426 posts
|
Post by alison on Oct 9, 2021 10:31:46 GMT
Yes, Danielle made her Elsa debut last night. I was supposed to be at Come From Away - I heard while I was on Oxford Street getting food and I ran to Drury Lane. So worth it!
Again, the kids around me were absolutely fine, it was the adults that weren't. Particularly the couple behind me who insisted on talking throughout the show, despite getting glares from both me and the young girl sitting in front of me.
|
|
426 posts
|
Post by alison on Oct 8, 2021 13:26:49 GMT
I understand what you're saying, but it's really all about expectations. While some classical musicals (My Fair Lady, Camelot) have that emotional center, I didn't expect it from something that's basically all-singing, all-dancing. Basically, it seems to me that it is exactly a series of musical numbers and farcical scenes, by design. I think Kiss Me, Kate probably have more emotional heft than Anything Goes but it was made over a decade later when the book musicals by Rodgers and Hammerstein had become really popular. I suppose a modern equivalent to Anything Goes is Mamma Mia! the plot makes no real sense but it's a great night out. I’ve got to disagree with you there on Mamma Mia. Yes, the plot is ridiculously unbelievable but to me the characters have more to work with - a great actress as Donna can absolutely break my heart and put it back together again. I’m not sure anyone could do the same as Reno (or Billy, or whoever you want to consider the lead).
|
|
426 posts
|
Post by alison on Oct 4, 2021 19:19:56 GMT
Does Miriam have a scheduled day off each week? It says that Grace does the role “at certain performances”…do we know which those are? There was a schedule put up for the first few, then a couple of weeks ago Grace said it was changing and she'd post when she had the new schedule. AFAIK I don't think the new one has been posted yet.
|
|
426 posts
|
Post by alison on Oct 3, 2021 13:31:53 GMT
Enjoy, everyone who's there! I'm very grumpy that I'm not - I was planning to be if I could get a deal, then I caught flipping covid last week (I'm fine, way past the worst of it now and just tired)
|
|
426 posts
|
Post by alison on Sept 23, 2021 22:31:50 GMT
Wow, I thought this was outstanding tonight at the Liverpool Empire. Opening night of the run there, theatre packed to its 2,350 capacity, and a full standing ovation from everyone on both levels at the start of the bows. I thought it felt fresh, contemporary and altogether quite spectacular! A reminder of everything we've missed over the past eighteen months. The big ensemble numbers were an absolute joy. It's hard to imagine the performances of Gavin Lee and Nigel Richards as Lumiere and Cogsworth being bettered, while Courtney Stapleton and Emmanuel Kojo delivered in spades in the title roles. One of those nights in the theatre to treasure and an easy five stars from me. Now let's hope they announce Manchester dates soon for a second viewing next year! You had Alyn Hawke making his debut as the Beast, not Emmanuel. If you happened to be close enough to get a good look at his Beast makeup (or lack of it?) I’d be very interested to know details. When I saw the show early in the Bristol run, they were relying on Emmanuel’s skin tone to do the heavy lifting with just a prosthetic nose and the wig/horns. I’m intrigued to know if it’s any different with his white understudy.
|
|
426 posts
|
Post by alison on Sept 20, 2021 15:37:26 GMT
When was the last time (non covid related) that a show of this size got cancelled for this many dates due to illness? Seems a bit odd to me. I’ve learned from the Cinderella thread that they don’t usually start rehearsing understudies until after official opening night but that was a week ago and it’s not like the understudies didn’t already know the show. Are we assuming that all of the cast options for a main character are unavailable? Pre-Covid, didn't Waitress(at the same theatre) have to cancel a couple of performances when one of the leads and a couple of understudies were ill at the same time? Waitress was the first one I thought of, too. It was only two shows on a Saturday that were cancelled though (the first one again being when the audience were in their seats - I was there). They flew over Desi Oakley from the recently closed US tour as soon as they realised there was an issue and she performed very jetlagged from the start of the next week. Without her they'd have had to cancel over a week, she ended up as Jenna for almost a fortnight before any of the UK Jennas were fit to perform again.
BTTF is suffering from being a new show - if there were any previous casts to draw from they would have done so, I assume.
|
|
426 posts
|
Post by alison on Sept 19, 2021 12:42:27 GMT
I'm guessing the people suggesting that Carrie did the wrong thing calling out of yesterday's shows after WEL don't have issues with anxiety, and for that I'm glad for you.
Now, I obviously don't know if this was the case for Carrie, but for myself I could absolutely see that if I had just done WEL and it had gone badly to the point where it messed with my head, that could easily have triggered an anxiety attack with no guarantee I would be able to get back from that in time to pull myself together to perform. In that situation, calling out so that the audience who have paid for the shows get the standard of performance they deserve is absolutely the professional thing to do. You wouldn't be making the same comments if her voice had gone and she physically couldn't sing it, would you - mental illness is no different!
Having just watched the audience video that's still up, she did a decent job of saving it. Yes, she was in the wrong key in the bridge but the music cuts out and gives you nothing there, and she made the right choice to cut off the big note before the last chorus kicked back in, so it didn't clash - and then found the right key for the last chorus, even if you can see the terror in her eyes. I've heard a lot worse at WEL and other concert events before.
|
|
426 posts
|
Post by alison on Sept 19, 2021 11:26:37 GMT
It may of been a long time coming for BOOH to make a comeback to the UK, but after tonight’s show, it’s all coming back to me now why I love this show, Jim Steinman has left a fantastic legacy of great music to listen to and what a great cast and band to deliver them on stage, Overall. I felt the rewriting of the book has certainly improved the flow of the show. The original book felt clunky in places such as the start of Act 2, but this version makes more sense and I’m glad it’s been done. The original Act 2 opening number (“in the land of the pigs the butcher is king”)for me didn’t work and felt out of place and I’m not a big fan of the song anyway so I’m glad it’s been cut here. Though it’s a shame that “Good Girls Go To Heaven” has also been cut as I enjoyed that number in the original version. I loved the replacement stunts here and how they are used. I appreciate the original versions would of been more difficult to do with a touring set. Cast wise, Glen Adamson makes a great Strat bringing a lot of energy to the role. Martha Kirby as Raven, wow, what a belting voice this lady has. I’m so glad Rob Fowler and Sharon Sexton have returned to reprise their original roles. These two really are great to watch and listen to on stage. Despite the request not to sing along, we did get plenty of audience singing particularly in Act 2, but compared to some jukebox shows, tonight wasn’t too bad and thankfully didn’t drown out the cast’s singing. I’m seeing the show again in Liverpool so I’ll be booking a matinee performance during the week to see the alternate Strat as a comparison. This may change, but I’ve been told that Sam is likely to do Thursday evenings and Saturday matinees so not worth booking a midweek mat if you’re looking to see him specifically. I saw him yesterday afternoon - good grief he can sing! I’m also still mulling over some of the changes - a lot are good, or at least understandable as the spectacle of the original production was never going to be able to tour. I’m not convinced about one particular change though … Tink not dying made the whole show feel a lot more light hearted, but not in a good way. Combined with the loss of Land of the Pig (which I do understand) it gave me the same sense of dissatisfaction that comes from reading an epic fantasy series where in the end they defeat the big bad and everyone lives happily ever after. It feels like there are no consequences, and removes the impact of Rock and Roll Dreams. Sorry Tink, I love you, but you need to die.
|
|
426 posts
|
Post by alison on Sept 17, 2021 6:15:49 GMT
Kelly Agbowu is cover Madame Thenardier I’m pretty sure, she’ll be a treat when she’s on because her comic timing in Waitress was impeccable. She made the small role of Nurse Norma one of the highlights of the show in the original London cast. Oops - I forgot about Kelly. She should have been on my list of people staying from the concert, definitely. I’m still sad she didn’t get to go on in the concert run when it was easier to get more reasonably priced decent seats.
|
|
426 posts
|
Post by alison on Sept 16, 2021 18:43:27 GMT
I assume that those who have just been in the concert run will keep their same covers, so ...
Valjean: Luke McCall Fantine: Jessica Joslin Marius: Danny Colligan Eponine: Jessie Hart Enjolras: Leo Miles, Samuel Wyn-Morris Thenardier: Matt Dempsey
I'm fairly sure that I've heard that Richard Carson will be covering Javert again, and I think Michael Kholwadia (new Jean Prouvaire) is the other Marius cover. As for the rest (all of them crooks) ... who knows. I'd put money on Phoebe Williams being a Cosette cover though, since her bio says she was Laurey in Oklahoma.
|
|
426 posts
|
Post by alison on Sept 14, 2021 17:08:10 GMT
I love the recording and was really excited about this, but £85 for circle slips or rear circle in the barn of the Coliseum, and those are the cheapest seats in the first two levels! I'm not made of money over here ... definitely holding out for deals.
|
|
426 posts
|
Post by alison on Aug 28, 2021 22:06:35 GMT
I've tried a couple of times. It's one of those ones that's like gold dust and goes very quickly straight away at 10am. They seem to have reopened it a couple of times when they've had spare tickets - I managed to get a single in my basket late Friday afternoon (dress circle row N), which was no use whatsoever to me as I was already booked elsewhere and was just looking out of nosiness. I doubt that will be the case on Monday though since it looks to be almost entirely sold out.
|
|
426 posts
|
Post by alison on Aug 27, 2021 21:24:36 GMT
Anyone managed to get day seats at the box office recently? Lost the lottery and there seems to be a fair bit of availability this weekend. I turned up half an hour before the show last Thursday with lots of availability and no discount available, paid full price.
|
|
426 posts
|
Post by alison on Aug 27, 2021 21:22:25 GMT
Well the merch store is amazing, big queue so get there early to buy and the theatre is divine. Massive leg room in stalls. That’s what I like to hear - I’m middle of row C next Friday as that’s all I could get.
|
|
426 posts
|
Post by alison on Aug 27, 2021 11:41:46 GMT
An opinion from the opposite perspective here (old enough to exist when the film came out and it was THE film of my childhood). I’ve never seen the Disney production before but saw the cheaper UK Productions tour a couple of times.
The set is indeed largely reliant on the video wall. There are set pieces moved on and off (and a fair few of them for different scenes, not just one or two repurposed). It works well for some scenes - the tavern during Gaston felt sprawling in the right way, with a physical bar area and a couple of other props that I can’t remember what exactly they were now. I agree that the library did feel empty though. Hopefully they can add another physical element or two to the emptier scenes. Sitting in front side stalls, I did appreciate that the “masking” area around the proscenium was used for projections too and integrated more into the show rather than just being plain black, it felt less like my view was obstructed and more involved with the show.
Costumes are a bit of a mix. Courtney’s are generally lovely (although I don’t understand the loss of apron either). The embroidery on the blue dress looks pretty from front stalls, the skirt is full and moves well when she dances, and I really want her shoes from that outfit (blue double strap Mary Janes with a tapered heel and white floral patterns). The pink dress is the least flattering of her three main costumes but that’s kind of the point, and the design of it works but still looks well made and detailed. The ball gown is the scalloped, beaded one linked earlier in the thread and it looks gorgeous under the lights. The neck piece is more sheer and sparkly, the sort of thing you might see on a low-cut dress on Strictly. Her finale dress has the same skirt with a creamy white overlay and a slightly different top half (not sure whether it’s an adaptation of the ball costume or a completely separate dress). The long braid wig for curtain calls is only for the finale, for the ball her hair is down with a sparkly tiara.
The household staff costumes were mostly good. Lumiere works better on stage than that photo suggested - the size of his candlesticks works and the wig (grey streaked with blue) works to suggest a hot flame. I agree that some of their dialogue does come across as panto-like, and it’s so obvious where some of their scenes have been placed to allow for a costume or scenery change and don’t necessarily seem to be there for any other reason.
Jacob has already covered the ensemble costumes for Be Our Guest so I will just agree. Their villager costumes were less gaudy, not quite the level of detail from pics of the original production but not bad.
Now. The Beast. From everything I’ve seen the Beast has always seemed to have either quite heavy prosthetics or a partial mask for the majority of the show. Emmanuel has the wig/headpiece with the horns, some lower facial fuzz that I think is just his own beard, and a prosthetic nose. That’s it. His boots have beast toes and claws sticking out but nothing on his hands, which was made even more unfortunate when he sang “and when we touched she didn’t shudder at my paw” and looked at his perfectly human hand. They need to sort that. I did appreciate that being able to see more of his face allows for more nuance in the Beast’s acting though.
Two songs are gone from the original cast recording - No Matter What (which makes Maurice an absolutely tiny part now) and Maison des Lunes. I do get it, but the removal of Maison made act two feel very short. Some lovely voices among the leads, and I hope I get to see them again later in the run when they’ve settled in more and will be even better (unlikely though as it’s not coming anywhere near me in the announced dates so far).
Overall, it was worth the 5 1/2 hour round trip to see Courtney, but I wouldn’t have gone just for the show.
|
|
426 posts
|
Post by alison on Aug 23, 2021 11:47:39 GMT
I’ve been three times since reopening, turned up around 30 mins before the show each time with no issue.
|
|
426 posts
|
Post by alison on Aug 23, 2021 11:46:32 GMT
Oh, they've moved the interval now? That's a big change - at the first preview it was right where it should be, after the June is Bustin' Out All Over reprise.
I liked the change to the Starkeepers, but the ending was so unsatisfying. I have another ticket booked for the final matinee and I still can't decide whether I even want to go.
My apologies, they haven’t moved the interval. My hazy memory from the Broadway revival convinced me it came later, but after a quick revision on Wikipedia it looks like I was wrong and they’ve kept it where it was originally! I agree 100% about the Starkeepers. That’s a brilliant change which works really well and changes the dynamic completely. It just all falls apart as a concept and a narrative after that. Easily done - when I read your first post I had to go back and double check that no, I was remembering rightly where the interval should be. I think the most frustrating thing for me is that that second half of act two is SO unsatisfying as to ruin all the good work that’s come before. It’s not like I wasn’t enjoying the rest of the show - I really liked the orchestrations and thought most of the cast were fantastic. And yet I’m now not convinced I want to return.
|
|
426 posts
|
Post by alison on Aug 22, 2021 21:13:24 GMT
Was meant to be at the show tonight but it was cancelled at the last minute due to cast illness (not Covid related). I guess it’s that they don’t have understudies with such a small cast and so if someone’s off they have to just cancel? Very disappointing anyway when I came all the way from Cardiff but can’t be helped! Now staying up here an extra night and going to the Wednesday matinee, praying it goes ahead. Oh no! I was there yesterday afternoon and we had an announcement saying an ensemble member was out and so there would be changes. Everything was well covered by the four remaining ensemble but I guess there's a limit to how much they can manage before they just can't run the show.
Figners crossed for Wednesday for you!
|
|
426 posts
|
Post by alison on Aug 22, 2021 21:09:51 GMT
Saw this last night, and absolutely loved the first act. I was very sceptical of this production from the start - as I posted on this thread months ago, I find Carousel a questionable choice of show to do these days due to the issues with the narrative, and I also wasn't convinced of the British reimagining and new orchestrations. But that worked brilliantly, with a heavy British-seaside nostalgia and nicely varied and rounded characters which never felt awkward taken out of their original American context. I also saw the 2018 Broadway Revival and this version is much stronger and fresher in so many ways. But then the second half of Act 2 (or, the traditional Act 2 - they've moved the interval here). Ugh. This reminded me why I don't think Carousel should be done. They seemed to hit a wall, cut all text which could be deemed inappropriate (which doesn't leave much to work with in the climax...) and didn't know where to go with it so just gave up, with Billy Bigelow literally just walking off stage and never coming back.I get what they were going for, and a final tableaux empowering women is nicely done and built to with a clever reimagining of the Starkeeper role. But unfortunately the production just dribbles to an unsatisfying and abrupt ending after an inventive and entertaining first 2/3rds.
Oh, they've moved the interval now? That's a big change - at the first preview it was right where it should be, after the June is Bustin' Out All Over reprise.
I liked the change to the Starkeepers, but the ending was so unsatisfying. I have another ticket booked for the final matinee and I still can't decide whether I even want to go.
|
|
426 posts
|
Post by alison on Aug 22, 2021 11:07:17 GMT
It’s Rochelle Sherona (understudy) for this afternoon, she posted on her Instagram story last night. She was excellent at her debut on Thursday night.
|
|
426 posts
|
Post by alison on Aug 21, 2021 21:49:16 GMT
Need a little help with booking tickets for this, can anyone advise what the end of the rows in the stalls are like or the slips in the dress circle? Realise this is going to be a little pricey but any help with decent seats would be great! I sat in row EE in the side section of the circle, right on the end (I don't think they're selling the extreme edge ones right at the front row of the circle, at least they weren't when I was there). I couldn't see most of the stage left staircase so missed a little when Hope and Billy were singing on there, but that was all I missed.
|
|
426 posts
|
Post by alison on Aug 19, 2021 19:35:26 GMT
A full cast show at Six and then Rochelle’s Narrator debut. I’m living the dream today! I did not have plans to be back at Joseph for the second time in just over 24 hours but here we are. I do not regret my choice.
|
|
426 posts
|
Post by alison on Aug 18, 2021 19:32:53 GMT
Well, so far we’ve had a couple of tiny line changes but as far as I can tell that’s all - certainly nothing major. Ivano is wearing his black hand brace and still isn’t catching the ball in Man’s Man but is doing the push up - carefully!
|
|
426 posts
|
Post by alison on Aug 18, 2021 17:47:08 GMT
Is this really the same show I saw a few years ago with SS? It has energy, humour and above all is pure joy. Someone including you in the joke is not the same as the heavy handed humour of last time. Linzi is just ace and looked overwhelmed by the two minute entrance applause she got before a note was sung. Great fun. Could't agree more Dan, Linzi Hateley is just sensational in this. SS is absolutely lovely, a great actress (her TV stuff is fab) and she can make it work in the right musical (Legally Blond etc). But her voice is just nowhere near what is required for Joseph and all the "comedy" in the world couldn't get past that. It's an underestimated sing with a wide range requiring a really strong vocal. Not a fan of the comedy personally and really hoped they'd remove it for Linzi. Having said that, she even delivers on that I think. And she still has the moves for the dance sections. A true triple threat! And really one of the most stunning MT voices the UK has ever seen. Now. Get "letting out a mighty roar" and "chained and bound afraid alone" back up to their original keys - I know she can do it! Chained and bound was up the octave where it should be for her debut - it was a bit jarring to hear it down today. Hoping she just wasn’t feeling it and it’s not a permanent change!
|
|
426 posts
|
Post by alison on Aug 18, 2021 17:35:45 GMT
I went for Belle - nose always stuck in a book (when I’m not at the theatre, at least) and likely to do something impetuous in an attempt to rescue someone I care about and get myself in a sticky situation.
|
|
426 posts
|
Post by alison on Aug 18, 2021 17:24:34 GMT
But unless I’m remembering wrongly (and I know my memory isn’t brilliant, but it’s not been that long!) Cinderella isn’t sung through. I do agree with you that I’m not sure it “feels” like the sort of thing that will do well on Broadway though.
I’m in on a cheap ticket tonight for press night, entirely because I’m nosey about any changes. Wonder if I’ll spot anyone I even recognise, given that I don’t watch Love Island or the like.
|
|
426 posts
|
Post by alison on Aug 17, 2021 22:24:21 GMT
What are the box seats like? I have seen a few pictures and review on seat plan but I wanna hear some more opinions. Are they badly restricted or uncomfortable? Do you mean the loge that sits just above the circle slips? I've sat there a few times for the concert - the ones closest to the dress circle are good, you only miss the ensemble on the near side of the stage, even without leaning. The ones closest to the stage are more restricted - without leaning I can only see half the stage, and even with leaning I can't see the ensemble on the near side at all. It's not so much of an issue for the concert since everything is sung from the front and it's just the ensemble sitting on the barricade areas at the sides for the most part, but likely to be more missed for the full show when it returns.
As far as comfort goes, they're individual moveable seats that I think are pretty comfortable, and being able to angle them towards the stage helps. I've only been in there with a maximum of three other people though (in a space with six seats) so might be less room for movement if all six are occupied.
|
|
426 posts
|
Post by alison on Aug 15, 2021 22:26:42 GMT
I've looked a lot for Les Mis, mostly out of nosiness. It usually seems to be from row F backwards of the dress circle, and then some in the upper. I've never seen stalls pop up.
|
|
426 posts
|
Post by alison on Aug 15, 2021 12:33:00 GMT
No insider theatre knowledge, but based on the last several months dealing with lateral flow results in school ... I assume that when a show goes down announcing only a few performances, they've had a positive lateral flow test and are waiting for the PCR to confirm a positive case. The last thing they want is to cancel the next ten days of performances and then it turn out that they didn't need to after all if the PCR comes back negative. Heathers initially said this weekend then that changed quickly to the whole of next week - presumably the PCR came back positive. Anything Goes did the same thing but are now expecting to be back on - I assume that PCR came back negative then. Amelie is a positive PCR test (confirmed in their announcements yesterday) but they expect to be back Tuesday. Not sure about the circumstances for the Heathers tour but that is out of action for ten days. It doesn't make much sense why different rules seem to apply to what appear to be the same circumstances.
Not sure how that works if they've had a positive PCR then. I agree, it doesn't make much sense!
|
|
426 posts
|
Post by alison on Aug 15, 2021 11:18:28 GMT
Oh, this is exciting! I love this score but 2017 was before I'd figured out that getting to Hope Mill from here was actually an option.
|
|