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Post by alison on Jun 18, 2017 16:56:15 GMT
The Coliseum was very pleasant last Saturday afternoon - at least once I got inside. The waiting in the queue outside in the direct sunshine, however, was less pleasant.
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Post by alison on Jun 13, 2017 15:58:44 GMT
Out of interest were those bats on a laser guidance system or inconspicuous rigging? Too far away to see but my ears will be happy (lots of speakers) In Manchester they were on a rigging which was quite conspicuous from my seat in the upper circle. Still on a rigging, but I think they've improved it - it wasn't easy to see even from the circle slips directly underneath it.
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Post by alison on Jun 12, 2017 18:39:17 GMT
*would also appreciate knowing how to access such a thing please*
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Post by alison on Jun 10, 2017 7:34:24 GMT
Regarding 'You Took The Words Right Out Of My Mouth' - it may well be that it's still there in Act II but I just can't remember properly. Act II is basically just one song leading into another, there's hardly any dialogue, so i'm having trouble discerning which songs were in there. Was it one of the duets that Falco and Sloane sing? [ It's sung by The Lost as they're celebrating the fact that (shock! horror!) Strat isn't dead. Begins with Strat and Raven doing the spoken "On a hot summer night ..." exchange and ends in an a Capella fade out with the cast leaving the stage.
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Post by alison on Jun 9, 2017 17:31:57 GMT
I'd be interested to know how much this has changed since its Manchester run - there was no song list in the programme, but one song that I was expecting to hear was 'You Took The Words Right Out Of My Mouth,' and I don't recall it being in the show yesterday even though I'm pretty sure it was on a song list that someone posted in this thread when the show was in Manchester. It was in on Monday at the first preview (halfway through act 2), I'm really surprised if it's been cut. Not much has changed since Manchester, tbh, at least in terms of the story/music. The book has lots of small tweaks, the biggest seems to be the removal of Strat's "stars" speech near the end of act 1. Musically, Out of the Frying Pan has been extended and Making Love Out of Nothing At All is back in (it was cut early on in Manchester). The costumes are completely redone, for the most part, and there are some neat additions to the staging.
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Post by alison on Jun 5, 2017 17:57:05 GMT
First preview of Bat Out of Hell for me tonight, and probably something else (not sure what yet) on Saturday as the hubby is away.
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Post by alison on Jun 4, 2017 18:08:30 GMT
Today for me it's Nobody from Betty Blue Eyes, after Bill Kenwright played it earlier.
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Post by alison on Jun 2, 2017 0:04:08 GMT
To add more "evidence" to the mix: a friend and I got rush seats tonight (row K stalls, almost perfect but for the poor rake) and in one scene we could hear the taps as one of the actresses walked across the stage, like the mic on them hadn't been turned off.
As far as the show itself - WOW. Loved it.
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Post by alison on May 27, 2017 19:39:14 GMT
To the three women who decided to walk out of Rent during Angel's funeral speeches this afternoon - your timing was perfect. If you wanted to pick the most disruptive moment, that is. :-(
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Post by alison on May 27, 2017 13:14:02 GMT
If anyone else is here this afternoon, I'm raised stalls row R far stage right. Currently wearing a pink cardigan over a striped top but I'm sure the cardi will come off once I'm inside.
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Post by alison on May 24, 2017 19:33:47 GMT
Now this is a thread I can get behind. Wonderland UK tour:
Alice: Jessica Croll Jack: Benjamin Yates Ellie: Phoebe May Newman Mad Hatter: Francesca Lara Gordon Queen of Hearts: Bree Smith White Rabbit: Michael Morgan Caterpillar: Toyan Thomas-Browne Cheshire Cat: Sharif Afifi March Hare: Benjamin McMillan With Michelle Pentecost as alternate Alice/Hatter. I assume there are second covers, but they're not listed and none of them have been on as far as I'm aware. I'd hazard a guess Jessica and Francesca are 2nd Covers to the opposite roles too. That sounds sensible. I'd guess Francesca as 2nd Ellie too, since she's shorter and plays younger (although there's also the possibility of Collette Guitart, the female swing). I'd also guess that the Bens and Toyan/Sharif might be 2nd covers to each other. Although now that I think about it, I'm throwing in a wild guess at Ben Kerr (principal March Hare) as 2nd cover Jack, entirely because he plays slightly older than the rest of the male ensemble.
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Post by alison on May 24, 2017 19:30:51 GMT
Assuming that it doesn't change between Manchester and when it opens at the Coliseum next week ...
Bat Out of Hell:
Strat: Benjamin Purkiss (alt), Ruben Van keer Raven: Georgia Carling, Eve Norris Falco: Tim Oxbrow, Stuart Boother Sloane: Jemma Alexander, Hannah Ducharme Tink: Anthony Selwyn, Jordan Lee Davies Zahara: Rosalind James, Emily Benjamin Jagwire: Olly Dobson, Patrick Sullivan Ledoux: Olly Dobson, Jordan Lee Davies Blake: Andrew Patrick-Walker, Jonathan Cordin
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Post by alison on May 24, 2017 19:25:07 GMT
Now this is a thread I can get behind. Wonderland UK tour:
Alice: Jessica Croll Jack: Benjamin Yates Ellie: Phoebe May Newman Mad Hatter: Francesca Lara Gordon Queen of Hearts: Bree Smith White Rabbit: Michael Morgan Caterpillar: Toyan Thomas-Browne Cheshire Cat: Sharif Afifi March Hare: Benjamin McMillan With Michelle Pentecost as alternate Alice/Hatter. I assume there are second covers, but they're not listed and none of them have been on as far as I'm aware.
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Post by alison on May 21, 2017 11:47:19 GMT
Edit: juliepb is taking my ticket. I'm glad it's going to be of use to someone. :-)
I've already offered it to juliepb, but if it turns out she's already sorted then I might have a side balcony ticket available. It'll have to be picked up at the box office - it was supposed to be mine but I now can't go - but the T&Cs just say you can't sell on for profit, not that you can't transfer for face value, so I can send the booking confirmation and there shouldn't be any issue. I'll edit this post once I've heard from juliepb to say if it's still available or not.
Mr Wallacio, I was supposed to be doing the same but from Coventry - on a school night. And I *am* doing it in a couple of weeks for the first preview of Bat Out of Hell. Oh dear.
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Post by alison on May 19, 2017 16:22:59 GMT
Oh, how I wish I could afford to make the trip to Nottingham or Tunbridge Wells to see this again. I went three times last week in Coventry in the end and cried my eyes out. First time I've seen the show on stage, although I've listened to the cast recording way too many times since I discovered it in my early twenties. I'm so jealous of those of you who still have shows to go.
I was lucky enough to see Joshua Dever as Roger on the Tuesday (missed a couple of cues but otherwise very strong) and all sorts of fun and games in the ensemble on Friday/Saturday due to various people being off, including Christina doing the third SoL solo and the last Voice Mail being completely skipped (very smoothly, I might add - if I didn't know the show back to front I wouldn't have noticed) on the Saturday afternoon because Raffaela injured her knee halfway through act 2 and they didn't have enough ensemble women to sing all three mothers.
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Post by alison on May 19, 2017 16:09:44 GMT
Thanks - booked for the Saturday afternoon!
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Post by alison on May 17, 2017 17:08:55 GMT
Okay, I thought I wasn't that fussed about seeing the tour, since I've seen the London production and both previous UK tours, then they announced Ryan. Oh dear.
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Post by alison on May 13, 2017 17:54:50 GMT
Instantly: Memphis (went in knowing two songs - Memphis Lives in Me and Steal Your Rock 'n' Roll - and nothing else, absolutely loved it and am still gutted there's been no news on the tour)
Grower: Rock of Ages (went in with no idea what to expect, enjoyed it well enough the first time but wasn't particularly fussed, then saw it again on tour and fell in love)
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Post by alison on May 11, 2017 7:09:11 GMT
Has Chris been bad in the role or something? Or is he ill? My mum will be happy, she was hoping to see Darius along with Sheridan because he was in a band or something?? I wasn't really listening 😂 I believe he's ill. At least, that's what I heard in Edinburgh the first week Darius replaced him.
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Post by alison on May 9, 2017 7:08:51 GMT
Rent for me tonight, finally!
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Post by alison on May 8, 2017 17:09:48 GMT
I know there are plans to work on the staging and put back in some things they couldn't make work in Manchester. No idea if they're working on the book but given the chances that happened over the Manchester run it wouldn't surprise me. I'm there for the first preview so I'll make sure to report back here.
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Post by alison on May 7, 2017 11:12:59 GMT
For what? I assume since you've put her name in here you're suggesting her for a part in the show. She's too young for Alice, too old for Ellie - I guess she could work for the Hatter, but they'd have to take her songs down like in Sister Act, everything we know of her already suggests she wouldn't be able to sing them as they are. No thanks.
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Post by alison on May 6, 2017 20:47:08 GMT
I enjoyed it (not my first time seeing it) as much as I could focus on it, which wasn't much unfortunately. The audience around me were utterly obnoxious. I put a vent in the bad behaviour thread in the interval, and it didn't improve during act 2. If anything it got worse, since a bucket of popcorn appeared.
Sure, the show is fluffy and silly and the book could do with a lot of work, but it's very enjoyable for what it is and the cast are fabulous.
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Post by alison on May 6, 2017 20:04:03 GMT
She sounded great this afternoon. I'm gutted to have missed Francesca by one show - not that I'd have been able to go anyway, since Saturday is the one day there's no late train back to Coventry for some unknown reason.
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Post by alison on May 6, 2017 14:50:04 GMT
I'm at Wonderland this afternoon and I haven't been able to focus on the show for more than about 30 seconds at a time thanks to the audience around me. The man beside me seems to be on a mission not to sit in the same position for more than a minute and halfway through started a tickling game with the child beside him! The other adult in their party keeps getting his phone out to check his messages. The little boy behind me has been out to the toilet twice before The Mad Hatter and has since spent the rest of the Act holding an almost non-stop conversation with his grandmother, and the last few minutes kicking my seat. (Either I mistyped or autocorrect changed that to licking my seat to start with - now that would have been distracting alright).
There are also a lot of well-behaved children around, but the misbehaving ones are really spoiling it. :-(
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Post by alison on May 3, 2017 17:32:16 GMT
Sarah was out when we saw the show in Cardiff last week. Her understudy Sally Peerless was on. Sally gave a really endearing performance, I really liked her. Sally was on when I saw the show in Edinburgh a couple of weeks ago, too. She was very good.
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Post by alison on May 2, 2017 16:17:26 GMT
^It finishes in Dublin, in early September. No news on a West End transfer since, but open to correction. Alice Stokoe has replaced Sarah Goggin as Sr Mary Robert. Alice was in American Idiot and Mamma Mia, previously. Sarah was excellent so I'll be interested to see what Alice brings to it. Ooh, I'm glad I've booked for Oxford now (mainly because I want to see Joanna as Deloris) - I thought Alice was very good in Mamma Mia, I can see her being a good Mary Robert.
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Post by alison on Apr 30, 2017 16:39:59 GMT
Billy Elliott used to have the same situation, too - a non-white Billy with Caucasian parents. It's not an issue as long as you're willing to suspend disbelief.
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Post by alison on Apr 30, 2017 12:06:16 GMT
It may be possible that I ended up back in Manchester yesterday (in the second row) to see this again. It may also be possible that I have booked one of the cheap balcony seats for the first night in London (which will leave me running on less than 5 hours sleep for work the next day). Oops!
Worth noting for anyone who's considering booking for London - front stalls on the house right side may well end up with a rather large prop partly blocking the view for the last 15 minutes of the first act. I didn't realise how much it stuck up from the circle last week. Lots of people around me were muttering about it yesterday. It wasn't a full obstruction (at least from my seat), it just meant that I couldn't see the characters when they were lying/sitting on the bed, but could when they stood up.
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Post by alison on Apr 28, 2017 22:17:32 GMT
Oooh! Anyone know who the u/s is? I might be tempted if he's off again tomorrow afternoon. Not that I wish Alfie any ill, but given the reviews here and the prices I'm not interested in seeing him.
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