233 posts
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Post by singingbird on Mar 8, 2024 8:46:30 GMT
I don't know if I'm perverse, but the more I read here, the more I want to see this!
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214 posts
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Post by frankubelik on Mar 8, 2024 9:17:07 GMT
Absolutely dreadful. There is so much wrong with this that it's almost impossible to critique. I have to commend the leading lady for literally throwing herself into this though, but I never once believed she was a (Broadway???) star struggling with age and despite her ability to carry a tune, we all know the voice is poor. Mind you there is little for anyone to sing since the score ranges from that Kander & Ebb-ish solo through interminable dirges (one performed particularly badly by Benjamin Walker - whose credits I was amazed to read - replace him please) to a baffling all-out showbizzy final number!!!!! A duet opening Act 2 is performed behind the voile curtain which I thought was an error. Amy Lennox comes out of this best finding warmth and surprising depth in character (and she can sing). The videos and projections are simply distracting and add nothing. Really amazed this has found it's way on to a stage. General interval comments all agreed.
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Post by ladidah on Mar 8, 2024 9:24:32 GMT
When will this be reviewed?
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100 posts
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Post by youngoffender on Mar 8, 2024 9:27:28 GMT
What a shame. I was holding out for word of mouth before buying tickets, but this sounds like a grand folly. I'd happily see a jukebox musical built around Rufus's back catalogue, but it sounds like this is fatally short of the great songs that might have redeemed it.
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140 posts
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Post by FJ on Mar 8, 2024 9:28:01 GMT
I'm booked to see this at the beginning of April, and if the hoover gets cut during previews I'm going to be absolutely distraught. It's the main reason I'm going at this stage.
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100 posts
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Post by youngoffender on Mar 8, 2024 9:29:16 GMT
When will this be reviewed? Press night is Tuesday 26th
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100 posts
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Post by youngoffender on Mar 8, 2024 9:31:26 GMT
I'm booked to see this at the beginning of April, and if the hoover gets cut during previews I'm going to be absolutely distraught. It's the main reason I'm going at this stage. It's a gift for reviewers - "This show sucks from the outset..."
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Post by ladidah on Mar 8, 2024 9:41:25 GMT
That is quite soon!
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5,326 posts
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Post by mrbarnaby on Mar 8, 2024 9:52:20 GMT
I don't know if I'm perverse, but the more I read here, the more I want to see this! Me too I’m also excited to possibly be able to make a dinner reservation and leave at the interval
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78 posts
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Post by rosscoe on Mar 8, 2024 11:05:31 GMT
This sounds brilliant in a flop way.
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Post by adamkinsey on Mar 8, 2024 11:49:01 GMT
Friend of mine who goes all over the country to watch musicals saw this last night. Posted a lengthy comment on his Facebook this morning giving it one helluva slating.
One assumes it has had an ok advance box office purely on the basis of Sheridan which might be enough for it to last longer than it should.
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Post by ladidah on Mar 8, 2024 11:52:24 GMT
Surely it seems to need too many changes to become a good musical?
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7,583 posts
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Post by alece10 on Mar 8, 2024 11:52:57 GMT
I'm going tonight and with an open mind but it's not boding well at the moment. I haven't told the friend I'm taking about the opinions so far and don't think I will in case she pulls out. Fortunately she doesn't follow any social media at all so she won't have a clue.
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Post by greatauntedna on Mar 8, 2024 12:00:10 GMT
It was almost incoherent on Wednesday. I think Magic, The Pantomime and the Broadway one are good, hooky songs (and I liked the overture), but they’re tonally at odds with the rest of the show. And I like that contrast, it goes from optimistic to very bleak. But the bleak stuff is really poor.
It was really sketchy and unclear why some things were happening. The strangling was bonkers, for that long.
If the idea is it’s meant to be this intense jumble of Sheridan’s mental breakdown, with the director just shouting nothingy demands at her, little vignettes of her interactions with the leechy production team etc, then ok but that can’t sustain a 2.5 hour show.
I hope they can fix it!
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624 posts
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Post by mrnutz on Mar 8, 2024 12:21:08 GMT
I'm seeing this tomorrow night and was hoping for a good one after some recent theatrical disappointments! 😭
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Post by erik24601 on Mar 8, 2024 12:51:27 GMT
I'm going tonight and with an open mind but it's not boding well at the moment. I haven't told the friend I'm taking about the opinions so far and don't think I will in case she pulls out. Fortunately she doesn't follow any social media at all so she won't have a clue. That's evil lol
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Post by lucynancylala on Mar 8, 2024 14:08:21 GMT
Diabolical torture
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358 posts
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Post by tysilio2 on Mar 8, 2024 15:22:32 GMT
A small win, but this sounds like the best featured use of a Hoover in a musical since ANNIE. *starts writing Shake'n'Vac - The Musical*
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42 posts
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Post by graham on Mar 8, 2024 15:25:38 GMT
A small win, but this sounds like the best featured use of a Hoover in a musical since ANNIE. *starts writing Shake'n'Vac - The Musical* The Shakin' Stevens musical?
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145 posts
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Post by meister on Mar 8, 2024 15:39:07 GMT
A small win, but this sounds like the best featured use of a Hoover in a musical since ANNIE. *starts writing Shake'n'Vac - The Musical* Whoost Side Story - The Sharks vs the HooverJets
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Post by bobbievanhusen on Mar 8, 2024 16:13:53 GMT
A small win, but this sounds like the best featured use of a Hoover in a musical since ANNIE. *starts writing Shake'n'Vac - The Musical* If it doesn't star Jenny Logan, I'm not seeing it. Don't ask me how I know she was the Shake 'n' Vac lady. Its just one of those useless bits if information that has stayed in my brain.
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Post by danb on Mar 8, 2024 16:34:45 GMT
*starts writing Shake'n'Vac - The Musical* If it doesn't star Jenny Logan, I'm not seeing it. Don't ask me how I know she was the Shake 'n' Vac lady. Its just one of those useless bits if information that has stayed in my brain. I remember seeing her in something meh at the Watermill, and it being the most exciting thing about it.
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2,823 posts
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Post by ceebee on Mar 8, 2024 16:41:24 GMT
*starts writing Shake'n'Vac - The Musical* If it doesn't star Jenny Logan, I'm not seeing it. Don't ask me how I know she was the Shake 'n' Vac lady. Its just one of those useless bits if information that has stayed in my brain. It's all you have to do...... Just write the Shake'n'Vac Bring Jenny Logan back Write the Shake'n'Vac And put the freshness back When the show smells fresh, so do you Next time you write a musical you know just what to do... Actually, you know, a Fringe type show made up of cringey advert jingles spoofed into a random comedy format could be mildly amusing.
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Post by A.Ham on Mar 8, 2024 17:09:23 GMT
Well, I was there last night but I’ve not posted until now as unsure quite what to make of it.
There were things I did enjoy, but on the whole it really wasn’t anywhere near as good as I’d hoped. Sheridan worked really hard right through the show - she’s a great actor and I enjoyed the numbers she sang too. I also really liked Nicola Hughes. A few of the songs were really good - the group number with Myrtle, Manny, Maurice and Dorothy in Act I and the ‘going into battle’ (going on stage) number in Act II stood out. But a lot of the songs were dirgey and unmemorable.
The hoovering guy annoyed me at the start - that’s two minutes that could be instantly cut without losing anything, to my mind anyhow. I agree with others who’ve commented on the red curtain blocking views - where the folds made it thicker than one sheet it was harder to see what was happening, even though I was front row of the dress. We get we’re watching ‘backstage’ but no need to have such an obvious divide for whole numbers.
I think unfortunately whilst the plot doesn’t seem that complicated, the sound balance and the accents meant I didn’t catch everything that was said / sung and so it became confused / confusing quite quickly. Vocals weren’t clear enough to hear all the words as the music was a fraction too loud. The videoing added to it in parts but detracted in others - was a nice touch seeing myself arriving through the theatre lobby, but the section in the street outside seemed more designed to garner publicity than anything to compare to the amazing job Tom Francis and the Sunset team did on The Strand. They set a high bar I know! The camera on the audience section was less effective, especially as one man did a ‘hello Mum’ wave followed by a couple of others, which definitely jarred! Ditto some of the unintentionally ironic lines in the script. I had to stifle a chortle when Maurice (Benjamin Walker) turned to the audience towards the end of Act I and said ‘well this is terrible isn’t it…’
I’ve seen Van Hove’s All About Eve and absolutely loved A Little Life last year so to an extent knew what to expect, but it just didn’t click in this production for me, despite some individually good performances.
The lady next to me made me laugh - on seeing I’d bought a programme in the interval she asked if it explained what on earth was going on (sadly it doesn’t, and also at this stage didn’t have a song list either so it’s been hard to remember specifics for this post). I guess perhaps once everything is finalised post-previews it may be added.
I fear that the Sheridan factor will have done a lot to sell tickets, particularly following the very successful run in Shirley Valentine last year, and people will be expecting something much more mainstream. I applaud her for pushing herself, professionally and physically (she’s flying around and falling down here, there and everywhere) but wonder if this will be too much of a stretch for her core audience.
And random star spots - Tony Robinson, and Charlie Brooks during the interval, plus Rufus Wainwright heading into the stage door post-show.
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624 posts
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Post by mrnutz on Mar 8, 2024 17:15:44 GMT
With the people behind this it should have been a surefire smash. Where has it gone so wrong?
Glad I'll be paying £160 (for two tickets) to find out for myself.
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92 posts
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Post by annette on Mar 8, 2024 17:30:17 GMT
Can anyone who has seen this show already tell me what part Shira Haas is playing in the proceedings? Is it a small part? So far I don't think anyone has mentioned her and she was one of the reasons I booked to see it. I was intrigued when I saw Benjamin Walker had been cast in this. I saw him in a fringe show that unwisely moved to Broadway and then closed very quickly some years ago. He played the lead and pretty much gave a one note performance (which mainly consisted of shouting). I wonder if he was part of the development of this show? If not, why add the cost of bringing him over to the UK? I was so looking forward to seeing this, but VH's shows can be very variable,so the risk was always there. I'm hoping the curtain might be tied back by the time I see it at least. That said, even if they cut down the hoovering, I'm hoping to get a glimpse of it.
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Post by bigredapple on Mar 8, 2024 18:29:36 GMT
Trying to avoid any comments here before I book. What’s the set like? Can only afford the grand circle, is it worth sitting up there for this show or a waste of time?
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Post by greatauntedna on Mar 8, 2024 18:34:20 GMT
Trying to avoid any comments here before I book. What’s the set like? Can only afford the grand circle, is it worth sitting up there for this show or a waste of time? It’s mostly fine in the Grand Circle, better than most shows!
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Post by danb on Mar 8, 2024 19:03:51 GMT
Sat up there for the Les Mis concert thing and was surprised how great the view was. I thought I’d booked the dress but had not. I needn’t have worried. So (the front of at least) is great.
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1,435 posts
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Post by showtoones on Mar 8, 2024 19:35:39 GMT
From the sound of it, it may not be a bad thing to be further away so the cast can’t see the look of horror on your face…
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