716 posts
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Post by theatre-turtle on Jul 13, 2017 17:56:21 GMT
The ginger guy in this is dreamy
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716 posts
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Post by theatre-turtle on Jul 12, 2017 22:44:32 GMT
I lost my virginity to Wicked and it got me hooked. I was totally mesmerised by the whole spectacle. Ironically now I find Wicked quite grating and hard to tolerate.
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716 posts
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Post by theatre-turtle on Jul 11, 2017 22:28:48 GMT
I thought this was unbelievably boring, beyond all expectations.
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716 posts
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Post by theatre-turtle on Jul 5, 2017 18:43:58 GMT
Balcony shut. Grand circle 20% full and Dress circle 60% full.
Will this last?
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716 posts
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Post by theatre-turtle on Jul 2, 2017 17:22:01 GMT
And I Am Telling You would still be an appropriate song for this potential musical.
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716 posts
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Post by theatre-turtle on Jul 1, 2017 17:45:37 GMT
I thought it was a bit meh to be honest. I wasn't particularly offended by it but I was checking my watch a lot during it waiting for it to end.
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716 posts
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Post by theatre-turtle on Jul 1, 2017 9:40:47 GMT
She's made her money Why should she care And the scheduling is stupid Many artists have breaks of 3-4 days between multiple dates Instead she had programmed 28/29 June And 1/2 July Hardly sensible for back to back dates When she already has had significant vocal problems Like she is an opera singer 😂😂😂 She has hardly ever been the epitome of classy performers It might be because of when Wembley was available. It's also a huge logistical issue getting the set in and out, sound check, organising security/staff etc. Anyway I saw the tour during one of the first performances, and her voice was spectacular. Like being hit by a wind machine of power.
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716 posts
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Post by theatre-turtle on Jun 29, 2017 20:17:52 GMT
I saw it and loved it too! I found all the characters to be really dislikeable but I enjoyed the plot and the staging/delivery.
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716 posts
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Post by theatre-turtle on Jun 28, 2017 22:43:48 GMT
Was it a real baby?
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716 posts
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Post by theatre-turtle on Jun 28, 2017 22:25:23 GMT
I loooooooved this. Very Pinter-esque, I was gripped from start to finish. I reckon this is a play kids will be studying in school one day. I was laughing one moment, crying the next.
5* from me.
The final scene is incredible.
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716 posts
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Post by theatre-turtle on Jun 27, 2017 18:29:44 GMT
Southwark Playhouse managed 'Grand' Hotel with almost no set or staging, so I'm sure it can be done.
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716 posts
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Post by theatre-turtle on Jun 25, 2017 20:43:08 GMT
I was there on Saturday night as well. Good play, performed very well. Possibly one of the best plays around at the moment?
Incredibly dreary though. Even for Russian standards this is a very depressing play.
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716 posts
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Post by theatre-turtle on Jun 25, 2017 19:32:53 GMT
What was the point of them doing West End Live when they only have one week to run, and were already virtually sold out before Saturday?
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716 posts
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Post by theatre-turtle on Jun 17, 2017 12:10:45 GMT
From the Spectator:
'The Olivier’s auditorium looked like an empurpled jaw following multiple extractions. Local schoolchildren may be recruited to fill the voids. An awful prospect. Youngsters forced to experience this bolus of drivel will probably shun the theatre for decades afterwards. The production highlights a key difference between subsidised and commercial art. Bad commercial art gets ignored and forgotten. Bad subsidised art enjoys a life-support system, also subsidised, that can lure the innocent into its toxic embrace. Please, National Theatre, spare the kids this one. It could take a generation to repair the damage.'
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716 posts
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Post by theatre-turtle on Jun 15, 2017 22:16:01 GMT
Bloody awful. Cheap set, threadbare ensemble, under-rehearsed understudies (and no, illness is not an excuse, you're a west end show so you should have understudies who can adequately cover illness and not leave gaping gaps in your ensemble). I've never seen the film or the show and to be frank, the whole thing came across as a little creepy. Billionaire sends out his assistant to local orphanages to bring home a little girl (though he would have prepared a boy)? Sad, I know, but in this day and age this all seemed rather dark. Neither a fan nor a hater of Hart's previous work but her accent was terrible, her singing and dancing mediocre - could have got away with it if she wasn't so heavily hyped (the theatre is covered in her face). I don't blame her for taking what is apparently a dream role but the producers should be ashamed of cashing in on a famous name in a dire show. Punters deserve better than this. Yes! Someone else who realises how dark this show is.
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716 posts
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Post by theatre-turtle on Jun 15, 2017 16:58:45 GMT
Just had a look at tonight's performance online - 9 of the 16 front row day seats are still available 2 hours before the show, and are now reduced to £12.50 I just had a gander at the performance too, it seems either the Grand and Balcony are sold out, or are closed. I suspect the latter sadly. Definitely the latter. Availability is huge for this show.
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716 posts
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Post by theatre-turtle on Jun 14, 2017 21:51:21 GMT
Somebody please march me to Aldwych before 5th August. I've been meaning to see Beautiful since Cassidy Janson joined the cast & a year & a half later still haven't got round to it. There always seems to be something else higher up in priority... I finally got round to marching myself to the Aldwych last night. I can't honestly say the show did a lot for me but I saw Cassidy Janson & it's one off my list of need-to-see-before-they-close shows. I only recognised one song but I could tell which were the well-known-to-other-people songs because most of the surrounding audience started humming along & head bobbing. I have discovered that an audience humming along & rustling sweets is much less annoying if you're not enjoying the show that much anyway! On reflection I think the main reason I didn't enjoy the show much was because there were very few attempts to integrate the songs with the plot. Most of the time it was "Here's our latest song...and here's another one..and another one". There were only a couple of songs that were actually used to reflect the characters' emotional situations. I felt like it was highly derivative of Jersey Boys - it's as if the writers thought 'hey, this is a format that works, let's see who else we could apply it to'
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716 posts
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Post by theatre-turtle on Jun 12, 2017 22:50:46 GMT
It was House Full tonight btw.... somehow.... for the worst musical in London
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716 posts
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Post by theatre-turtle on Jun 12, 2017 22:29:49 GMT
Im thinking of getting a last minute ticket for next Wednesday just so I can hopefully see Amber. Has anyone sat up in the gods? is the view ok? The view from the gods is clear, but HIGH and steep. I wouldn't recommend it. Rear stalls or dress are better places to see this show. Especially because a lot of it is in the format of 'being at a concert', you'll get a much better atmosphere from low down. The £20-30 rear dress/stalls seats that come up on TKTS and TodayTix are a good bet.
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716 posts
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Post by theatre-turtle on Jun 12, 2017 22:21:50 GMT
I saw it tonight. Worst audience I've ever had. Several large groups came in every 10 mins up to about half way through Act 1, some people were sat in the wrong seats so there was mucho shuffling around for half of the first Act. Then people kept being disruptive and the stewards had to keep telling people off. There was also a lot of talking and mobile phone use/attempted recording. Generally the sound was awful in the Grand Circle and I had many problems hearing what was going on. The view is terrible from the top of the grand circle, the rake is steep, yet somehow you can't see beyond the people in front of you?
Anyway, I thought this was pretty pedestrian and low budget. Miranda Hart cannot sing and her acting was tedious and one-note. Annie was OK. Good songs, performed badly.
The story is pretty terrible and unrealistic. It also introduces many themes it doesn't really deal with adequately. including:
- Why are abusive people allowed to work unsupervised with vulnerable children? Indeed, is there something about positions of potential abuse that attract abusers? Does this go part way to explain the problem the Catholic Church has with pederasty?
- Why is it accepted without exposition that it's OK for a rich guy to have dozens of servants and opulence while millions are starving to death? Couldn't he have done a lot more good by setting up soup kitchens etc. rather than showering opulence on a single girl? Why is his 'charitable act' celebrated so much?
- Are we meant to think of it a good thing that 'not being abused in an orphanage' is a privilege bestowed upon randomly by the capriciousness of rich benefactors? As a society we need to question why we are brainwashed into thinking 'charity' is the answer to the world's problems. BETTER, MORE EQUITABLE GOVERNMENT is a much more effective solution. It's the equivalent of people celebrating Nicki Minaj paying off her fan's tuition fees over Twitter. We should be questioning why 20 year olds are able to rack up tens of thousands of dollars in debt without having the consequences explained to them adequately.
- Is 'tomorrow will be better' really an appropriate mantra to teach our kids? In reality deus ex machina is VERY unlikely to happen to you, and your life will continue to be crappy unless you (at least attempt to) do something about it?
1.5* out of 5 for me (it's slightly better than Salomé so I couldn't give it the same 1* rating I gave that)
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716 posts
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Post by theatre-turtle on Jun 10, 2017 17:45:17 GMT
Loving the positive reviews (seeing it in 3 weeks.) This restores my faith in NT after enduring the stultifying, pretentious Salome this afternoon. It's basically the exact opposite of Salome. This is how they should market it to attract audiences.
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716 posts
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Post by theatre-turtle on Jun 10, 2017 17:42:06 GMT
Can't see a thread on this. Practical: run time is 1.45 as advertised (although this performance started 10 minutes late). The £15 pit seating is great as the set up is in the round. A barber shop is in full swing as you enter. Some of the audience take turns in the barber's chairs (don't worry there is no audience participation in the play itself). The play is set in a number of barber shops across Africa and in London. These places are linked by characters and events. The cast is 12 men. I suppose the justification for such a gender bias is that the main topics of discussion were about father/son relationships and wider issues of masculinity as a black man. This was well done. There were odd digressions into different aspects of African politics, colonialism and race but this I felt was a bit less well done. Overall it was very well acted with very varied characters and loads of humour. I enjoyed it. I agree with most of this. The more intimate/tender moments regarding family and masculinity were the strongest in my opinion and are highly relatable to all men I suspect. However, regarding the discussion about Mandela I have witnessed a 90% congruent discussion among some black friends/colleagues before - it was uncannily spot on. It is interesting how most white people love and admire him so much yet he can be a divisive figure among some black people - it's almost an unspeakable topic in the mainstream media here. It highlighted also an interesting point about the different directions Zimbabwe and South Africa took - in the former actively punishing whites, in the latter going for a more harmonious/integrated approach - neither of which worked out perfectly and both remain highly controversial. I think given that it's set in various barber shops with characters that are meant to be lay men it's not intending to make any kind of grand philosophical point, merely highlighting various opinions that may be politically incorrect but many do hold. Having had a few hours to think of it, I actually would give this play 4.5 stars out of 5. It can be a bit rough around the edges in places, but it has a lot of heart and makes a lot of fascinating insights into a plethora of salient topics.
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716 posts
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Post by theatre-turtle on Jun 10, 2017 15:07:32 GMT
Loved this. It's in my top 5 favourite shows of the year so far. Will post a more thorough review when I'm back.
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716 posts
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Post by theatre-turtle on Jun 10, 2017 11:22:23 GMT
Tories looking more and more out of touch, especially TM. The best thing she could do is step down immediately.
Ruth Davidson is their only hope for the future in my opinion.
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716 posts
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Post by theatre-turtle on Jun 10, 2017 10:36:54 GMT
I went last night. Show was stopped twice during Act I. They cut the final number for act I. Then Act II started but after 10 minutes they stopped it and decided to cancel the rest because of the rain. It was my third time. Matthew Caputo was on as Chip. I've seen the show now 3 times, - 2 and a half really, with 3 different actors playing Chip. I thought Matthew Caputo was a bit better than Jacob Maynard especially in the comedy bits, still not as good as Fred Haig. The show, or what we managed to see of it, looked in good shape. Jacob Maynard was seating in the audience. Wow they cut the finale of Act 1? Was it in inconsequential to the plot or did they hand out scripts to the audience? Imagine if they cut Defying Gravity or something. There would be bloodshed.
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716 posts
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Post by theatre-turtle on Jun 8, 2017 22:23:23 GMT
I've just binged eaten a 150g bag of Kettle Chips in anxiety
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716 posts
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Post by theatre-turtle on Jun 8, 2017 10:03:41 GMT
Finally offering significantly discounted tickets at TKTS. I might have to make a 4th visit.
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716 posts
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Post by theatre-turtle on Jun 7, 2017 21:15:26 GMT
Matthew Caputo is on for Chip today. It is currently raining so the interval has been brought forward slightly. The cast and crew are doing a good job to keep the show going and mopping up the stage. Edit: Show has been cancelled Do you get a refund if they've done half the show?
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716 posts
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Post by theatre-turtle on Jun 7, 2017 13:40:23 GMT
There's been plenty of recent hits. Angels in America, Hedda Gabler, Twelfth Night, Amadeus and the forthcoming Follies for example.
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716 posts
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Post by theatre-turtle on Jun 5, 2017 22:20:37 GMT
I saw a wonderful film called 'My Life as a Courgette today at the cinema'. I was quite overwhelmed actually, I had no idea how much it would affect me for some reason, and I was crying buckets by the end. Such a beautiful animated film
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