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Post by princeton on Feb 1, 2018 23:46:04 GMT
Interesting - as she was Diane Langton's understudy as Angel in the very short lived production at the Cambridge Theatre in 1998.
Update - a fact which Baz tweeted 10 minutes after I posted this. Do we think he is a lurker?
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Post by princeton on Jan 31, 2018 19:14:15 GMT
Was definitely Ash Hunter - playing his own son!
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Post by princeton on Jan 31, 2018 13:08:24 GMT
I’ve never seen the play - but I recall that in the novel and the film Molina identifies as a woman. Given that we live in far more enlightened times regarding trans matters than when previous versions were staged - it will be interesting to see what difference this makes to how the play is performed and received - especially given that this is a new adaptation. Interesting that the Menier website says it’s a tale of ‘two strikingly different men’ so perhaps in this version the character isn’t a trans woman or maybe it’s inadvertent misgendering - which is a particularly live issue at the moment.
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Post by princeton on Jan 29, 2018 15:00:28 GMT
Strange things are happening on the BoM website. Bios are disappearing - so maybe new ones will appear. The full new cast might even be known before the curtain goes up.
Good to see producers showing so much respect for their cast members!!!
UPDATE at 1500
New cast there - Dom Simpson as Elder Price; J Michael Finley, a previous Broadway standby, as Elder Cunningham
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Post by princeton on Jan 25, 2018 22:20:56 GMT
Am I getting older or are the cast members getting younger? I think that most of the current principal cast members are pretty much the same age as the original cast were when they played the roles - with the possible exception of Valjean and Enjolras. As I'm only a couple of years younger than Michael Ball it makes me feel very old!
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Post by princeton on Jan 22, 2018 0:49:10 GMT
Rebecca as Mrs Johnstone in Liverpool at the Empire in 1984 with Peter Capaldi as Eddie and, if I remember correctly, a certain David Pugh was the Assistant Director. This was the tour based on the original London production not the Bill Kenwright revival.
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Post by princeton on Jan 19, 2018 23:10:06 GMT
with somebody called Neil from Eastenders as the Captain. That will be Neil McDermott who played Rolf in original revival cast of SoM at the Palladium, Jean-Michel in La Cage at the Menier, Lord Farquaard in Shrek at Drury Lane and most recently Chief Weasel in Wind in the Willows at the Lowry and the Palladium.
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Post by princeton on Jan 12, 2018 0:06:25 GMT
Interesting how little she's actually directed there recently - nothing since St Joan at this time last year and, given what's already been announced, nothing until June at the earliest - although she did have a co-author credit for the Kids Company musical. And in 2016 most of her directing was in New York on transfers. With this and the time spent making the Mary Queen of Scots film, one wonders whether she's had her eye on the door for quite some time.
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Post by princeton on Jan 8, 2018 12:53:19 GMT
Sam O'Rourke is a brilliant suggestion.
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Post by princeton on Dec 1, 2017 17:57:40 GMT
if they don’t meet a certain quota they can be fined or lose funding Says who? By which I mean I find it highly unlikely that any arts organisation would lose it funding, or worse, be fined because of imposed quotas on backstage and front of house staff. I'd like to know what organisations are giving out these diktats and which are in receipt of them. Of course may arts organisations are given funding on the basis of increasing diversity amongst its staff and audiences - but i've not heard of such specific quotas being imposed.
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Post by princeton on Dec 1, 2017 13:36:53 GMT
if they don’t meet a certain quota they can be fined or lose funding Says who?
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Post by princeton on Nov 26, 2017 17:04:22 GMT
A couple of the cast who 'can't sing':
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Post by princeton on Oct 17, 2017 10:32:18 GMT
I'm about to give up. Logged on at 10am was 874 in the queue. Now - nearly 90 minutes later - still only 503. Can't wait around all day. It seems that almost every London theatre uses a booking system which simply cannot cope with a new booking period. The National, the Almeida, the Donmar, the Young Vic all seem to have the same problem. The cynic in me would say that it's simply a ploy to get people to join up for membership schemes - but my experience as a member of three of the above suggests that that doesn't actually help matters either - just gives you the same problems a few days earlier.
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Post by princeton on Sept 22, 2017 22:41:28 GMT
Jeremy Taylor had to pull out of the Open Air Theatre production of On The Town (he was due to play Ozzie) because of a leg injury sustained during rehearsal - I think I saw a picture of his ankle in plaster I suspect that's why he's not using the trap at the moment.
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Post by princeton on Sept 21, 2017 9:05:06 GMT
Robert Fairchild really is in a league of his own - and by the time he reached London he was so comfortable in that role that it was an utter joy to watch - the perfect synthesis of performer and part. I’ve seen seven Jerrys here and in the US (not obsessive honestly - I love Gershwin and love dance) and Max is in line with the other replacements where they’ve chosen classical dancers where their singing is second order rather than musical theatre performers - Ashley being an exception and he sings the part wonderfully. I guess this is one role where, if a choice has to be made, I’d take an effortless classical dancer over a singer - and I agree with lonlod that Max is a very virile Jerry. However, what I really wish is that they’d locked the door and not allowed Fairchild to leave!
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Post by princeton on Sept 19, 2017 23:05:17 GMT
Who knows what will happen in the instance - but Charlie Stemp is in the Palladium panto until 14 January and then opening on Broadway in Hello Dolly on 20 January - so there's some long distance rehearsals going on there (though I suspect Dolly has rather more money to run simultaneous rehearsals than Upstairs at the Gatehouse).
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Post by princeton on Sept 8, 2017 16:24:35 GMT
Jennifer Saunders is playing the Duchess of Berwick, which isn't a particularly large part - one of those typical WIldean older aristocratic women. If I recall, and I get my Wilde plays mixed up, she kick starts the plot by reporting the alleged scandal then largely hovers around in the background with the occasional one liner. Not dissimilar to the character Anne Reid is playing in A Woman of No Importance.
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Post by princeton on Sept 8, 2017 15:24:26 GMT
And two separate stints in Chitty - one as Potts, the other as the Childcatcher,
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Post by princeton on Sept 3, 2017 0:10:26 GMT
As ever here I will be in the minority but have had to put my honest thoughts out there I have to say that I agree with much of what you said. I'm quite familiar with the piece and have seen several production of it here and in the US - and I felt that this was somewhere in the middle of the pile. It's a problematic piece at the best of times - but I felt many of the directorial and, in particular, musical staging choices amplified the problems rather than hiding them. There are casting problems too - some of which are overcome in individual performances others less so. Imelda Staunton predictably acts the part well (although perhaps she unravels too quickly so that by the time she gets to Losing My Mind she's it's all rather overstated) but there's no getting away from the fact that she doesn't have the soprano range and some key moments have been transposed - most notably in Too Many Mornings which tends to dilute the impact of that scene. Janie Dee looks and dances the part well though, as noted, Lucy and Jessie is so badly staged that she's not really the focus of it and makes no sense for the younger Phyllis to be in the number - I thought she nailed Leave You. On her own terms I thought Tracie Bennett was fine - but without any hint of Hollywood glamour. Who's The Woman was one of my low points - again the routine makes no sense - too often the younger dancers didn't 'mirror' the older dancer rather they did a more complicated routine - and then for some bizarre reason the entire company joins in at a the end (and good point about the shoes - in the US revival Stella came on with a box of shoes). I thought Philip Quast and Peter Forbes were both good - although the latter was hampered by the drag version of God Why Don't You....which gets laughs for the wrong reason. I thought all the younger quartet did well (though why all the props doing Loveland - they are just a distraction) and Josephine Barstow's One Last Kiss was a moment of stillness in an otherwise over-frenetic production. The Rain in the Roof etc medley was fine - I've seen it done better - Ive seen it worse. And Beautiful Girls on a two tier-fire escape is never going to be particularly magical or moving. Maybe it all comes down to anticipation or knowing the piece too well - but all in all i was disappointed. 6/10 perhaps. I'll go back later in the run with completely different expectations and I'm sure I'll enjoy it more - but at this moment in time it all feels like such a missed opportunity.
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Post by princeton on Aug 31, 2017 20:59:01 GMT
So quite some distance from being never seen in the UK! There's nothing wrong with that one. I doubt there are many who would be expecting the Ziegfeld Follies (who's name isn't mentioned anyway). Wrong thread I know so apologies - but surely the Follies are the annual shows produced by Weismann not the 'girls' who appeared in them - therefore Tracie Bennett, Janie Dee and Imelda Staunton can't actually "play the magnificent Follies" they can play the Weismann girls or the Follies girls or the stars of the Follies but not the Follies themselves. Splitting hairs perhaps - but increasingly theatre web copy seems to be written by people who don't really bother with facts - or understanding the piece they are writing about. Now back to Little Women......
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Post by princeton on Aug 31, 2017 14:27:56 GMT
I guess in a world where the National Theatre site proclaims that "Tracie Bennett, Janie Dee and Imelda Staunton play the magnificent Follies" we have to just accept that accuracy and theatre websites don't go hand in hand!!
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Post by princeton on Aug 31, 2017 14:03:54 GMT
Such an odd press release.
This may be the UK professional premier - but it's simply not true to say that it's "never before seen in the UK" - the Royal Academy of Music musical theatre course did it as one of their end of year shows in 2014 (with choreography by Drew McOnie) and there may have been amateur productions around the UK. And Jason Howland isn't really the composer of Beautiful: The Carole King Musical - he's the musical supervisor and did additional musical arrangements. I know that press release, and web copy, is all about getting bums on seats - but factually accuracy wouldn't go amiss.
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Post by princeton on Aug 25, 2017 10:53:53 GMT
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Post by princeton on Aug 24, 2017 13:24:20 GMT
But I'll wait and see how it all feels when I actually see the show live and see these characters come alive on stage That's definitely the best way - hope you're not disappointed - but it's definitely not a show which everyone will like - even if they like elements of it. It really isn't a show about fading showbiz people - or about showbiz and the individual dancers and their careers. The characters who sing Broadway Baby, I'm Still Here, Who's That Woman etc have very little dialogue or back story (I think I once read that Carlotta only has 9 lines other than I'm Still Here in the whole show) In terms of age - I first saw it when I was the same age as the younger characters - I'm now exactly the same age as Ben Stone. Every decade I've seen it I've taken something different away. I definitely find it more moving the older I get - but I think that's very often the case. Merrily We Roll Along had the same effect.
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Post by princeton on Aug 22, 2017 23:09:20 GMT
the drum, surprisingly, isn't used.
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Post by princeton on Aug 21, 2017 22:03:43 GMT
Richard Fleeshman and Oliver Tompsett both worked with Greenberg on Guys and Dolls - perhaps they are possibilities. As did Simon Lipkin - but the dates clash with Nativity the musical
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Post by princeton on Aug 21, 2017 21:59:11 GMT
Gordon Greenberg previously directed Barnum at a theatre in Florida in 2008, with Brad Oscar (a one-time Max Bialystock in New York and London) in the title role. According to this review Oscar didn't do his own 'aerial stunts' rather they had a shadow double - not exactly clear how it worked but perhaps we can expect the same at the Menier. In which case it may not be quite as difficult to cast as it at first seems. palmbeachartspaper.com/theater-review-maltz-jupiters-barnum-offers-three-rings-of-entertainment/
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Post by princeton on Aug 21, 2017 12:43:01 GMT
Tina Arena to take the title role in the Australian production At the risk of appearing ageist - she'll be 50 by the time the production opens next year - which seems perhaps a tad old to play someone who we see as a teenager through to her death at age 33. Though I'm sure the wigs will be good - and maybe she's a great actress.
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Post by princeton on Jul 31, 2017 1:33:31 GMT
Interesting point buried in that original article about Matthew Bourne’s dance company Re:Bourne being based in the South East and the money coming out of that 'pot' - even though their headquarters is in London. They certainly tour nationally and their website refers to a partnership with the Farnham Maltings, but are also a resident company at Sadler's Wells. Surely they don't get over a million pounds a year for community based work in Farnham? They are not alone in the dance world for seeming to get funded away from their home base: the Russell Maliphant Company which has its productions offices at Sadler's Wells and a rehearsal studio in West London gets its funding from the East 'pot' while the Hofesh Shechter company (production office London) gets funded from the South East - even though its current production is going nowhere near there. Clearly all are good companies producing high-quality, innovative work which deserves funding - and there might be good reason why they are all funded as regional organisations. However to the untrained eye it seems to highlight the slightly muddy nature of how the Arts Councils allocates its funds - particularly in order to tell the out-of-London narrative. More transparency about the decision making would be a good thing.
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Post by princeton on Jul 18, 2017 22:41:27 GMT
TodayTix hasn't updated their site to reflect the new three-way lead arrangement, still says Amber is performing 7 shows out of 8 and not doing Monday nights Not just TodayTix - the official Dreamgirls website - despite no longer using the word alternate on Marisha's and Karen's billing - still says on the ticket page: "The producers cannot guarantee the appearance of any particular artist(s). Amber Riley is currently scheduled to play the role of Effie White for 7 out of 8 performances per week. One of the alternates will perform on 1 out of 8 performances per week, currently scheduled on Monday evenings. This is subject to change and may be affected by contracts, holiday, illness, or events beyond the producers’ control." All very confusing for people buying tickets.
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