Reply With QuoteThat angry smiley was not to you btw
YES
That angry smiley was not to you btw
In fact i don't know why it's even there. 32 quid is still damn good value for 2.5 hours good entertainment.
Four posts in a row. i am... seb flyte
Anyway we saw THE ACID TEST at the royal court upstairs last night, and i really fucking hated it. I loved Anya Reiss' first play bigtime, but this did nothing for me apart from make me want to leave for an hour. I'm ALL FOR plays that are nothing but people getting drunk over the course of one night (see my Ecstasy rave), but this just did nothing and went nowhere in my humble opinion. Maybe you just have to be a GIRL to get it. Dennis Lawson was good though, as were the three women whose names i do not know. And the set was AMAZING. The rest can go fuck itself though, i want that 90 minutes back.
I saw The Wizard of Oz last week and to echo dUb's thoughts, Hannah Waddingham was magnificent as The Wicked Witch of The West. She had the right balance of comical and scary (to the kids in the audience, at least) and was vocally excellent.
Danielle was okay, she was MUCH better towards the end and she slips in to a Chicago accent one too many times. The Munchkins were disgracefully bad, Glinda was dull and the set isn't anywhere NEAR as impressive in the flesh.
It's very much a 7/10 show.
We're going to see Betty Blue Eyes on 1st August! Yay!!
Oh wow, a private performance!! Enjoy!
Oh cwej (and rb?) i saw it last month and really REALLY liked it. I hope you do too. It's absolutely CHARMING and a bit bonkers, and Sarah Lancashire is utterly marvellous in her big numbers. I really hope it can somehow survive. It's not life changing or anything, but it's good old fashioned fun and i'd say it's better than pretty much any other newer musical in the west end right now. And as brand new ones go i definitely preferred it to Matilda and London Road, and hope the Olivier voters are of the same mindset.
I've seen a few other things since i stopped trying to make this thread happen (). Emperor and Galilean at the National was probably my favourite, despite it being a three and a half hour ibsen, somewhat flawed, and rather odd. It's not like the other Ibsen stuff i've seen because instead of being RATHER DULL it's lovely and EPIC and gory, and yet again Andrew Scott is just BRILLIANT and has a role bigger than Hamlet. I also really liked the patrick stewart/rupert goold RSC Merchant of Venice (SET IN VEGAS), although it dragged a bit towards the end. It turns out the copy i studied at GCSE was quite heavily abridged, so there's some long winded shit with some rings after the trial scene, which i had very little time for because i needed a wee. Any shakespeare that makes the lead woman into a reality tv star and features an elvis impersonator is doing something right though.
Samuel what was wrong with the munchkins? Demand a full refund if they were bloody KIDS, or regular sized actors on their knees.
Last edited by TurnerPrize; 08-07-2011 at 10:50 AM.
Saw Chicken Soup With Barley at the Royal Court last night. Fabulous. And the father was in Blasted last winter at the Lyric. Fantastic performances all round.
Oh i wasn't really sure about that one myself. I thought it was a super production, but of a slightly meh play. The dad was BRILLIANT though, wasn't he? He proper broke my heart
Are you seeing The Village Bike?
No it didn't take my fancy and i think it's sold out now. Have you seen it?Originally Posted by TurnerPrize
Oh i wasn't really sure about that one myself. I thought it was a super production, but of a slightly meh play. The dad was BRILLIANT though, wasn't he? He proper broke my heart
Are you seeing The Village Bike?
Yeah, ALAS. I don't think you missed out at all, it was complete nothingness. Romola gave one of my least favourite perfs in a while, and the plot went nowhere and said very little (imo).
Overall it wasn't terrible - it was just THERE. I don't think it got a very good production either, although there was one memorable moment with her riding the bike on a stand in front of a projection of country lanes to some 70s dad rock. Everything else dragged on though. Maybe i was just expecting a bit too much after 'Eigrengrau' by the same playwright was shitting marvellous.
I'm hoping The Faith Machine will break my recent run of meh-ing at Court plays.
I saw Fela! at Sadler's Wells last night, and while it was a nice evening with great company (HIYA MO!), I was not impressed. I didn't feel anything at any point, there is hardly a single hummable melody in the entire show (that might be a characteristic of 'afrobeat' but it's no excuse!) and I was quite pleased when it was over, staying firmly in my seat while those around me got to their feet. On the plus side, the female ensemble were various shades of fierce and much of the dancing was very good.
Last edited by dUb; 29-07-2011 at 09:59 AM.
We say Betty Blue Eyes last night and I thought it was really lovely.
Not life changing or anything, but well produced, generally well acted and directed and pretty funny throughout. It might just be my imagination, but I did occasionally get the sense that the cast were a bit tired, and I thought it might be that they're a bit despondent as it's not done very well, but I might be wrong.
I loved the two leads in particular, and 'Mother' was amazing, particularly towards the end. For the sake of £15, it's definitely worth checking out if you quite fancy it. We got upgraded too.
How was the audience, numbers wise?
I bet they made up a fair per cent of it
I'm pleased you enjoyed it RB. I thought the mother was a bit amateurish (at least until Pig No Pig), but i would definitely proclaim Sarah Lancashire a QoL, and the cast seemed fully with it for our performance. Reece Shearsmith was off for us, but his understudy was GREAT, although could probably have passed for Lancashire's son.
I've seen nothing theatrey in nearly a month, but now have Jude Law and Kristin Scott Thomas in the space of a week. HAPPY HAPPY DAYS.
West End star Connie Fisher has been left devastated after being told a throat condition will prevent her ever singing professionally again.
Miss Fisher’s soprano voice catapulted her to fame when she triumphed in the BBC1 talent contest How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria? in 2006, landing the role of Maria von Trapp in The Sound of Music.
Ironically, her ordeal is similar to that of Dame Julie Andrews, who played the part of Maria in the Academy Award-winning 1965 film.
Dame Julie lost her singing voice in 1997 after surgery to remove non-cancerous nodules from her throat.
Miss Fisher, 28, has admitted that her vocal range has ‘altered dramatically’ – forcing her to retire from The Sound of Music for good.
The star quit the show following a long-running battle with congenital sulcus vocalis, a throat condition which saw her have corrective surgery on her vocal cords in April 2009.
Miss Fisher’s triumph in the talent show landed her the lead role in Andrew Lloyd Webber’s West End version of the musical at the London Palladium.
As part of a touring production, Miss Fisher was expected to appear in Cardiff from August 23 before performing in Manchester, Newcastle and Wimbledon until the end of October.
However, she said yesterday: ‘After many months of battling with a throat condition known as congenital sulcus vocalis, my vocal range has altered dramatically and it is with much regret that I have to withdraw from The Sound of Music as I no longer have the range to sing the part of Maria.
'My journey with this amazing show has been such a magical one and I am devastated that I am not able to close the tour.’
She will be replaced by actress Verity Rushworth, who previously appeared in Emmerdale.
Theatre bosses in Manchester have said that no refunds will be given to ticketholders unhappy with the casting change.
Miss Fisher was earning £150-a-week working in a call centre when she won the role.
The singer’s agent said Miss Fisher will now concentrate on her television career.
She currently presents a Saturday afternoon radio show on BBC Wales and BBC talent show, Singer of the World.
Last edited by Halli; 10-08-2011 at 12:28 PM.
Awww poor Connie
HI THEATRE FANS. If you are in London before September 3rd then you should definitely go and see this -
because it's GREAT, and cheap, and surely better than anything else you will do between about 7:30 and 10pm over the next three weeks. It's definitely one of my favourite shows of the year so far, and the first to get any sort of standing ovation (that wasn't just americans / weird fan girls).
It's written by the genius what did In Bruges so you know the style, though this is more character based with some great performances and lovely moments that had the audience in the palm of its hand. I'm so pleased they brought it back after i missed it last year. I doubt there'll be a third chance though.
HOW CHEAP?
Subsidised-theatre-in-comparison-to-wince-inducing-west-end-prices-CHEAP.
Here we are - Tickets: £10, £17.50, £25, £29.50
I think the ten pound ones might just be for under 26s (soz), but even the young vic balcony should be fine. And right down the front / side stalls definitely will be.
And it's IRISH, like YOU
I've tried to look at dates/prices but the site is very slow. Can you explain this please TP? Did they just go onsale or something?
I saw his other play, The Cripple of Inishmaan. Was that him? It was well good.
Yeah, that was him (TP says knowingly, with wikipedia open in another tab). This was his first play but seemed to get the most PLAUDITS. I only know this and In Bruges so am hoping there'll be a flurry of revivals now.
The site was slow for me too. It's been on sale for AGES but there should still be a few tickets if it's anything like fellow hit returnee Vernon God Little.
Betty DEAD -
Cameron Mackintosh's first original musical production in over a decade, Betty Blue Eyes has posted closing notices at the West End's Novello Theatre. The Stiles and Drewe-scored show, which is a screen-to-stage adaption of A Private Function, will play its last performance on 24 September 2011 after a run of six months. The musical comedy had been booking until 28 January 2012.
In a frank press statement Mackintosh said that despite positive reviews, the new musical had "failed to attract an audience in sufficient numbers to remain economically viable." The Les Miserables and Phantom of the Opera producer also cites "prevailing economic uncertainties nationally" as a reason theatregoers are avoiding new and "unknown work" - instead attending long-running West End shows.
In a press statement released this evening Mackintosh continued: "It is very curious - after such amazing reviews and positive word of mouth, no-one knows the real reason why Betty couldn't find a bigger audience. We have been consistently playing to just over 50% (of capacity) but it just isn't enough to cover the costs. Of course I am disappointed but I'm not despondent, I am enormously proud of Betty. I know that she will eventually have her day and another life."
Betty Blue Eyes, which opened at the Novello Theatre on 13 April 2011 (previews from 19 March), is helmed by former National Theatre director Richard Eyre. The action is set in a Yorkshire village after the Second World War, where rationing presents a challenge for the locals who want to celebrate the Queen's Royal wedding to Prince Philip in style.
Looking to slaughter an illegally raised pig (a blue-eyed creature named Betty) for the event, chaos ensues when the sow is stolen and a food inspector arrives, determined to stop such activities.
The production's cast includes Sarah Lancashire, Reece Shearsmith, David Bamber, Jack Edwards, Ann Emery, Mark Meadows and Adrian Scarborough.
The show, the first completely new musical produced by Cameron Mackintosh in over ten years, features a book by Americans Ron Cowen and Daniel Lipman with music and lyrics by British writing partnership George Stile and Anthony Drewe.
I'm amazed it's lasted this long. It's been on its last legs since MAY.
The only reason it's still around is because CAM MAC has been throwing money at it left, right and centre. It may well have been averaging capacity of 50% but seeing as most of those tickets were comped, it really had no chance at all.
Chrissy I need to have a conversation with you on the topic: What's so good about Sunday In The Park With George? I saw it over the weekend and thought it was FUCKING SHIT but I suspect it's actually amazing but I don't have the insight/intellectual capacity to appreciate. It just sounded so, so horrible (despite being sung well).
I'm seeing the Southwark Playhouse production of Parade tonight and can't bloody WAIT OMG!
Last edited by dUb; 23-08-2011 at 04:31 PM.
Oh and Love Never Dies with Whatevar on Thursday and London Road with Molicious on Saturday
"Get me"
Last edited by dUb; 23-08-2011 at 04:30 PM.
WOO!
You do know it's an evening show on Thursday, yeah? For some reason I thought I might have told you it was a matinee.
Oh yes I do thank YOU! I wouldn't have been able to come to a matinee and what a SHAME that would be! Pity thingy Boggess won't be in it but I suppose it'll be like that time Caissie Levy wasn't in Hair (ie shit
Last edited by dUb; 23-08-2011 at 04:40 PM.
Oh yes I do thank YOU! I wouldn't have been able to come to a matinee and what a SHAME that would be! Pity thingy Boggess won't be in it but I suppose it'll be like that time Caissie Levy wasn't in Hair (ie shit
I will cry ANYWAY
(don't forget to add Beauty Queen to your theatre binge)
HOLY MARY MOTHER OF JESUS
Parade at the Southwark Playhouse is absolutely fucking amazing. PLEASE, all you bitches, do yourself a favour and go. Is this what it feels like to be you, TP? I'll try for Beauty Queen if you go to this.
Pretty much. Now you'll sit by when nobody seems to care despite the fact that it CHANGED YOUR LIFE, and you think it would change theirs too
I did vow never to return to the Southwark Playhouse, but i do have a slot for theatre in two weeks that i'm meant to be filling for me and a mate. (You only have 9 days to see Beauty Queen though, fyi.) ALSO whilst this thread is momentarily buzzing with life, other recent reviews:
Betrayal 7/10 - good cast doing good acting, ok play. I don't think Pinter's for me though, it's all a bit dead in the chest.
Anna Christie 4/10 - Rubbish play, rubbish accents. Nice new body on Jude Law though, and actual interesting design (at the donmar, omg).
Overall, NOTHING TO SEE THERE (imo)
SO I saw London Road with Mo the other night.
After all the hype and 5-star reviews I was a bit IS THAT IT? and also it didn't help that we were in the worst restricted seats I've ever experienced (BIG FAT BAR obscuring 70% of the action unless you lean forward and hurt your back/piss off the people beside Mo anyone?). For the first 10-15 minutes I thought it was amazing but the style of it (verbatim dialogue turned into singing/rhythmic speaking) got pretty old pretty fast. Then for the second act I was really sleepy and it was quite warm so I had a few little naps. The cast were (or is it was?) brilliant, and I'd like to have seen it while fully alert and in a proper seat but it's over now.
This parody video is quite accurate!
PS TP why the Southwark Playhouse boycott?
We saw Company there and it was NOT a laid back pleasurable place to visit. Lot's of little things that added up really. Rude box office people, an usher who sneezed ACTUAL SNOT on my friend's hand when she handed him our tickets, a twenty minute delay to it starting so that they could squeeze everyone in to the unreserved seating (DESPITE the theatre being comfortably full when only about half of the MASSIVE SOUL CRUSHING QUEUE had gone in), an interval that lasted half an hour for no reason (so after the delay at the start it all overran by a ridiculous amount with NO APOLOGY, and my poor mate missed her train and could have been RAPED). And it was a generally shoddy venue. Maybe it was an off night though.
And yeah it sounds like you were fucked over a bit by bad seating for London Road. I also didn't think it was *quite* as good as most folk said, but pretty much all of that was down to me thinking it wasn't in good taste (did you feel that at all? not many people seemed to, which surprises me a bit). I think i might still buy the cd the next time i'm in the national shop though. I also read somewhere that a dvd is in the works, which makes sense what with nowhere else being likely to stage it.
Last edited by TurnerPrize; 30-08-2011 at 12:52 AM.
dUb, Parade was absolutely excellent! So so brilliant. It made me feel so hopeful about musical theatre. It's better than any new musical theatre production I've seen in the West End for YEARS.
Oh YAY!! Very glad to hear THAT! And isn't it just!
Apparently THE Lucie Jones was in attendance last night, can you confirm this? Presuming you went last night...
TP, I wasn't at all bothered about good taste re London Road. I suppose it's your Kickass-homophobia moment
Last edited by dUb; 02-09-2011 at 09:55 AM.
Lucie Jones was in attendance last night, yah.
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