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Post by princeton on Oct 15, 2021 9:26:24 GMT
The Daily Mail has picked up the story and covered it in its own particular way (ie with no specific detail) for one reason alone......
Also how did it take two people to write an article which says almost nothing - and yet still manages to include factual errors?
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Post by princeton on Oct 15, 2021 9:23:01 GMT
They were asking to see covid passports/LFT results at Frozen earlier this week - first check before they even let you in the theatre (before bag and ticket check). May have been a random performance, or we may have been randomly selected, though they did seem to be asking everyone, and I don't know what happened if you didn't have any proof. Was the first time in about 20 theatre visits since social distancing was lifted that I've been asked to show proof of testing or vaccination.
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Post by princeton on Oct 11, 2021 15:44:36 GMT
In fairness to Carrie Hope Fletcher - she's constantly supporting Georgina Onuorah, who is the alternate Cinderella, on social media. In fact the tweet which seems to have triggered this said: "Slight scheduling change at Cinders today and I will now only be performing in this evenings show. This afternoon you will be watching the marvellous @georginaonuorah !!!"
Then someone replied tagging both asking for a partial refund as CHF hadn't appeared at the matinee even though 'the understudy was good'. And CHF's later tweet made that point that it's not great to tag in the replacement saying how angry you are that the usual actor hasn't performed.
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Post by princeton on Oct 6, 2021 11:46:35 GMT
Still showing day seats as available online only here (with the link to the booking site): www.andjulietthemusical.co.uk/ticket-info/Think the information on the Shaftesbury site is incorrect. Though you can also access them through that site by using the promo code: STDAY25 - and they will show if still available.
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Post by princeton on Oct 2, 2021 21:49:06 GMT
I did wonder about that. Frustrating if so because I can't spend more than the £20 tickets and can only go on the last 3 performances. Hopefully sales pick up and they open it back up if that's the case, otherwise I guess I can try for the rush tickets but I hate relying on something like that so last minute when I have so few options. There are £20 tickets available now in the stalls and onstage for all performances.
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Post by princeton on Sept 30, 2021 13:44:25 GMT
Don't be deceived by Rebecca Lock's youthful looks (though it would be good if she would tell us her secret!). It's 25 years since she made her west end debut as Bertrande in Martin Guerre. I believe that the she's actually older than Tyne Daly was when she played Rose the 1989 Broadway revival. I also think that's about the right age to play Rose. The real life Rose was in her early 20s when she had her daughters - and Louise became 'Gypsy' whilst still in her teens and was headlining Minsky's in New York before she was 20. So Rose being mid 40's by the end of the show would be factually correct. Merman was 51 when she created the role and Lansbury 48 when she played it in the original London production.
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Post by princeton on Sept 24, 2021 10:13:08 GMT
I think I paid £10 to see it at the Royal Court, and around £25 to see it at Chichester's Minerva a couple of years ago (with the brilliant Luke Thallon in the Ben Whishaw role) - and whilst I know that both of those are subsidised and commercial theatre has to at least break even - these prices are still plain crazy.
It's an intimate play, in all ways, so you need to be close - but not £125 close. I'd have expected better from Marianne Elliott and Chris Harper who I thought had more integrity than most, but seem to have fallen into the take the awards - take the money - screw the audience mindset so beloved by other producers.
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Post by princeton on Sept 24, 2021 0:04:18 GMT
Jamie Lloyd tried to get the rights for a while for him to direct Jenna Russell - but the US producers were holding onto a transfer of the Michael Greif NYC production - so wouldn't allow an alternative version. Maybe they've finally relented and decided that after 12 years a fresh set of eyes might be just the thing which is needed.
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Post by princeton on Sept 23, 2021 23:48:50 GMT
Different/new production - same leading actress (Tanya Moodie)
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Post by princeton on Sept 23, 2021 23:25:29 GMT
Agree about the Royal Court production - with the Theatre Upstairs converted into a tiny gladiatorial arena. Ben Whishaw was the draw, Andrew Scott the revelation. According to Baz, Jonathan Bailey is playing John (the Whishaw) part. Marvellous Idina Menzel/Kristin Chenoweth type billing!
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Post by princeton on Sept 23, 2021 21:37:53 GMT
Olivier award winner for musicals and Shakespeare?
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Post by princeton on Sept 22, 2021 21:07:12 GMT
The Theatre Royal Newcastle is Michael Harrison's 'home venue', where he discovered his love for theatre, so I think his heart trumps the 500+ extra possible seats in Sunderland. He's started several of his productions there including Bedknobs and Broomsticks, Young Frankenstein and the upcoming Drifters Girl. Singin' in the Rain is also playing Newcastle rather than Sunderland.
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Post by princeton on Sept 17, 2021 10:50:48 GMT
They've already announced the full cast. Lizzie Annis, who graduated from Oxford School of Drama last year, is playing Laura.
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Post by princeton on Sept 16, 2021 12:54:08 GMT
Why any show which describes itself as "a theatrical celebration of truth, beauty, freedom and — above all — love" would choose to give any sort of exclusive to a newspaper whose editorial remit runs counter to all of those things beggars belief.
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Post by princeton on Sept 16, 2021 11:56:02 GMT
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Post by princeton on Sept 14, 2021 10:03:57 GMT
Prices seem to be:
Stalls £55-£150 Dress Circle £80-£150 Upper Circle £20 (Restricted view) - £55
Looks like no reductions for previews.
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Post by princeton on Sept 7, 2021 22:33:14 GMT
David Pugh has his tongue firmly planted in his cheek with that tweet. He's a real maverick producer and a very vocal opponent of premium pricing. He's also said that after The Band and The Girls that he realised that large scale musicals weren't his thing. This Guardian article gives a hint of how his mind operates!
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Post by princeton on Sept 5, 2021 21:15:35 GMT
I'd love Frances Ruffelle's daughter to play it - that would be such great billing.
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Post by princeton on Aug 31, 2021 19:57:20 GMT
Joanna Riding did some of the early readings and was rumoured to be a front runner - but then it was decided to go much younger and 23 year old Laura Michele Kelly was cast (she'd previously replaced Riding in the Mackintosh My Fair Lady) - thereafter early/mid 20's seemed to be the default casting. It would have put an interesting and different slant on the story if Jo Riding had played Mary as she would have been a similar age to Mrs Banks (Linzi Hateley in the original).
Of all the Marys I saw - Caroline Sheen (in the UK and then US tour) was my favourite and I think it's because she was a little older than her west end counterparts, and it felt as though she had a few years of work under her belt rather than being straight out of nanny school.
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Post by princeton on Aug 27, 2021 9:23:48 GMT
I saw it earlier in the week too. I echo what was said above - a delightful gentle play where nothing happens yet everything happens - and the obvious plot twist which I was expecting from having read the website copy thankfully never happened. It felt really special to be sitting there with a capacity audience of around 30 people watching it. And yes, there were tears at several points - though it's laced with gentle humour well as one or two laugh out loud moments.
Well done to Hampstead for having shows in both its performance spaces and doing everything it can to ensure that safety is paramount.
I had to have pasty and beans (and chips) for 'tea' the following day - and also really want to visit Kilnsea.
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Post by princeton on Aug 25, 2021 16:11:55 GMT
Yael Farber is the director. Her production of The Crucible at the Old Vic ran over 3 and a half hours. It was very good - but there was an awful lot of unnecessary business. Her Salome at the National was equally slow moving (literally at times). Maybe the Almeida is just being cautious with the 7pm start as I suspect a lot of the 'development' happens in the rehearsal room - but it may end up being a very long evening.
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Post by princeton on Aug 24, 2021 8:25:32 GMT
When venues like the Phoenix require proof of Covid vaccination, does anyone know if they accept the card and if not what happens if that's all you have and no smartphone ? I've requested a NHS letter but have several shows booked this week. Not sure whether you mean that you've ordered a letter but it hasn't yet arrived. If so, as Poster J says, you can now download a covid pass from either the NHS app or the NHS website (which is presumably where you requested the letter). Also for those with an iPhone - you can also now add the covid pass from the app to your Apple wallet. Both of these have to be updated every 30 days - but it only takes a few seconds to do so.
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Post by princeton on Aug 21, 2021 22:59:32 GMT
I know it's much more dramatic to have a scenario which involves backstage intrigue and warring divas - but in this case it's nothing to do with the producer preferring one narrator over the other (and they are both supportive of each other - even though they've never shared a stage).
The tweets may seem odd - but I suspect she's only posting that she can't do today's performances because she earlier said that she was going to do them.
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Post by princeton on Aug 21, 2021 12:41:26 GMT
Whilst I think it is a production which deserves a longer life, I'm not sure whether there's enough of an audience appetite to sustain an extended west end run given how much the production will cost in town and without household names in the cast (and heaven help if the names Alfie Boe or Michael Ball are thrown into the mix as a way to boost the box office). I'm sure they'll want to wait until Gina Beck can return - by which time even more productions will be circling over a very small number of suitable theatres which might possibly be free - and Disney probably has deeper pockets than CFT. Hope I'm wrong though.
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Post by princeton on Aug 18, 2021 21:57:29 GMT
BTW - It's not a North American tour - it's just, at the moment, a five-week run in Los Angeles. The dates fit into the break in the UK tour - so Layton and Roy/Bianca will do Southampton until 8 Jan - then off to LA 16 Jan-20 Feb. Layton heads back to rejoin the tour when it starts up again in Nottingham on 23 February.
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Post by princeton on Aug 14, 2021 21:12:42 GMT
Park Theatre possibly?
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Post by princeton on Aug 9, 2021 23:30:34 GMT
They clearly petitioned SOLT that it was sufficiently different for Matthew Bourne and Stephen Mear to win the Best Choreography award a second time!
On the set - the current one is actually Bob Crowley's initial idea for the show. He always wanted to have something which was more abstract like a picture book opening up - based on the Mary Shepard illustrations. However CML and Disney wanted something more literal and spectacular for the premiere production (as they misguidedly expected it to run for at least a decade). So, for once, it was actually the original designer who wanted to reimagine the production for the tour (and indeed all subsequent productions) and return to his original idea rather than the producer wanting to cut corners (though I'm sure CamMac was more than happy to save the pennies).
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Post by princeton on Aug 9, 2021 14:39:41 GMT
And won't be partnered with Anton!
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Post by princeton on Aug 5, 2021 21:16:58 GMT
Bumping - just in case there is news soon.
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Post by princeton on Aug 2, 2021 23:31:10 GMT
Sounds like Saturday's ending might have gone the way of Evita's balloon dress!
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