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Post by dlevi on Mar 14, 2022 12:38:38 GMT
Shame you didn’t enjoy it. I think that whilst they might be touristy. COVID means that this kind of thing is reliable and could’ve been very simple and uninspired just putting the film/book on stage, but the puppetry and set is outstanding for this as well as Pi himself. I don't disagree but I feel as if we're embarking on yet another new genre of "family" entertainment in the tradition of the jukebox musical and moving further away from serious plays for serious theatregoers. T'was ever thus...
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Post by dlevi on Mar 13, 2022 17:43:45 GMT
I finally caught up with this and it was very much what I feared it would be in that it relied on spectacle for its success rather than actually being a solid play. It falls into the same category as The Ocean at the End of the Lane and The Book of Dust. These are touristy entertainments rather than serious dramatic works. I know that sounds snobbish, but I really miss good solid plays in the West End. I think War Horse ( which I loved) has a lot to answer for.
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Post by dlevi on Feb 24, 2022 9:13:05 GMT
I think Joem is being kind about the play and the production (not that there's anything wrong with that); I think it's a bad play. All of the important virtually all the action of the play takes place off-stage with characters we never meet - the teacher, the mother etc. The play is awkwardly staged and the setting is completely generic. The two performances are clearly well-intentioned but they aren't particularly interesting. And the small all-white audience which was present at the performance I attended was clearly bored. Paul Miller has done a great job of "modernizing" the Orange Tree with putting contemporary works alongside Edwardian ones. But I felt this was a case of political correctness and not theatrical necessity.
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Post by dlevi on Feb 22, 2022 11:27:08 GMT
Norris also tackles the nepotism accusations around Hex in this article, claiming that not programming any plays written by his wife for the first 6.5 years of his tenure as AD was 'anti-nepotism' (she had apparently had 3 plays commissioned by Hytner under his tenure). That's all very well, but I actually don't mind Norris programming a revival of Small Island with himself as director, and wouldn't mind him programming a play written by his wife as long as someone else was directing it. I think what many people (including myself) were concerned by with Hex was that not just one but three major creative roles were filled by either him or his wife. My issue with "Hex" lies with the fact that aside from directing and writing the lyrics and his wife being the librettist , that's a lot to begin with, but the fact is he was also the producer in charge which meant he was answerable to no one on the production. That's not just nepotism, that's conflict of interest. Shame on him and on the NT Board for allowing it to happen.
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Post by dlevi on Feb 18, 2022 16:02:20 GMT
I'm starting a Henry V specific thread rather than have it buried within the Donmar Season thread. Hope that's ok.
I saw the production last night and while they are saying it runs 2 hours and 45 minutes, it's closer to 3 hours and 10 minutes.
Overall it's an ok production. Mr Harrington delivers the big speeches forcefully but as for the rest of the performance he lacks a level of humanity in addition to his brutishness which (for me) has always set Henry V apart from Shakespearian monarchs. It's a gender equal cast which affords women the opportunity to play parts previously held by men. There's an inconsistency is the use of pronouns sometimes with the space of one speech. A sort of "Is She or isn't He ?" and there's a lot of doubling within the company so that becomes a bit more confusing when they're switching genders from one scene to the next. All that said, it doesn't make much difference to the production - just a distraction.
Max Webster's direction has some modern flourishes ( Neil Diamond's Sweet Caroline being one of them) which, particularly in the battle scenes would best be labeled indulgences. If you have tickets, you won't be angry there's enough good stuff to warrant a post show discussion, but if you've been unable to book them, I wouldn't be too upset.
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Post by dlevi on Feb 17, 2022 9:32:20 GMT
Is the auditorium raked? Please and ta Yes. Not sure about the first two rows - but the rest of it is.
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Post by dlevi on Feb 9, 2022 12:43:29 GMT
Went to this last night, it was the first preview and there were clearly a number of things that went wrong: a Sexting scene that only had one half of the Sexts for example.It seems that the actors have been told to shout almost the entire time and so everything carries the same weight. Lots of witty showtune references. The piano underscoring is terrific and clever. It being the first preview it's not fair to comment on performances - I'll happily make a return visit when things have calmed down. One minor thing, the first scene takes place in Joe Allen's in NYC and there are projections on the walls of theatre posters of flops - except for one : the window card for Dracula starring Frank Langella shouldn't be there - it was a sizable hit. In Joe Allen 's here in London they mixed hits and flops - but not in New York. It's the sort of mistake that the central character in the play would be furious about. The Horror! The Horror!
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Post by dlevi on Jan 28, 2022 22:46:48 GMT
Saw this last night ( I got a last minute return) and while the play is minor, Ms Grieg is just terrific - funny, tough, caring and just the slightest trace of vulnerability. Supporting cast was solid and the theatre posters on the walls were fascinating as well. I agree with 10islane the staging on the extreme left is really inexcusable.
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Post by dlevi on Jan 19, 2022 11:15:04 GMT
So these producers will join the legions of other theatre producers who have lost millions on Frank Wildhorn musicals. They all have their devoted fans but never enough for investors to recoup. PT Barnum was right.
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Post by dlevi on Jan 13, 2022 11:56:47 GMT
I had seen this a few years ago when the Theatre Royal Bath production transferred to the Coronet. Tanya Moodie was Willetta in that production as well. Even though it ticks a lot of boxes for relevancy, casting opportunities, female author,etc. It's just not that good of a play. Ms Moodie is all over the place in terms of her performance and as a consequence I didn't know who the real Willetta is. There's also a very confusing audio montage between Acts Two and Three which references "Black Broadway". with Hello, Dolly ( Pearl Baily version) The Amen Corner and even Hamilton - Did that make any sense to anyone in the audience? It's a "worthy" play but it's not really a good one; however, it's having it's "moment" now .
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Post by dlevi on Jan 13, 2022 0:02:59 GMT
I saw this tonight. It's an unmitigated disaster. Some scenic elements are good, and all of the performers are blameless. But this is appalling - bad music, bad lyrics, bad storytelling, choreography which can only be called ill-advised and clueless direction.
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Post by dlevi on Jan 12, 2022 18:50:14 GMT
I saw this last week and it was pretty bad. Yes it's stylish, but if Cyrano is going to be a musical shouldn't he be able to sing? Shouldn't he have the "best" songs? He doesn't. he's a terrific actor and he'd be a viable Cyrano but he's saddled with an adaptation which isn't romantic or really even musical. It's a misfire on all counts.
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Post by dlevi on Dec 21, 2021 13:57:14 GMT
I'm actually okay with the fact someone who never publicly apologised for being racist didn't get an award nom, but maybe that's just me. Actually she's not racist. Putting the incident in question in context you'd realize that. It was a decade ago at a benefit for The Trevor Project a charity which supports LGBTQ+. teens. Named after a short film which featured a young boy obsessed with ( among other things) Diana Ross who in fact lip syncs to Ms Ross. I guess in your book that too wouldbe considered racist? Ms Foster performed Jennifer Holiday's version of "And I'm Telling You" as any devoted fan of Ms Holliday's would, with all the various vocal stylizations intact. It was over a decade ago when people were less sensitive than they are now. Ms Foster did apologize privately to the Anything Goes company and the staff at the Barbican. Her being "snubbed" by the WOS Awards probably has more to do with the fact that she won't be in town and available to perform at the Awards or show up at their party for photo ops more than anything else.
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Post by dlevi on Dec 9, 2021 10:50:07 GMT
Haven't seen this yet myself but it seems like there is some grumbling about this production already: I think Adam should see the show for himself before kicking up a fuss.
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Post by dlevi on Dec 6, 2021 11:58:33 GMT
Spoiler tags in case this is indeed a spoiler {Spoiler - click to view} I note this line from the wiki plot synopsis
"Zach calls Paul San Marco, who has been reluctant to share his past, onstage for a private talk, and he emotionally relives his childhood and teenage years, his early career in a drag act, facing his manhood and his homosexuality, and his parents ultimately discovering his lifestyle and disowning him for it"
But unless I'm remembering this part completely wrong his parents didn't disown him in this production at all, in fact Paul said that hi parents were unbothered and his father told he was proud of him for the first time? So has this plot changed for the Curve production or is this a change made elsewhere too? It's not a spoiler. The Wiki synopsis is wrong. Paul only feared his parents disowning him. They didn't embrace it, but the overall conclusion is one of acceptance.
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Post by dlevi on Dec 6, 2021 11:48:08 GMT
Am I wrong in thinking this is bad behaviour from the theatre themselves? (..not to mention rude and disrespectful to paying customers) You're not wrong at all. And once you mentioned it to someone in FOH , they should've found you a location where it wouldn't be distracting and/or said: Please comeback later in the run when things will hopefully be running more smoothly. I think you could also probably do that retroactively by sending an e mail to the theatre and say: I spent most of my time irritated by an open laptop and I'd like a ticket to another performance. It's worth a shot.
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Post by dlevi on Dec 5, 2021 6:34:51 GMT
While there is a lot wrong with the play, I found myself engaged by it throughout the 3 hour + running time. The good: Arthur Darvill's engaging performance, and a lot of Mr Smith's twisting plotting throughout. Quite often his dialogue is funny, smart, and incisive. The second to the last scene between Mr Darvill and Ms O'Reilly was terrific. The other cast members were all good. The bad: Hamish Pirie's "look at me" direction and Moi Tran's misguided overly cumbersome set design. What's with the Enron dance interludes? Or the cumbersome and ineffective set changes? It's an ugly show at which to look and the overall effect was that it was simply trying too hard. The matinee was sparsely attended and there were a number of walkouts. Ultimately I think there are enough plots/sub plots/ underlying themes and performance opportunities within it that we're going to see a 4 part Netflix series very very soon. I'm very glad I saw it and given their level of business , if I was offered a ticket to see it again, I'd probably go.
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Post by dlevi on Dec 3, 2021 6:10:37 GMT
Saw this last night in a house that was maybe a 1/4 full.I'm sorry to say that I found it rather pathetic. The actors seemed game enough but the fact is that Phillip Breen's overall concept (if that's what it was) was a mish-mash of half thought-out ideas which failed to coalesce around a central thought - not even something as basic as "being funny" or "reveal the dark under current of the different classes of society living together under the rigid laws of Ephesus". Because the concept wasn't unified, the design unclear and the enthusiastic actors completely at sea on the vast Barbican stage, it all seemed to exemplify the deep deep trouble the RSC are in. I wouldn't be surprised if this run is cut short ( the way Wolf Hall 3 was).
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Post by dlevi on Nov 30, 2021 12:18:17 GMT
My favourite release this year has been Petite Maman Petit Maman is an extraordinary film and while it's modest in many ways, its emotional impact is substantial.
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Post by dlevi on Nov 26, 2021 22:47:32 GMT
I think that says more about Rufus's track record than anything else. He's seriously in over his head there, he can't be having a good time and the Board can't be too pleased either. I think they should just call Indhu and get her over there as soon as possible. Marianne Elliott would be my choice. You need more of a track record of big productions at big theatres than Indhu has. You're absolutely right - but she's formed her own production company with significant backing and might be enjoying that - and I think they'll be an uproar if they don't choose a woman for the job. Since Indhu has really done wonders with turning the Kiln around as opposed to someone such as Josie O'Rourke who drove audiences away from the Donmar or Vicky Featherstone who seems far more interested in doing the "right" thing as opposed to a "good" thing - I think Indhu has a shot. But Marinanne Elliott would be the first choice.
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Post by dlevi on Nov 26, 2021 10:07:23 GMT
My perspective may still be pandemic-skewed, but I liked this a lot more than the following at the NT: Light Shining in Buckinghamshire, Exit the King, I’m Not Running, When We Have Sufficiently Tortured Each Other, etc. I think that says more about Rufus's track record than anything else. He's seriously in over his head there, he can't be having a good time and the Board can't be too pleased either. I think they should just call Indhu and get her over there as soon as possible.
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Post by dlevi on Nov 26, 2021 10:01:54 GMT
It just won't die. Part of the reason the show can keep getting a new book or new concept or just being re-worked ( and I might add always unsuccessfully) is that the tune stack of generic ballads can be put in virtually any order with the same result. There were three different versions of the show prior to the one which initially landed on Broadway. I get that people like some of those songs, but now with yet another "new" book? Please somebody stop them!
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Post by dlevi on Nov 25, 2021 0:18:01 GMT
I was there tonight as well. I've seen lots of versions of Cabaret over the years and I guess I'm done with it. Eddie Redmayne left me cold and while he hits all the notes, he's clearly not comfortable doing so , and his voice is thin. I adore Jessie Buckley but her Sally made no sense at all and we know she can sing but she's been directed to sacrifice the music in favor of the drama , ok- I'm not expecting Liza Minnelli and I loved Jane Horrocks and Natasha Richardson, but Jessie's Sally is seriously demented. The choreography was odd and while the design is terrific, the overall direction struck me as false. The whole evening lacked emotional connections ( Elliot Levy and Liza Sadovy being the exceptions). All in all I'd count this as a disappointment - an expensive disappointment.
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Post by dlevi on Nov 22, 2021 23:24:34 GMT
Saw this tonight - a mess of a play, badly designed and not particularly well directed ( Nancy Carroll does her best but... not enough) and when there's a chance for it to be seriously bold and take an unexpected stand, it fails.
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Post by dlevi on Nov 20, 2021 0:38:45 GMT
I watched this tonight and thought it was fantastic. A great job by all involved. It might be a bit "in" for the general public but not for those of us who read this board. It's a film to savor. I loved the show both here and in NYC and they've done a first class job of translating it to film.
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Post by dlevi on Nov 16, 2021 16:30:22 GMT
I can answer one of those questions. Why no top-line international directors at RSC ? Because they don’t invite any. It's true . But it's also a poisoned chalice at this point. They need a major world class director and executive director to galvanize the organization and someone who could attract the talent needed to bring it back to its glory days ( pre- Adrian Noble) .That list is short. And given the current climate and funding requirements, it would be able to be a man, so the list has gotten even shorter. But someone along the lines of Kenneth Branagh or Stephen Daldry or Marriane Elliot or Sam Mendes might be up to the task - if they were interested. Until then, they're simply going to tread water and hopefully not drown.
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Post by dlevi on Nov 16, 2021 9:00:56 GMT
I saw this last night and after hearing reports from friends that it didn't quite make it, I found it to be a happy and very funny surprise with terrific turns by Janie Dee, Michael Maloney and Rebecca Lacey. A Lot of the references are very American Pop culture, but it doesn't really matter. Jane Dee is especially hilarious as the vain movie star and Mr Maloney has a monologue in the second act that is wonderfully balanced between rage and desperation. Ms Lacy nearly steals the play from those two with an ongoing hilarious imitation of Maggie Smith. Worthwhile and funny ( especially if you can get a deal).
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Post by dlevi on Nov 8, 2021 17:47:37 GMT
The whole creative staff of this Marek Horn play were new to me ( the cast had some familiar face: Joshua James and Nancy Crane among them) and it was pretty damn terrific. A taut production filled involving a US Congressional investigation ( many years in the future) into accusations by the Russians that there is tampering going on inside the cans of contraband and rare tuna fish. It's absurd, pointed, surprising and thoroughly enjoyable. A near full house int he smaller Southwark space had a great time.
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Post by dlevi on Oct 25, 2021 23:21:13 GMT
I was able to see this at the final perf this past Saturday eve and I went in thinking I was going to hate it and instead found it surprising, clever, funny, appalling and rather brilliant. The evening was bursting with genuine combustable theatrical energy everywhere. I also was pleased to see that the production itself was rather lavish in its giant scale and the stage craft involved.After seeing the anemic physical productions this year at the National it a relief to see something new and fresh given a major production and not one which looked cheap.
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Post by dlevi on Oct 25, 2021 23:14:02 GMT
I'm going to 'night, Mother later in the week with a fairly heavy heart. I saw the Broadway revival with Brenda Blethyn and Edie Falco and found it to be pretty tedious, inauthentic and the actors miscast - but hoped that it was just that particular production (the original version is spoken about in the most hallowed of tones!). I'm one of those who speaks of the original 'Night Mother in hallowed tones - Kathy Bates and Anne Pitoniak were perfect casting. Unlike Edie Falco who tried to be plain and Brenda Blethyn who was far too warm-hearted,Ms Bates was wildly over weight and conveyed the reasoned determination of someone who had thought everything through,and Ms Pitoniak was small and frail and a failure as a mother. The connection between the two was palpable and heartbreaking.I'm not sure I 'll make the trek to Hampstead because of the perfection of the casting of that original production.
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