, did the killer kill just the one girl or were there others?
I really like Strike and Robin but I'm not impressed with the plots. (I haven't read the books so perhaps it is better explained in the books).
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Post by emsworthian on Mar 1, 2018 9:45:28 GMT
An outdoor pipe burst outside the kitchen yesterday. We've had to turn the water off. Even though we are covered by British Gas HomeCare plan, British Gas's website seems to have crashed so can't book an appointment for a repair and the switchboard doesn't appear to be answering calls. Sorry to turn a theatre board into a rant but you did ask.
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Post by emsworthian on Feb 21, 2018 7:34:43 GMT
Well I know that, but does it really have to be a crapshoot when you book, I don't really want to splash out for a hotel, if I don't have to and I need to get someone in to feed the cats, so only other option is to drive, which I am not keen to do and is another big expense and you have the stress of getting there on time and whether you will find a parking spot. The National Theatre archive can be a good resource, as it gives running times of past productions. catalogue.nationaltheatre.org.uk/CalmView/Advanced.aspx?src=CalmView.PerformanceWhich has Copenhagen down as running 2hr 20min and Present Laughter down as 2hr 55min and the Country Wife 3hr. Also the Stage gives running times in their review. Well im from south london and if i still lived there AND had a car, it would be a no brainer to drive. Its a decent drive and you park in the huge car park adjacent to the theatre. Plus of course no fretting about running times. The "huge" car park can get very full for matinees. If we go by car, we usually park in a side road near the theatre.
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Post by emsworthian on Feb 18, 2018 16:56:18 GMT
Miss Saigon tour at Mayflower Southampton
I'm rather worried as tickets were a Valentine's Day gift for my husband and although he loved "Phantom" and "Cats" when he saw them at The Mayflower, he loathed "Wicked."
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Post by emsworthian on Feb 17, 2018 11:43:10 GMT
Quite apart from anything else, isn't that the wrong dress for the period? It's a bit Alexandra Burke being Mary Poppins! I do hope they are not going to change the period and set it in the 50s. I didn't feel the "Sweeny Todd" production gained anything by being switched from the Victorian era to 1930s.
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Post by emsworthian on Feb 16, 2018 11:25:47 GMT
I too thought "SO Chichester" but then I saw the quote by Kenneth Tynan about it being the funniest play since the Restoration; I wouldn't describe Tynan as typically Chichester.
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Post by emsworthian on Feb 15, 2018 9:48:24 GMT
Checking the dates, it actually works out for me, yay! Does anyone have suggestions for decently priced accommodation in Chichester for one night? Travelodge?
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Post by emsworthian on Feb 14, 2018 12:03:21 GMT
Just to let you know that according to Chichester Festival Theatre's twitter feed, Daniel Evans will be on online tomorrow at 12.30 to take questions on the new season. If you aren't free at that time tomorrow, you can post your questions in advance.
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Post by emsworthian on Feb 3, 2018 10:13:09 GMT
Apologies if there is already a thread on this but I couldn't find one.
I saw this yesterday at The Minerva, Chichester. I hadn't seen "The Weir" before and I thought The Minerva would be the ideal intimate setting for a play about customers in an Irish pub narrating ghost stories. However, the set was rammed into a corner of the stage; I was in the front row four seats along from the end far left and at the end of the performance I had a crick in my neck from looking to the left all the time. Ahead of me was an expanse of carpet where The Minerva's stage normally is.
This grumble aside, the acting was excellent. I enjoyed the play but I was expecting more of a twist at the end. It is another one to tick off in my edition of Michael Billington's "The 101 Greatest Plays - from Antiquity to the Present" but I'm not sure it would make my 101 greatest plays from the past 100 years, let alone since antiquity.
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Post by emsworthian on Feb 3, 2018 10:02:07 GMT
How could I forget Sweeney? Honourable mention to WNO's Sweeney that tried so hard to be Doyle Sweeney but in fact just gave us erotic pie dance. I forgot another Sweeney - the Jonathan Kent / Michael Ball / Imelda Staunton one which updated the setting to the 1930s.
I'm afraid I really didn't see the point of updating the setting to the 1930s. It is the Victorian Gothic element that I particularly love about Sweeney.
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Post by emsworthian on Jan 28, 2018 22:23:11 GMT
Chichester season to announced in 3 weeks time according to a tweet from Daniel Evans.
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Post by emsworthian on Jan 20, 2018 17:05:45 GMT
Did anyone else love the "Katy" books? As well as "What Katy did", "What Katy Did At School", "What Katy Did Next", I also read the two sequels "Clover" and "In The High Valley", which follow the fortunes of other members of Katy's family. I've still got my old editions of the last two books.
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Post by emsworthian on Jan 16, 2018 14:24:36 GMT
I'd love to see revivals of Grand Hotel and Me and My Girl Oh I forgot about Me and My Girl, which would be playing it ultra safe, this one would guaranteed to be box office gold - given the demographic of the Chichester audience, would have a fantastic chance of a West End transfer.
I could see Chichester going for this one and me the first in the queue for a ticket.
I haven't seen this show.
I saw "Me and My Girl" in the 80s and loved it. It was supposed to star Karl Howman but he was ill and the understudy went on instead. The additional dialogue by Stephen Fry is witty and it is a fun, if undemanding, evening.
If you wish to see "Grand Hotel", they are doing it this year at the Shaw Theatre, Niagara-on-the-Lake (The Shaw is also doing three plays by Stephen Fry) but Canada is quite a long way to go.
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Post by emsworthian on Jan 16, 2018 13:36:32 GMT
And to think that people are always going on about the age of the Chichester audience.
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Post by emsworthian on Jan 5, 2018 10:14:37 GMT
Isn't it the centenary of Bernstein's birth this year? If WSS is a problem, how about "On The Town" or "Wonderful Town."?
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