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Post by horton on Mar 24, 2020 12:04:14 GMT
I was due to be at Leeds Grand Theatre today which, unlike the nearby Playhouse, is solely a receiving house. This is the exact wording from the cancellation email I received on Tuesday: "If you can afford to, please consider donating the cost of your tickets - the money will be split between the theatre and company who was bringing the production to the venue." Although there is no specific reference to percentages, if it's on a 50/50 basis, Leeds Grand will actually receive the largest share, as it has already changed a non-refundable £3 booking fee. I don't want either the 'landlord' or 'tenant' to fail but, after some thought, I've asked for a refund, which I'm then going to donate to Northern Ballet, the company I was supposed to be seeing. The split is generally around 70-30 in simple terms in favour of the producer, though the deal can vary depending on the desirability of the show, length of run, merchandise agreements, presence or absence of an interval (allowing for booze sales) etc etc The producer does not receive any of the booking fees in my experience (maybe I do bad deals?)
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Post by horton on Mar 21, 2020 20:26:49 GMT
I wish I could go back to that sense of awe too. Nowadays, if I'm bored I tend to spend my time pricing scenic elements and figuring out running costs- not quite so magical.
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Post by horton on Mar 20, 2020 0:01:52 GMT
Whilst we're waiting for life to move on, how about celebrating our favourite musical memories?
Who has the longest memory?
Not my earliest, but I remember the sheer, sheer joy, wonder, showbiz and warmth of Michael Crawford's Barnum at the Palladium (before the transfer to VP). And when he rope-slid from the circle down to the stage- what a finale. Whilst other stories might circle the old chap, I will be eternally grateful for the show MC put on that evening- he made some look effortless that all subsequent Barnums have struggled to match, even with very visible effort.
Not my favourite musical, but probably the best musical comedy performance I ever saw (though I may have forgotten someone else).
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Post by horton on Mar 19, 2020 23:54:14 GMT
12 weeks realistically
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Post by horton on Mar 19, 2020 13:32:50 GMT
What would Sidney Poitier have done?
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Post by horton on Mar 17, 2020 16:17:34 GMT
Theatre's have been advised they will be shut for 12 weeks at least.
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Post by horton on Mar 16, 2020 17:59:46 GMT
But the government puts all liability on the theatres and producers by not issuing a directive. Typically equivocal.
At times like this, we need a sad face alongside the heart on the reaction bar.
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Post by horton on Mar 16, 2020 15:09:34 GMT
^Let’s cut the mods some slack...the thread is Theatre Cancellations ie actually theatres going dark and therefore shows cancelling or suspended or postponing or vice versa...sorry to sound pedantic it is pedantic- given that show threads are often ambushed by ticket enquiries, which are not the show per se, mentioning performers is surely related closely enough. The absence of a cast member can affect decisions about ticket purchase plans.
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Post by horton on Mar 16, 2020 6:57:55 GMT
The sexual politics of WE WILL ROCK YOU were always a bit dodgy but now seem utterly ghastly- all the "grab your chick" stuff seems prehistoric, but not in a cute way.
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Post by horton on Mar 15, 2020 9:57:45 GMT
Well, I think Into The Woods probably won't require a "great director" as long as they stay faithful to the source material. After the film, I think there will definitely be some interest in this and it will be interesting to see who gets cast. I do think this would work terrifically well in the round however, the audience being the "woods" I was being polite
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Post by horton on Mar 13, 2020 18:27:08 GMT
He hasn't shown himself to be a great stage director
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Post by horton on Mar 11, 2020 22:44:14 GMT
Sadly this is a show cast adrift under the direction of a person who doesn't understand how the conventions of musical comedy make this material "land". It's like asking an opera diva to appear in a soap- it's unlikely to be a good fit.
Having seen the Prince of Wales production, this couldn't help but look cut-price and I felt sorry for the cast who are clearly capable actors but just not attuned to this kind of comedy.
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Post by horton on Mar 11, 2020 22:39:13 GMT
Can we have some consistency?
Apparently it is ok for a transgender person to play the role of a biological woman identifying as a woman. Because they are acting.
But a non-transgender person may not play a transgender role?
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Post by horton on Mar 7, 2020 11:18:20 GMT
Out of left field but I look forward to seeing the old classic. Fond memories of Denis Lawson several decades ago!
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Post by horton on Mar 6, 2020 7:16:33 GMT
A 71 year-old lord wants a piece of the Heathers/ Jamie action.
I look forward to the chapter on this in the unauthorized biography.
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Post by horton on Mar 4, 2020 14:57:32 GMT
It's quite customary for reviewers to see a late preview once the show is frozen. What point are you trying to make? It's still a tawdry story- not just for "modern feminists" intoanewlife- it always was a shabby story and not all of us bought into it even when the film came out. It helps us to remember how crass that period of history was though (and how mistakes are repeated). It's a live action Disney princess film about a hooker, not a Nick Broomfield documentary about sex trafficking in Beverly Hills. I highly doubt it influenced an entire generation of young girls into the sex trade, but maybe you have better numbers on this than I've ever seen? A Disney film about prostitution- what a novel idea. I'm afraid I don't have any numbers, but fortunately they are not necessary when judging artistic worth or good taste.
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Post by horton on Mar 3, 2020 7:46:49 GMT
I saw the Time Out review last night - posted 5 hours before the end of opening night, so he wasn't there last night. It's quite customary for reviewers to see a late preview once the show is frozen. What point are you trying to make? It's still a tawdry story- not just for "modern feminists" intoanewlife- it always was a shabby story and not all of us bought into it even when the film came out. It helps us to remember how crass that period of history was though (and how mistakes are repeated).
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Post by horton on Mar 2, 2020 17:56:05 GMT
Did David Rockwell just borrow his Dirty Rotten Scoundrels set?
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Post by horton on Feb 29, 2020 11:11:26 GMT
My mate on the crew posted a pretty seething few lines on Facebook from Paris in response to an article about the opening night delay there of 4.5hrs. I’m guessing he wont be sad when the tour is over. “Making us work 4 18hr days in a row to squeeze this into a venue she wanted and then blaming her late arrival on us. Classic move from the ex Queen of pop.” I feel some admiration for Westminster Council and/ or LW Theatres for having managed to control her attendance quite effectively by comparison! Very poor show to blame the crew for her own time-keeping diva-dom!
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Post by horton on Feb 28, 2020 22:09:24 GMT
Another thread dominated by the "how do I get in cheap?" brigade. What's wrong with that? I would love to see this play, it's an all time favourite (hence my username) and I've only ever read it, but I won't be able to unless I compromise as best I can with restricted views or find some sort of deal. Wanting to find those deals isn't wasting a thread. It's just west end prices aren't easy. As for the casting, I think Steve Pemberton definitely has the right vibe for his part, if you've ever seen his range in Inside No. 9. I'm slightly unsure about ATJ. I imagine David Tennant owned the part, in fact when I read it I ended up hearing him saying all the lines, but I've only seen ATJ in film and I'm not sure what he'll be like on stage. That's the main reason I'm unsure whether to splash out. I think the power trio of McDonagh, Matthew Dunster and Anna Fleischle is always fabulous theatrically. When the writing and characters are that good, you don't want a lot of distracting fuss in the direction. Although Pillowman might require some theatrical embellishment, more because of how it's told. Hangmen was perfect, IMO. AVVVDM wasn't quite as good... because the play wasn't as good. It did need a few more drafts, I feel (although I still mostly enjoyed it), but that wasn't at the fault of the director. Did you find Three Billboards rushed? The self-serving enquiries about how to get cheap tickets a) makes reading these threads much more difficult as every comment about the actual production is interrupted by 3 questions seating which are of no interest to anyone other than the enquirer (eg is A 23 is good seat? is the £15 seat far back?) b) producers have been forced to re-shape their business models massively because so many customers no expect to get a discounted ticket- apart from the juggernauts, independent producers are increasingly squeezed by rising costs and falling revenues, which is unhealthy for the industry. Look at the income distribution in the recent box office figures for 2019) Anyway back to McDonagh, I found Hangmen to be a thoroughly unsatisfying piece, with unfinished plotlines, lazy jokes at the expense of the comedy deaf old guy and a set design with terrible sightlines. Three Billboards was either rushed or deeply compromised by big movie production demands- the Willoughby/ Anne relationship was lazy, the requirement for the grieving widow to deliver a message to Mildred on the very day of her bereavement stretched credulity. The big reconciliation scene at the reposting of the billboards was trite, very un-MacDonagh and vaguely offensive in that Denise had to be found romance with another nice convenient POC as if that was the only option. I'm not sure whether the reptition and confusion of short comments and sentences (such as between Dixon and the desk sergeant) has become a trademark or just schtick. MacDonagh can't help but write great dialogue sequences, (and especially colourful bravura expletives and insults), but the overall structure felt wobbly and the ending did not feel like a cliff-hanger but more a non-decision. And in terms of it not being the director's fault that a play needs a re-draft, one of the director's most important jobs is to highlight areas of a text that need further work.
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Post by horton on Feb 28, 2020 18:08:58 GMT
Another thread dominated by the "how do I get in cheap?" brigade.
For those of us who want to discuss 'The Pillowman', I am disappointed by this casting- certainly a step down from Broadbent and Goldblum.
Having seen both live (and don't forget David Tennant was also in the NT production), Goldblum was slightly better, I feel, as he brought his trademark other-worldliness to the role. Can Pemberton bring the gravitas and cynicism necessary for the role? He was always the "lightest" of the League of Gentlemen.
Matthew Dunster seems to be this author's go-to director, but I don't understand why. His approach seemed prosaic in 'Hangmen' and 'A Very Very Very Dark Matter' (both lesser McDonagh plays, admittedly).
McDonagh's writing on stage and screen has seemed rushed since "Seven Psychopaths"- like he is not getting time to polish first drafts- so at least this is a bona fide masterpiece to start with; but choices of cast and creatives do not suggest to me that this production will match the bliss of the National's original.
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Post by horton on Feb 26, 2020 23:06:24 GMT
Instinctively I find it exploitative, dishonest and rather ghoulish- like a mass self-deception to pretend the dead star is really there- otherwise why not just watch a music video?
The artist has not given consent for her image/ identity to be used in this way- whereas she did consent to appear in the videos and tribute acts are actual people, who can be applauded for their own skills in live performance.
If this is where the future of "live" performance is going, I won't be partaking.
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Post by horton on Feb 24, 2020 14:30:02 GMT
But her art collection is an investment and she will most likely see a considerable profit if she ever decides to bank it.
I think it's fair to say... she's loaded.
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Post by horton on Feb 23, 2020 12:31:24 GMT
^LB is one of the great unsung heroes of MT...have always loved The Roar Of The Greasepaint,Stop The World,Dr Dolittle and especially Scrooge...on the Lyric site,LB states that he and his wife had a 30 year friendship with Sammy Davis Jr and saw him perform live 300 times so this show sounds like a real labour of love... LB is a pain in the **** and sadly his approach to musical theatre was dated in the 1990s (if not earlier). Sammy Davis Jnr, however, was a genius. Hopefully Clarke Peters can work some magic.
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Post by horton on Feb 19, 2020 17:14:08 GMT
Mrs Henderson was dreary and amateurish, I found. Tracie Bennett was hopelessly mis-cast.
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Post by horton on Feb 19, 2020 8:18:51 GMT
I think they need more monitors
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Post by horton on Feb 19, 2020 8:13:11 GMT
Odd, isn't it?
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Post by horton on Feb 18, 2020 17:57:44 GMT
So final thoughts: do we think the Madonna Palladium residency was a success?
Will she return?
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Post by horton on Feb 17, 2020 11:48:01 GMT
But Billy Elliot is coming back at least ...is it?!! It is.
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Post by horton on Feb 15, 2020 9:32:55 GMT
Another vote for the original production of Starlight Express, it was the first show I saw on my first trip to London and still holds a special place in my heart. Billy Elliot (I think I didn't enjoy Hamilton cause I blame it for Billy closing, even though that's irrational) Blood Brothers with Stephanie Lawrence (damn, I miss Stephanie Lawrence) Miss Saigon at Drury Lane Les Mis at the Palace The Bodyguard with Beverly Knight Witches of Eastwick at Drury Lane Pajama Game at the Shaftesbury Dress Circle But Billy Elliot is coming back at least
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