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Post by MoreLife on Apr 18, 2018 13:19:37 GMT
I've just returned 2 tickets (Dress circle slips) for May 5th for all you ticket stalkers out there... (and f*** me that was painful. Got cut off repeatedly, and had Ed Sheeran blasted at me 3 times over while on hold) Three blasts of Ed Sheeran must have added to the pain considerably!
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Post by MoreLife on Apr 17, 2018 10:36:22 GMT
Look lads, I’m flying across the Atlantic to sit in the theatre for two full days of my first holiday in 2 years...I mean crazy is a relative term around here right? 😂😂😂 I thought that was part of one's way of staying sane...
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Post by MoreLife on Apr 16, 2018 16:35:49 GMT
I have a suspicion, that if tell any of my non-theatre friends a story about people disussing this stuff on a forum and actually seeing a show whatever many times they want, they would name both of these types equally crazy. Wise words! There are shows that I love so much I've gone back to see them several times over long(ish) runs, but I've always feared that too many views over a short period of time might spoil a show for me. Having said that... I spend so much time in theatres that my non-theatre-going friends would however be shocked if they knew how much I can spend in a year on tickets XD
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Post by MoreLife on Apr 12, 2018 12:17:17 GMT
The no chemistry with other cast members issue feels like a reoccurring theme to me I guess. I feel like JR is doing her own thing in a rather broad fashion, lots of big eyes, speeches delivered into the mid-distance and tears,but no truth for me. Having said that, I've never seen her in a show where I haven't seen someone else take on the role first. I have seen many clips of 'Fun Home', but not the show, so maybe that will be the one where I understand why she is generally so beloved of MT fans. Thanks so much squidward for taking the time to write such a detailed and passionate post! I definitely agree with you: whether an actor's performance speaks to us on an emotional level comes down to whether he or she manages to trigger an empathetic response in us audience members, and that is ultimately a most subjective factor. Personally, I remember having a strong emotional response to Jenna's Dot and to her relationship with Daniel Evans' George... but who knows, maybe something that you perceived as indicative of a lack of chemistry between them, to me was a sign of how difficult it is to love someone who doesn't wish, or is unable to connect or love someone back. I truly hope she doesn't disappoint you (or any one of us, for that matter) in "Fun home". She'll certainly be playing a rather different character this time, one that - as emerges from Alison Bechdel's books - is meant to come across as a rather detached and cold maternal figure, and one whose relationship with her husband is not quite based on an ideal chemistry.
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Post by MoreLife on Apr 11, 2018 14:49:58 GMT
A very true and fair point. I paid the same amount for Beginning at the National as I did for Follies, and I paid the same amount for The Brothers Size at the Young Vic as I did for one part of The Inheritance. Setting the pricing according to each individual show is more fiddly (though might happen at the upper end of ticket costs, I guess?) than working out blanket costs across the venue that will allow you to break even at a certain percentage point, and I believe the idea is that the more successful productions will subsidise the less popular shows, rather than the small plays subsidising the large musicals. If the Menier were to do it that way round, surely they'd be less rigid in scheduling the musicals at the same points in the year and filling the gaps with plays! A very true and fair point, indeed. And I can totally see the point of planning a season rather than show by show because at the end of the day (well, the financial year...) you need to break even. Still, at the NT a portion of the tickets are at £ 15. Plus they have Friday rush, returns and day seats, which means that many audience members get to see both large-scale productions (like Follies) and more intimate plays (like Beginnings) for the same, very low price. At the Menier Chocolate Factory there's hardly a range of ticket prices to choose from, the cheapest ones being regularly around the £ 35 mark. Of course it pays off when the show sells out, and I'd be extremely happy to see them fully succeed all the time... but I'm not quite sure it's the most effective choice, when you end up having to rely on papering, TodayTix and alternative discount schemes to bring people in
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Post by MoreLife on Apr 11, 2018 12:09:42 GMT
I know I’m in a minority here, but I was so disappointed to hear that Jenna Russell will be in the show. Every time I see her she leaves me utterly cold especially where I’ve seen a different actress knock the same role out the park ( Samantha Spiro in Merrilly at The Donmar, Christine Ebersole in Grey Gardens and Maria Friedman in the NT SITPWG). In my opinion, apart from the pantomime that was Urinetown, there’s very little to differentiate one role from another in her performances and none of them feel like they have any depth or truth to them. I'm all in favour of discussing different views, so your "minority" opinion is extremely welcome. In order for me (and others in the "majority") to better understand your point, could you perhaps make some concrete examples of performances that were not different enough, or that had no depth or truth to them? I have not had the luck and pleasure of seeing Maria Friedman in the NT SITPWG, but I've seen her inhabit Dot more than once in a concert setting, and for sure she brings to the role something different from what Jenna Russell did with it both in the West End and on Broadway. Yet, different choices are not necessarily wrong choices, acting-wise. I really don't think I could say that either portrayal of such a rich and beautiful character lacked in depth or truth, or that either failed to touch me with the humanity and honesty of their characterisation. This is why I think it'd be very interesting if you could elaborate a bit more. Perhaps with the exception of Urinetown (where the flaw may actually be in the material...) I don't think I've ever seen Jenna Russell in action and not felt that she was being utterly present and truthful with her acting choices, so I could do with examples...
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Post by MoreLife on Apr 11, 2018 11:01:24 GMT
Oh dear first Barnum and then this. I don’t know how the economics of theatre producing work but I can’t help thinking this venue has become a bit greedy with ticket prices The problem is that they appear to apply roughly the same pricing policy to all productions. Now, if you put on a play with a grand total of three actors (one of which plays a minor role and is only on stage for a few minutes), and you've spent money on the set and some charming projections, but you must have got your props at a flea market or off ebay... charging as much as when you put on a musical with a decently sized ensemble, a large-ish orchestra, and you've had to devise a set with multiple "locations", costume changes, and all, just doesn't seem fair. (And that's without mentioning how uncomfortable those benches are... especially now that they've clearly tried to squeeze some extra bums on each of them!)
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Post by MoreLife on Mar 20, 2018 11:13:37 GMT
I always hate it when people get obsessed with an actor prediction for an upcoming show but LORD ABOVE PLEASE LET IT BE JENNA.I think it's feasible with her Eastenders exit. Maybe it's why she's leaving. The timescales work.When you think about it, this might explain why the casting for Fun Home has not been announced yet, despite the first preview being roughly three months away - which is slightly odd for the UK premiere of a show that was very well received by both audience and critics in its Off-Broadway and Broadway incarnations. Revealing Jenna's commitment to be on stage, even for a limited run, would have effectively meant revealing to the general public that something (potentially bad?) would soon be happening to her character on Eastenders to justify her disappearance. In this context, it would make sense for the producers to agree to withhold casting information until "the last minute". Yet, now that Jenna herself has tweeted that she wasn't "axed", but fancied doing something else... and this would clearly be right up her street... come on Young Vic people, spill the beans already!
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Post by MoreLife on Feb 23, 2018 14:25:48 GMT
I’m really looking forward to @emicardiff seeing this thread. Hahahaha thanks. Funny enough I watched the “Inside Number 9” where the guy thinks he’s Lloyd Webber last night- is he going to write it? In all seriousness it has been adapted into an opera. Which apparently is very good. But as much as I’d LIVE for the line “f*** you I’m a Prophet” set to a jaunty tune, I’m not sure I’m ready for that. I'd be kinda ready for a mash-up of "f*** you, I'm a prophet" (from "Perestroika - The Musical" - it needs to stay in two parts as a musical, right?) and "All-American prophet" (from "The Book of Mormon"). Also, what do we think about a big, loud ensemble number with all 34 Prior Walter's (yes, that's including 'the bastards') on stage at once?
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Post by MoreLife on Feb 14, 2018 17:08:25 GMT
So Karen Cartwright has finally been cast in a Broadway show, albeit for a limited engagement. www.playbill.com/article/katharine-mcphee-will-make-her-broadway-debut-in-waitress I foolishly thought she'd given up on her theatre career after losing the Tony to Ivy Lynn, but it looks as though she's been lurking all this time! (Hopefully she'll be suddenly asked to be in a small, revolutionary fringe production downtown and won't be able to do this...)
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Post by MoreLife on Feb 2, 2018 17:35:44 GMT
Though it was perhaps a "partial" reimagination, I would definitely add to the list the Deaf West + Michael Arden revival of 'Spring awakening', which explored and found new ways of giving voice to those characters by... taking their voices out of the equation.
Sadly I wasn't able to see it, but the bits of it that have been officially published online are pure magic.
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Post by MoreLife on Feb 2, 2018 12:09:16 GMT
At least this may also help it be a bit more mainstream as now Mel is a name the British public know so will put a few bums on seats. It's not terrible stunt casting as she's is an actress at least. Sure, I can see why her name may be appealing to a wider portion of the British public. Not quite that sure that they've convinced me yet to get my bum in there for those most unreasonable £ 79.50... I love 'Company', and I love seeing Rosalie Craig on a stage, and I'd be thrilled to see Ms Lupone do her thing, but I still think the pricing policy for this one is a bit cuckoo. This isn't 'Hamilton' that had been building a massive hype for years and was therefore able to sell out the first months in a matter of hours... so it seems to me to be a rather risky tactic, for the time being.
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Post by MoreLife on Feb 1, 2018 10:28:34 GMT
[/quote] 100% agree I'd much rather have heard about those characters than Barnum's fairly dull family...but I got told off for saying something similar over on the Follies thread so HOW VERY DARE YOU BURLY THAT IS NOT THE FILM AUTHOR IS GOD etc etc
*please see my earlier post today on sarcasm, before anyone gets their arse in hand
[/quote] Are you being disrespectful of INFALLIBLE AUTHORS again, Emily? Or even DIRECTORS or PRODUCERS, huh? Ah, the chutzpah...
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Post by MoreLife on Jan 17, 2018 16:16:25 GMT
Dans ma chamber, d'accord. (Je souhaite)
But this is the question I keep asking? that's all that's in Vogue. But I'm hoping the others were there and we get to see them eventually...Meanwhile, my, my Lee Pace is indeed a tall gentleman.
He certainly is tall. Not quite sure yet if he reads "Marlboro Man" to me... (ok, I still haven't got over the fact we won't get our daily pic of Rocky on Broadway during the run). Also, dónde está Nathan Stewart-Jarrett? Why isn't he gracing the pic donning one of those gorgeous winter coats Belize wore at the NT?
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Post by MoreLife on Jan 11, 2018 12:18:09 GMT
I noticed that too! Must be some kind of sign I’m mainly waiting for pictures of Lee Pace next to Sue Brown because that is going to be a hilarious family portrait (given she’s tiny and he’s an actual giant!) That... and any production pictures or magazine shoots where cast members appear, preferably in costume, by the Bethesda Fountain in Central Park.
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Post by MoreLife on Jan 10, 2018 12:11:40 GMT
I noticed that too! Must be some kind of sign
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Post by MoreLife on Jan 10, 2018 10:27:43 GMT
If you haven't yet, I would recommend having a listen to 'The Band's Visit'. Such a beautiful score, and it's made me really curious to see the show!
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Post by MoreLife on Jan 3, 2018 14:26:22 GMT
What's the most cost-effective way of seeing this? They're meant to sell "day seats" if you show up at the theatre at 10 am. However, it's at the discretion of the Box Office, so you may either be very lucky or... not. Depending on your budget, you may still be able to find something with the London Theatre New Year Sale - formerly known as Get Into London Theatre. It looks as though they still have plenty of seats, but of course the ones at 20£ may not be quite the best in the house.
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Post by MoreLife on Jan 3, 2018 12:14:19 GMT
Mentioned many times on here that Eliza is my favorite character in the show and that to me Phillipa Soo's interpretation of her was completely faultless and a performance I still think about to this day. So to be fair to Rachelle Ann Go, she had huge shoes to fill in my eyes and unfortunately she did not manage to do so. Helpless is my favorite song in the show and it ended up being the worst performed number of the night in my mind. Just so Disney Princess, so overexaggerated, huge smiles, huge arm and hand motions, just too, too much. To be fair to her, her performance after that was much better, but no she is not a patch on Phillipa. Not even one ounce of the nuance or subtleties. She still got me emotional at various points but overall, a big amount of the emotional impact of this show was lost to me because I didn't care about Eliza anywhere near as much as I usually do. Such a shame. Also a lack of chemistry between her and Ash but perhaps that is improved with Jamael. Amen to that! I haven't had the pleasure of seeing the OBC in action - live or otherwise - so I can't draw a comparison with Philippa Soo, but my first thought when I saw Rachelle Ann Go's Eliza was also 'Disney princess', and I was so annoyed by her mannerisms and take on the character I couldn't quite see what Hamilton would ever find in her Eliza (other than the family name and money). If it gets a bit better as the story unfolds it's because of the quality of the material IMHO, not because she does any justice to the character's arc. And the lack of chemistry to me was evident with Jamael, as well - I mean, when you see Jamael's Hamilton and Christine Allado's Maria you don't doubt for a second that the spark is there... with Rachelle Ann Go there's roughly as much chemistry as you would expect between Cinderella and her Prince Charming in the original animation movie.
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Post by MoreLife on Dec 18, 2017 17:14:30 GMT
Saw the show on friday. For a foreigner like me the accents were difficult. Not a smart move for a musical in the west end. But I loved the show and I really hopes it will find his audience. I am definitely going to see it again! I'm glad you enjoyed it but I have to disagree on accents not being a 'smart move' for the West End. We actually need more accents in our theatres, lest we become the generic 'American' accent of Broadway. I love that Jamie is giving voice (literally) to somewhere not generically 'London' ...accents are something we're very proud of regionally and it's great to have them in the West End. So if a few tourists have a bit of trouble understanding I say (with love) tough, deal with it. Because it's great to occasionally hear another 'voice' on stage. Speaking as a fellow non-native speaker, I can guarantee that accents are something you get better accustomed to the more you are exposed to them. I remember years ago seeing Billy Elliott for the first time... oh my, did I struggle with the accent and with some of the expressions, which I wasn't familiar with at all. Flash-forward to a good few years later (and having been living here for a while now), and not even once did I have issues with the accents in "Everybody's talking about Jamie". And having seen the original documentary, it would probably weird me out slightly, if in the show he spoke with RP. Like emicardiff was saying, I believe accents add to the value of a play or musical, because... well, because we all have one - regardless of how strong - and "real" people don't go about their daily lives sticking to RP and the rules of enunciation the whole time. So... my suggestion, chess, is to embrace regional accents and learn to enjoy what makes them different from one another - it'll require an additional effort, at first, but it will totally pay off.
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Post by MoreLife on Dec 15, 2017 16:36:55 GMT
I've typically felt like that about Disney musicals - they tend to feel kind of plasticky to me, and I cannot seem to relate to or care for their lead characters. Sweeney Todd is another one where I wonder why I should ever care at all about this man who goes on a killing spree and is assisted in doing so by this lunatic woman who turns human flesh into filling for pies...
By contrast, I felt Jamael Westman's portrayal of Hamilton packed quite a bit of humanity and vulnerability, along with the youthful cockiness he starts out with. Admittedly, I was rather familiar with the plot and the lyrics before seeing the show, so following the subtle changes in his thought process and all was perhaps easier for me.
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Post by MoreLife on Nov 9, 2017 15:33:32 GMT
I thought Mr Grammer was definitely the weakest link in the production and could not quite understand what need there was of importing him to the UK for this... I'd guess that the majority of the tickets sold for this show are down to his appearance in it . . . I must confess I hardly knew who he was prior to seeing him in this, and when I read his bio and saw he had even been nominated for a Tony for a role in a musical I had a proper "seriously?!" moment... I guess audience members are not always attracted just to quality, certain names have been selling forever without maybe deserving it as much as other "lesser" ones
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Post by MoreLife on Nov 9, 2017 13:03:38 GMT
I haven't seen the show yet, but Michael Billington's review seems like a combination of his not really liking musicals that much and really just wanting to see a lot of Kelsey Grammer on stage. Hopefully Susannah Clapp will be going too so we can get something a little less leaning-towards-failure-from-the-off from her. Which - by the way - would be terribly wrong, since Mr Grammer is a subpar singer and at times looks (pardon the pun) a fish out of water when sharing a number with his younger counterpart, so aptly played (and beautifully sung) by Jamie Muscato. I thought Mr Grammer was definitely the weakest link in the production and could not quite understand what need there was of importing him to the UK for this...
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Post by MoreLife on Sept 5, 2017 12:07:55 GMT
Oh Tony Kushner, you are spoiling me this year (well and next). Also thank you Hampstead for being margainally easier than the schelp to Chichester. And... having faced the schlep to Chichester earlier this year I can guarantee it would be well worth your travelling to Swiss Cottage for this one!
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Post by MoreLife on Aug 9, 2017 11:32:20 GMT
Yes, getting the tickets was easier than I thought, too! I got put in the queue at random places on different browsers (32, 64, 600's and 300's for some examples!) and seemed to be staying in one position for a very long time. Then I opened a new tab and selected the date I wanted to go for first and I found some sort of glitch in the matrix and it took me straight to the booking page! Managed to grab 2 Under 25 tickets in Row B, very much looking forward to it!! I've tried to log back in and check out availability but it's not letting me view any booking pages when I click on a date, just telling me open booking will start on 30th Sept (useful for no one...) and that I don't have access to priority booking, which possibly means that the system knows my account has booked a maximum of 2 tickets and I'm out! I have benefited from the same glitch, as the page I was originally waiting on had frozen on an emblematic "this page will refresh automatically in 0 sec" - which it evidently was never going to do... I opened another tab, clicked on a random date, and was led directly to the seating plan. That felt nothing short of miraculous (as if I hadn't felt already extremely lucky I'd won the ballot!!).
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Post by MoreLife on Jan 30, 2017 14:44:08 GMT
My first suggestion would be that you pick a piece of theatre that tells a story set in the present or, however, in a "contemporary" context, where the characters are nearer to people you could meet in your real life (although presumably there will be something slightly less than ordinary about their story and the way it's told). This should help you relate to what goes on on stage and to the lives being recreated before your eyes in a way that perhaps one of Shakespeare historical plays could not just as easily. Experiencing good theatre with less of a "barrier" would probably help you deal with other material that is more distant from your personal life experience.
Another piece of advice has come from other posts but it's worth repeating, and it's about reminding yourself that it's theatre, not real life and not a scene from a movie... You're expected to suspend your disbelief and accept that things may occur on stage in a heightened form. After all, if you're able to accept that a character just breaks into song to talk about their feelings, why shouldn't it be fine for the same character to give you a soliloquy as if nobody else were in the room?
Please tell us how your next experiences with plays go!
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Post by MoreLife on Jan 27, 2017 11:53:04 GMT
Well... since Lin-Manuel's goal in the US has clearly been casting representatives of the various minorities in theoretically "white" roles, what if, in these Brexit times, they were to cast a EU citizen as King George?
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Post by MoreLife on Jan 25, 2017 16:31:37 GMT
Shoreditch Town Hall is actually a beautiful venue and is quite easy to reach - plenty of bus routes stopping right in front of it, the overground taking you to Hoxton or Shoreditch High Street which are in walking distance from the venue...
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Post by MoreLife on Dec 14, 2016 11:56:25 GMT
Hi there. Going tonight, haven't seen any reports of this but as long as they don't muck up "Wishing for the Normal" I'll be happy. Have tweeted the Union a couple of times looking for running time but no response. Can anyone here help? And does the Union still do food? No longer mentioned on their website and don't want to be caught out like I was at Southwark... I haven't been down there since September, back then they did have food, but options seemed to be quite limited. There's a pub literally next door, though, and if you're travelling down there by tube anyway, you may find more food alternatives on The Cut and still be a 5-minute walk away from the Union.
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Post by MoreLife on Dec 9, 2016 11:54:50 GMT
I have to agree with some of the comments above, I found it very difficult to care for any one of the characters on stage. Of course the writing doesn't give you likable characters to begin with, but I felt the direction and some of the acting choices didn't help much either - at times it got slightly self-indulgent.
As a technical aside, I was sitting close enough to the stage to see that all the actors in the cast are actually miked. The lav mics are extremely well hidden, but the wires are there, so at least the sound issues should be soon overcome. Bit sad that they need microphones at all, but hey... whatever makes their life easier.
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