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Post by JJShaw on Mar 29, 2024 10:45:21 GMT
Saw the other day - the nicest thing I can say is I am very glad we have this show because London doesn't normally get an absolute doozy of a big musical to open in the West End. Sure we often get the bland boring play here but a musical? What a treat. It really puts your scale of good to bad into perspective.
The poor cast are doing their best and no ones performance is bad but there is no redeeming material to perform. The entire show I was thinking 'who cares?'. We learn nothing about anyone or this play they're struggling to put on.
Echoing the previous pages, the bows were by far the most egregious part of the show, when they started singing I couldn't believe they were keeping us sat here for more, I just wanted to go home! Talk about souring an already bad show to really give you the final lasting impression and send the audiences out even more annoyed! Can't see how it was a 'mockery' or send up of smart commentary on anything it was just Broadway pastiche because it was set on Broadway but the rest of the show wasn't making any commentary on this so why would they at the bows?
If you can get a decent cheap ticket I would say do so, it's surely joining I Can't Sing, Viva Forever, and Bad Cinderella in the history books.
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Post by JJShaw on Jan 25, 2024 11:24:24 GMT
Grabbed a seat for £55 yesterday rear dress circle, so they are doing a little dynamic pricing.
Very enjoyable evening, felt very 'Broadway' with a luscious set and tight direction. Loved SJP and MB was very solid too (with more shining moments in act 3) but felt a tad stiff, perhaps an off night or just tired so focusing on movement and placements but they were both very fun. I'm more of a SJP fan but the audience were loving MB.
I didn't feel that it was dated all that much, I really liked all three acts, I imagine once fully settled in and into the swing of it there will be a few more moments that pop but I was excited to see the show and very glad I managed to get a reasonably priced ticket. Nothing will ever ever be worth some of the top prices some shows are trying to charge(and as someone else mentioned above concerts) but if you can get a ticket do go see it! £55 is a bit higher than my usual price or what I am comfortable paying but it was worth the little splurge for myself.
Will be interesting to see what the critics think on Sunday, really don't know which way they will go.
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Post by JJShaw on Nov 27, 2023 21:22:00 GMT
I do like Zizi and after her star turn in Cake she can clearly sell any material, but I'm sure this team were annoyed at how much press Linus Karp's Gwyneth Goes Skiing got, reports in Variety, Rolling Stone, loads of online publications!
I imagine it's just a case of the same idea being done at the same time, but I think the subject matter would suit more of a satirical play with music ala Linus rather than full musicalization. Will be interested to hear reports back from people, but even the title 'I wish you well' and one of the song titles 'I’m Gwynnocent' seem more like jokes you'd make with your friends thinking "wouldn't this be funny if..." and not actually something that would have quality legs. You cant hide behind bad quality and call it camp, which has been the case for some recent British musicals...!
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Post by JJShaw on Nov 14, 2023 12:18:38 GMT
Saw this last night, I'll put under a spoiler just in case as it is still previews and some might want to go in completely fresh. But if you are going I think you're going to have a good time! {Spoiler - click to view}Clearly they have put some money into the set and I thought it looked great! We have one extremely brief show stop where the revolve just hadn't revolved enough, it was really brief, maybe 2 minutes with the stage manager coming out being very nice and the audience were supportive. However after it was fixed I couldn't help but think why they didn't just switch the two set pieces so the revolve wouldn't have to do as much, but anyway..!
We also had another mishap which took me ages to notice but I think everyone else clocked on earlier, Bruno's mouse didn't appear for the end of act 2 where his parents take him home but his pre recorded lines still came out so his ghostly voice was expertly turned into a voice from the heavens from Gran.
Speaking of, Gran was fantastic, as was the rest of the cast, and her chemistry with Luke was very sweet, actually at it sweetest during the bows when they were able to have fun and be silly, shame some more of that wasnt incorporated into the show!! The kids were very sweet and I'll give them passes as its previews with what looks like lots going on plus they're kids, but it was a lot of 'stand centre and look up to the circle and deliver your lines' so perhaps a resident director could work with them while the rest of the creatives work on the show. But Bruno's number was very fun and silly. Melody (Melanie?!) the grand high witches assistant was fun, as were most of the ensemble women who all got their moments to shine. Didn't quite connect with the hotel manager who has lots of material but just didn't seem to shine, but again its previews and maybe as lots of his scenes it stitching other together perhaps he's had lots of material changes.
Can Katherine Kingsley please have her Hannah Waddingham moment? I've seen her in so much and every time she is the best thing about a show. So funny, so gorgeous, elevated the material even when it wasnt great.
Which leads me on to the book which was fairly solid however we would get the really out of place 2020 references to tik-tok, selfies, and the baby shark song (EYE ROLL!!!) which were completely at odds with the set and costume design of the grand-budapest-hotel vintage kitsch (which I loved it all looked beautiful!) you could - and should - take out those few references and you'd be left with a nice solid non-specific-time book which was serviceable and did actually have a few of its own very funny jokes. (Particularly when Bruno asks Luke what his dad does for a job, Luke says his dad is dead and Bruno deadpan goes 'oh mine isn't.')
Music wise, I'm not a huge fan of Dave Malloy but the first few numbers were really fun and had great ideas, it sort of trickled out after a while but very reminiscent of Matilda meets Beetlejuice (with hints of Urinetown), but it was good none the less.
End of act one, while the accapella singing is impressive, really really failed to land a punch and if you're going to focus on moments THIS is one you need to nail and they absolutely did not. The act 2 11 o'clock number sung by the little girl as gnome was really sweet (and impressive the pipes on this girl!) but the sentiment of the song was a little clunky.
If it stays like this come opening night, it's fine and enjoyable, if they are looking to make some final tweaks and refinement, it could be really really good. But either way well worth your time to go see, always exciting for London to get actual premieres of new musicals, and this one felt like the kind of musical that would pad out a Broadway season (weather it would close before the Tony's I don't know but we rarely get new productions like this on this scale so that's nice!)
Which kid leads did we see last night? I think it was Keita and Cutts, but I'm not sure. They were great. I think you're right? Very sweet and lovely singing voices
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Post by JJShaw on Nov 14, 2023 11:17:21 GMT
Don't know if Equity would let CamMac bring over very many of the British company. Gavin Lee works over there more than here so he could be almost a given but everyone else? I'm not so sure. I also don't know how much the New York audience (which the production doesn't have much appeal beyond that and theatre fans) would be accepting of a British company over their well known and beloved American Broadway starts celebrating an American composer.
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Post by JJShaw on Nov 14, 2023 11:13:15 GMT
Saw this last night, I'll put under a spoiler just in case as it is still previews and some might want to go in completely fresh. But if you are going I think you're going to have a good time! {Spoiler - click to view}Clearly they have put some money into the set and I thought it looked great! We have one extremely brief show stop where the revolve just hadn't revolved enough, it was really brief, maybe 2 minutes with the stage manager coming out being very nice and the audience were supportive. However after it was fixed I couldn't help but think why they didn't just switch the two set pieces so the revolve wouldn't have to do as much, but anyway..!
We also had another mishap which took me ages to notice but I think everyone else clocked on earlier, Bruno's mouse didn't appear for the end of act 2 where his parents take him home but his pre recorded lines still came out so his ghostly voice was expertly turned into a voice from the heavens from Gran.
Speaking of, Gran was fantastic, as was the rest of the cast, and her chemistry with Luke was very sweet, actually at it sweetest during the bows when they were able to have fun and be silly, shame some more of that wasnt incorporated into the show!! The kids were very sweet and I'll give them passes as its previews with what looks like lots going on plus they're kids, but it was a lot of 'stand centre and look up to the circle and deliver your lines' so perhaps a resident director could work with them while the rest of the creatives work on the show. But Bruno's number was very fun and silly. Melody (Melanie?!) the grand high witches assistant was fun, as were most of the ensemble women who all got their moments to shine. Didn't quite connect with the hotel manager who has lots of material but just didn't seem to shine, but again its previews and maybe as lots of his scenes it stitching other together perhaps he's had lots of material changes.
Can Katherine Kingsley please have her Hannah Waddingham moment? I've seen her in so much and every time she is the best thing about a show. So funny, so gorgeous, elevated the material even when it wasnt great.
Which leads me on to the book which was fairly solid however we would get the really out of place 2020 references to tik-tok, selfies, and the baby shark song (EYE ROLL!!!) which were completely at odds with the set and costume design of the grand-budapest-hotel vintage kitsch (which I loved it all looked beautiful!) you could - and should - take out those few references and you'd be left with a nice solid non-specific-time book which was serviceable and did actually have a few of its own very funny jokes. (Particularly when Bruno asks Luke what his dad does for a job, Luke says his dad is dead and Bruno deadpan goes 'oh mine isn't.')
Music wise, I'm not a huge fan of Dave Malloy but the first few numbers were really fun and had great ideas, it sort of trickled out after a while but very reminiscent of Matilda meets Beetlejuice (with hints of Urinetown), but it was good none the less.
End of act one, while the accapella singing is impressive, really really failed to land a punch and if you're going to focus on moments THIS is one you need to nail and they absolutely did not. The act 2 11 o'clock number sung by the little girl as gnome was really sweet (and impressive the pipes on this girl!) but the sentiment of the song was a little clunky.
If it stays like this come opening night, it's fine and enjoyable, if they are looking to make some final tweaks and refinement, it could be really really good. But either way well worth your time to go see, always exciting for London to get actual premieres of new musicals, and this one felt like the kind of musical that would pad out a Broadway season (weather it would close before the Tony's I don't know but we rarely get new productions like this on this scale so that's nice!)
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Post by JJShaw on Nov 10, 2023 21:49:47 GMT
Ending during the Christmas holidays make sense. I wouldn't be surprised if the producers are banking on people transferring their bookings to ensure fuller houses in the final weeks. Similar thing happened with Get Up, Stand Up! where they cancelled their few January shows and their last few weeks of performances were complete sell outs
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Post by JJShaw on Nov 10, 2023 21:47:53 GMT
I know there are lots of offers but could this extend a little, given that Opening Night doesn't start until 6th March? I assume an extension was built into peoples contracts incase it did stellar but as it's just slowly chugging along I don't hold out much hope that it would. I imagine they'd just want to do steady business throughout its current run. I'm sure they'd want something to come in and do a 6 week limited run (allowing for get ins and get outs of old friends and opening night), it's unusual for a theatre to be dark for months on end, so that could be fun to speculate on?
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Post by JJShaw on Nov 2, 2023 9:29:25 GMT
Lesley Joseph will be touring this in 2025 - put your bets now Or even worse, they drag the role and Craig Revel Horwood. Danny LaRue did it in the 80's; not to get too deep but it's crazy that in the last 10 years or so we have gone backwards in "our" acceptance and what is considered boundary pushing. (Not being rude to you just sad that if CRH was announced and that idea isn't actually that wild it would be seen as some big Thing when its already been done!) I saw someone earlier say they like the new logo, I preferred the 2020 version with just the red and white, not the overused bulb lights, but I like the design on the D making the heart its cute! I imagine once The Crown comes out that'll push some tickets as well, does anyone remember what sales were like in 2020 before it was cancelled? Obviously the production was far away but was it solid sales out the gate? I do remember buying my ticket almost like a year in advance but don't remember going back to check how it was doing? Agree that US has a far bigger love affair with the show than we do, and traditional style musicals like this, Crazy For You, haven't done as well recently. 42nd Street seemed to do ok-ish from what I remember? Interesting they have gone for some safe choices for supporting casts so it's really all up to Imelda to bring in the people, how did her Gypsy do? Again I remember sitting in the grand circle so it must have done alright...!
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Post by JJShaw on Nov 2, 2023 7:06:32 GMT
Anyone know if they’re checking the under 30s tickets? As they’re not checking the key worker sunset tickets.. Yes they are, when my ticket was scanned the usher asked for my ID so do have it ready!
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Post by JJShaw on Nov 1, 2023 20:04:38 GMT
Caught the show again today, this time from the second row of the stalls and what a treat to be so close.
The show still sparkles and everyone is clearly so happy and excited to be performing, will also echo a previous comment that Bern's Losing My Mind was really something, at one point she seemed to choke up a little and turned her back to the audience before returning to us and dabbing her teary eyes. I can imagine for her in particular doing this run will have some ups and downs for her being so close to Sondheim.
Bonnie is still getting the biggest whoops and cheers after I'm Still Here and it's so deserved. Personally, I still don't really like the West Side Story section (though not a fan of the show anyway) but everyone else liked it!
Everyones settled in, everyone's vocals were great, for a Wednesday matinee it looked rather full and all levels were open.
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Post by JJShaw on Oct 10, 2023 12:12:08 GMT
So enjoyed this last night. I didn't expect to laugh so much- the comedy numbers were so on point. All performers were absolutely excellent- it was a performance master class, both from an individual and company perspective. I was a bit surprised by the set list on three fronts: - the WSS segment didn't work for me- Tonight has never been a favourite of mine musically or lyrically and it was disappointing to have Pacific Overtures, Assassins and Roadshow missing. - the laser focus on Sondheim's greatest hits a bit odd given I can't imagine there are many people attending that aren't already Sondheim fans. Replacing two or three 'bangers' with more reflective songs would have added depth. In Buddy's Eyes and Liaisons would be great editions. - finally I was surprised someone in a tree didn't get a look in given it was Sondheim's favourite. It also felt lazy to include the ALW/Sondheim video, even in abbreviated form- why not use lesser known footage to more powerful effect? Presumably because it didn't have CM as the subject matter... But I am nit picking- it was a wonderful night and I salute the wonderful performances, particularly given they were playing to a ¾ full house on a Monday night. Very much agree with all this! Not a huge WSS fan either, and I understand that the focus is on CamMac produced shows (because of course he must insert himself into a tribute...!) It still is a shame that all his shows couldn't represented by at least one song, and they were only short of a few as well! Is it a rights issue or an ego issue? (sorry if that's too rude!)
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Post by JJShaw on Oct 8, 2023 16:15:24 GMT
Has anyone had luck with rush tickets? What sort of seats are offered? I rushed it the first week, seats were all over the place. All three levels, seemed to be topped up throughout the day, however it was much easier to get a pair than a single (I guess they have a 'no single seats left' policy?)
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Post by JJShaw on Sept 29, 2023 21:52:39 GMT
So happy to get, not only a real fun recording ov every song and reprise, but also the bonus tracks of the boy band and Marshia's Luck Be A lady. Always feel spoilt when its a full recording like this, so exciting as not everyone puts the money in to do this so very happy they have!
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Post by JJShaw on Sept 24, 2023 11:37:28 GMT
Well... lets start with the positives.
If Zizi Strallen wasn't already an established performer, this performance would but you on the map as a breakout star. She was absolutely fantastic, pitch perfect comedy timing, gorgeous voice, and the unique (and valuable!) ability to elevate the material given to her.
What a fun lighting design, a suped-up proper big style concert feel, really really fun. SOME of the songs (mostly Zizi's in the middle section of the show) were pretty fun and nice. This is where the show actually succeeded and thrived when it was trying to be its own thing.
Where it absolutely crashed was when it was being derivative of Six and Halimton; to the point that even the rap style sounded like Lin, and by tieing itself so closely to those two shows which (for the most part) are fairly accurate (I know they're not completely!) however after leaving Cake to read that practically NOTHING happened in real life and that basically the entire show is near fabricated felt like an absolute rip off, as the plot was already a little wonky and weak but i forgave it thinking 'well it's probably how most of it happened', and the show even TELLS YOU that's what it's going for with the cringe 'you get to tell YOUR story' lines. The costuming I assume was also the spare rack from &Juliet? With all these 'inspirations' it seems like the kind of you should read bout in theatre history books where they say 'it was clearly a cash grab pulling together from recent shows of the time who did something original and was just reductive, lazy, and boring'.
The Cardinal also made no sense. He is portrayed as this huge womanizer yet is the campest thing since Rob Madge! (Not a bad thing! and considering Paul Taylor Mills' working relationship with Rob you would assume either Rob was busy for these dates of Paul was inspired by their success and thought 'people like Rob, let's cast someone like them!). A simple fix would have been to have him act overtly macho and ladies-man-like during dialogue and then in songs have this switch to being camp, at least the juxtaposition would have been funny, and when you cannot speak, you sing, so there's a justification for that.
Please tell me why we needed an elf vape, kabab shop drunk food, and a little mermaid reference? Sadly the overzealous audience on my night gave it faux whoops and cheers but none of them made sense and just confused the plot. They made a joke where Marie Antoinette has a chocolate croissant for the first time and expects that to be the next big thing and THATS funny because it makes sense time period-wise (please don't quiz me on the history of the humble croissant!!) if smarter jokes like that were made instead of cheap grabs to 'MoDeRniZe' it were made it would have been better. And the lyrics.... repeating that line 'and I take it from your tax!' is funny once, cute twice, and useless and lazy the third, fourth, and fifth time.
I enjoyed the staging, the little platform revolve was fun, Zizi making a star entrance draped over the audience box was fun. Truly Zizi made it not a waste of my time.
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Post by JJShaw on Sept 24, 2023 11:14:34 GMT
This is an absolute must see production. The classiest, slickest, glitziest thing ive seen in quite some time. The attention to detail and staging is just absolutely gorgeous and sublime. It's not a concert thats just been thrown up, every number is directed and staged (to varying degrees yet every one is done perfectly). The subtle lighting designs enhance the overall feel of the show, and how is every number practically a show stopper! Its an embarrassment of riches on stage. And every performer is clearly excited and Proud to be on that stage.
We will of course all have our faves, to see Bernadette Peters live in the flesh is just a treasure, to have grown up listening and watching her and her legacy with Sondheim, theres a sparkle in the air when shes on stage, Lea's voice - wow!!
Bonnie is absolutely up for anything and her as the maid in A Weekend in the Country was so fun, then she smashes I'm Still Here; even the way she just walks to go and sit on the stairs felt so cinematic and pitch perfect.
I cant remember who sand Ladies Who Lunch, if someone could remind me please because THAT is how to sing and act that song, I loved it! Drive a person Crazy was also really fun and their dresses gorgeous. Agony having rapunzels tower appear got a good 'ooooh' out of me.
Gavin Lee was such a delight he is so Broadway, wasn't a fan of his 'Leave You' but that's ok, the Broadway Baby 'sketch' and number were amazing, although I thought Bern was going to do the audition bit in Merriy "who wants to live in new yooooork".
I got a programme and a poster and the feeling that i would love to go again.
If you were persistent with the rush tickets on todaytix you could get tickets, offerings were absolutely all over the theatre and were seemingly topped up throughout the day, but it was harder to get singles, pairs were much easier (dont penalise the solo folk!!)
Go. Go. Go!
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Post by JJShaw on Aug 27, 2023 19:10:32 GMT
Caught this last night, Jason's understudy (name has escaped me sorry!) did a lovely job as the Lion, a really nice performance, as did Louis as the scarecrow. Ashley was... fine. Hated the new Hamilton-esque rap.
Seems that with the punch up in production for the Palladium run a little of the charm has been lost from the Curve run; and it feels as if direction has been pointed even more so to the panto-esque and not really trying to find any real humanity in the characters?
Love Dianne and have a soft spot for her but I think her accent was doing a world tour but she was very funny, and tried her hardest to hide her obviously taking off her shoes prior to the melting scene as a 'character choice' and not a practical reason....!
Orchestra sounded gorgeous, again I think they've taken out some of the more funky orchestrations but it was a treat to hear them fill the theatre. No matter my qualms when it came time for the curtain call I just knew id had a lovely, easy time, which WOZ I think always gives you!
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Post by JJShaw on Aug 27, 2023 19:05:03 GMT
Anne got away with it for me, as her material is understandable from an audience pov. It's the character of the son that has the strangest arc and is very unlikeable for the majority of it, so to have a gorgeous dancer beaming is way through being a selfish brat really highlighted the flaws in the writing for that character (although I feel that he as the actor / the director could have masked some of the floors! He danced beautifully and when he was kicking and pointing his toes I could see why he was cast but when he wasnt...)
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Post by JJShaw on Aug 18, 2023 22:31:32 GMT
Gorgeous sets and lighting, very sweeping and cinematic, shame it doesn't have a story that feels particularly interesting. Orchestra sounded beautiful.
Also a shame that flop shows don't make stars out of people because Laura Pitt Pulford is acting her ass off and made me forget half the time how dull-yet-strange the plot was, and she got some spontaneous but well deserved applause after her big act two number.
Michael Ball is clearly enjoying himself, and I guess that's nice to see, Danielle and Jamie weren't particularly great. 2/5.
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Post by JJShaw on Aug 3, 2023 9:55:41 GMT
Rain stayed away last night so I was able to see the show, woo! I was familiar with The Birdcage and I Am What I Am, but this was my first time seeing the stage production. I'll put my opinions under a spoiler just in case: {Spoiler - click to view} I loved the set design and how they had all the furniture pieces off to the side as if it was the 'wings' of a stage; very smart and good use of space and clearly the vibe they're going for is 'slightly run down British expat/ northern beachside area' reflected in the variety of British accents too. This seemed to work for me as I imagined this French Riviera to just be full of British tourists and such.
While all the performances were nice it did feel a little lacking, or that there was a slight disconnect. The costumes (beautiful!) all looked to be 80s/90s with even Jean Michel wearing flared jeans and yet the direction felt very 'current day' mannerisms. Speaking of the actor playing JM had a lovely voice and is a wonderful dancer but seemed to not have a clear vision for his character, which to be fair to him is a strange one to balance. One woman in the audience was particularly against him and during act two proceeded to 'boo' him (assuming the character choices, not the actors choices!) It felt very 'fresh-new-grad'.
Georges is giving his best Kenneth Branagh but I could have had a little more, lots of the book scenes could have used a little more colour in the actors delivery I didn't get any 'ups and downs' so to speak, and the actor playing Albin seemed to suffer the most from what felt to be a slight lack of direction.
Choreography was great, there's a bird section that was particularly amusing, and I think the show works great in an open air setting, they've also fixed the sound design as the band sounded crystal clear and amazing!
I would give it 3.5*, on here though I couldn't quite round it up to 4 so sadly gave it 3. Its a solid production and maybe im being too harsh on it!
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Post by JJShaw on Jun 25, 2023 10:19:09 GMT
Saw it yesterday, had friends who'd seen it this week and no one had given it a positive review but I went in wanting to like it.
The opening number was... confusing, and attempted to set up a 'plot' that is never really carried through, however when the third number came around (when Usher is talking to his mom about writing) I liked that number and was assuming things would pick up.
Oh dear, for me I was wrong. They threw a bunch of concepts out that never stuck or stayed, lots of Tyler Perry references that made it feel like instead of being a meta musical about writing a musical ala [title of show] it felt more like a boy being pressured to write a Tyler Perry show (I don't know who he is and the show sort of gives you context but even then not really?) I hate to say but I'd assume about an hour in I was actually thinking 'I'm bored' for the last 30 mins or so.
Clearly I was in the minority as the audience enjoyed it, large standing ovation. The lighting design was really nice and some of the performances were good. Not sure what I was missing that so many others got, including the tony awards committee and Pulitzer prize people, I'd be happy to sit down and have someone explain to me why it was good, but when 'For Black Boys Who've Considered Suicide When The Hue Gets To Heavy' did something similar in a much more successful way, this just seemed like a large production of an off-broadway/off west end work in progress.
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Post by JJShaw on Jun 8, 2023 21:51:51 GMT
Very excited for this production, I feel like a transfer was teased quite a while ago but its nice to see it happen!
I also like that they aren't selling tickets until September, it always feels weird buying tickets near a year in advance.
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Post by JJShaw on May 14, 2023 10:01:20 GMT
At least Dolly made a video appearance in the show and it was her music True, no Dolly Parton slander here!!!!!
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Post by JJShaw on May 12, 2023 7:42:12 GMT
It seems that their starry list of producers is all they have going for them marketing wise. I've seen one poster in a couple of locations around London but all it tells me is it was 'broadways big musical' or something to that effect in yellow type with the blue-purple background.
Had I not been a theatre person already in the know about the show, this would do absolutely nothing to entice me to check it out. No identifiable key art, nothing to draw you in other than a sentence that tells you its an advert for a musical, and the list at the bottom of the poster saying trafalgar studios, national theatre, and a few others are partners in it made me think that it took a lot of people to raise the money to invest in it coming over here.
I'm intrigued to go see the show, but that is only because I knew it was a Tony winning best musical and I followed it slightly beforehand. Wouldn't be surprised if their strategy to shout from the rooftops about all their celeb producers will confuse some of the public online, it was cheeky enough when 9 to 5 had Dolly Parton name over the top of it!
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Post by JJShaw on May 12, 2023 7:32:26 GMT
Saw it again last night and enjoyed it so much more than my first viewing. Aimee has the most wonderful stage presence and her voice was gorgeous, everything you'd want in a Sally Bowles.
I can't remember everything form when I first saw it (I saw the first replacement cast Fra and Amy) but it felt like a few small things had been altered or adjusted, and I'm so sure I don't remember there being as much loud music being played for the prologue pre-show in the auditorium, but that could just be me!
Very enjoyable, happy to have this as a long runner and a prestige show in London for a little longer!
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Post by JJShaw on Apr 25, 2023 13:57:07 GMT
Just booked as I have an AmEx. Yeah weird that £20 isnt showing if you want to search by price but yes they are available, was about to buy one for 1st Jan but decided to go much sooner with a preview in November. Looking forward to it. Hex was awful but I thought their Pinocchio was ok, higher hopes for this one.
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Post by JJShaw on Apr 8, 2023 18:23:05 GMT
Caught this earlier this week, full principal cast. Was familiar with the broadway cast recording and as much as im not a fan of Jeremy Jordan (blasphemy!) you can really feel his leading presence through it and our Jack Kelly just did not have the presence or vocals necessary to lead this show (his last note on Santa Fe though was gorgeous, but he seemed to struggle with a lot of lower notes and while you could tell he was a very nice guy, he didnt have the charisma needed to lead a strike. Perhaps an off performance?)
Bronte was nice and fabulous blonde wig on her! Of course the choreography is the star of the show, I do wish that it wasnt at 100 all the time as sometimes it didnt match with the music to be going all out, and you need those ebbs and flows so the peaks of choreography really pop! It was very cute at the end of the show to bring out their Olivier award and leave it in the centre of the stage, it is a very deserved award. Shaky first zip line, very clean and impressive zip line. Could have done with a little less mugging from the newsboys (and were there news girls back in the day? not that it has to be completely accurate but having Brooklyn who are the big weight behind them be all girls felt a little forced representation?) but the audience seemed to love all of that, plenty of woo girls in, and despite my personal preferences they are all talented and working hard so the audience enthusiasm is warranted, its a very fun show!
I loved the set and use of space, the lighting, things flying in from above and the sides it felt like a big production and im surprised that it maybe didnt pick up a set design nom at the oliviers as it was very impressive and i really liked it.
Didnt clock until watching the amount of reprises and reusing of melodies, towards the end of act 2 it almost felt comical how you knew after every song there would be a reprise and then another variation of it 20 mins later. But they're all great melodies..!
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Post by JJShaw on Apr 2, 2023 11:11:16 GMT
My first time seeing Streetcar, knowing only 'stella!!!' and the last line. I thought it was well acted but I didnt really like the direction/concept (I guess?) also the drums were odd and didnt make me feel like we were in New Orleans but somewhere completely different.
The Phoenix might be one of the best theatres in terms of seats, especially looking on seatplan where nearly all seats are green. my back row of the grand for £15 was absolutely fine! For the most part you could hear everyone, only sometimes did their accents get too think and you just could not make out anything other than a southern drawl.
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Post by JJShaw on Mar 15, 2023 12:56:16 GMT
promo code is intheloop on the barbican website, got a £10 ticket for previews (they only showed up once I logged in to my account). I thought for £10 I can check it out!
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Post by JJShaw on Feb 24, 2023 22:53:38 GMT
I saw it tonight and loved it! A wonderfully funny little play and Sheridan is absolutely perfect, she just shines and lights up on stage. She looked so comfortable and made the performance look effortless.
I had a standing ticket, view is fantastic (you’re actually closer than the two bench rows (can't remember the letters of them) I would suggest to stand auditorium right, which was the side I was on, as I think it was staged ever so slightly toward that side.
Light, fun, just delightful! Usher told us 1hr 5 act 1 and 35 mins act 2. I think it was roughly that but we did start late. The 'Prosecco huns' were out in full force, and actually two almost-latecomers drunkenly stumbled in to the centre seats (of course!) but after about 15 mins excused themselves and didn't come back. Quite a bit of rustling for about 10 minutes but id say on the whole it wasnt too bad.
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