|
Post by Deleted on Jul 8, 2018 10:05:42 GMT
I haven't seen this production yet - though I did work on the tour/west end revival with Kathryn Evans (eventually) as Rose and Alex Hanson as his own namesake - and as a piece it is a real oddity. On paper it is a small chamber piece about 5 people and their romantic entanglements - yet at times the music has a really epic sweep to it in the big numbers and with a full orchestra sounded amazing but some of the through sung elements/libretto are fairly pedestrian. The original production looked fabulous but it was slightly lost amidst travellators and large moving set pieces - but the pared down Menier version didn't really work either in spite of a good cast. Perhaps because you were simply too close to a bunch of fairly unpleasant people - for, with the exception of Jenny, none of the principal characters are particularly likeable. I wonder whether the piece will always be an interesting failure. I think our production was the best of the lot - with a good balance between intimate and epic (swishy curtains instead of solid panels) but still had moment which didn't work. And the character of Alex is really difficult to play. He starts off with the really big hit song - and then suddenly it's flashback and he has to be a credible seventeen year old fan boy. Then in act two he's in his mid-30s with his own teenage fan - and there's not a lot on the page to help the character development. I've seen about seven actors play Alex and no-one has really managed all aspects of the character - either too old for 17 or too young for 35 (or both). In fairness to Felix Mosse - he's not straight out of drama school. I think he's about 26 (just a couple of years younger than Michael Ball when he played Alex) though may look/play younger - and seems to have worked pretty consistently for the last five years including a year in Book of Mormon and a year in Les Miserables (covering Marius - I heard good things about when he went on) and recently completed the European tour of Rocky Horror Show as Brad. I'm due to see this production towards the end of the run - and will be approaching with caution - though it will probably be tighter than the first preview. I had hoped for a string quartet as a minimum for the orchestra - but I guess that's not going to be the case! That’s really cool that you worked on the Gale Edwards tour - I enjoyed that very much. Yeah I never really think of Aspects as a “small” musical. It has many intimate elements, but also is great typical ALW orchestral sweep for much. I think possibly it’s thought of as smaller/chamber as it came just after the gargantuine Cats/Starlight/Phantom trio. But in it’s own right I think a 15+ band and some money on sets suit it well. That said I also think it COULD work well in a small space. Ahh ok, apologies, I didn’t realise that about Felix Mosse. So does have some decent MT acting credentials.
|
|
1,720 posts
|
Post by stevejohnson678 on Jul 9, 2018 10:32:34 GMT
Pleased to report that most of the lighting issues cited at the first preview seemed to be resolved for the second performance on Saturday afternoon – only one very brief moment where the wrong area of the stage was lit and this was quickly corrected.
One change since my last visit to the Hope Mill for Spring Awakening is that there’s now a proper box office (which on Saturday came complete with a little canine assistant!). The window is just ahead of you as you turn left through the entrance to head towards the bar. It’s the door within the bar that provides the entrance to the auditorium for this production, as with Spring Awakening, though I’m sure for the latter the steps up to the raked seating where on your right immediately as you entered the theatre. This time around, you have to walk across the front of the stage, with the steps on the far side. Green ticket holders enter first for the table seating, then it’s the usual split between blue and red ticket holders for the main bank of seats. It was stiflingly hot at first in the theatre on Saturday, even right at the front, though it did become slightly less uncomfortable as the show progressed, presumably helped by what appeared to be two large air conditioning units positioned by the door at the rear of the theatre.
Onto the show then and this left me quite frustrated because lots of the elements that have made previous Hope Mill productions so enjoyable are there but the decision to cut the orchestra to just three is unforgivable. It means the score never has the chance to soar as it should. The explanation in the programme that the reduced orchestra helps to place the focus on the characters seems risible but also leads onto the next problem which is the casting of Alex.
Vocally, Felix Mosse is okay – perfectly pleasant if rather quiet – but he injects his character with such little personality and shows so little emotion or reaction to anything going on around him, it made me wonder how the audience are supposed to invest in Alex if the character himself seems so indifferent to everything which life throws at him. The result is that the energy of the production – and my engagement with it – repeatedly fell when he was to the fore on stage.
The strength of the rest of the company, particularly Kelly Price as Rose and Eleanor Walsh as the blossoming Jenny, went some way to compensating, with a playful, assured performance filled with vivacity from Eleanor Walsh on her professional debut, while Kelly was never less than completely enchanting as the whirlwind Rose.
The unfortunate mis-casting of Alex aside, I wouldn’t say this is a mis-step from the Hope Mill Theatre but unlike previous visits, where they’ve always impressed with what they create in such a small space, here the budget constraints seem more to the fore. Recycling a feature of the Spring Awakening set (the suspended parallelogram) doesn’t really help matters, while the circus scene felt like a huge missed opportunity – the glowsticks and ribbons on sticks with a few balls thrown into a hat comes across as just lazy. For a production which according to the programme has been more than a year in the planning, surely they could have come up with something a little more imaginative than that? All it needs in its current guise is the glowsticks failing to switch on and you've got the Cornley Polytechnic Drama Society does Barnum.
For all the frustration at some of the decisions made (and perhaps expectations being exceptionally high given the standard of previous work), I still had an enjoyable afternoon but unlike A Little Night Music at Chester’s Storyhouse the previous evening, this felt somewhat undercooked. So near but yet so far from being another triumph for the Hope Mill.
Three stars.
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Jul 9, 2018 10:57:25 GMT
stevejohnson678 good spot on the paralleogram being recycled from Spring Awakening. As was the on-stage piano.
|
|
18,813 posts
|
Post by BurlyBeaR on Jul 9, 2018 11:26:23 GMT
The box office was installed during the Spring Awakening run. It wasn’t there for opening night but was there when it closed.
|
|
2,149 posts
|
Post by richey on Jul 9, 2018 17:22:18 GMT
So I put a comment on one of their Facebook posts this morning saying I'd found aspects of the show disappointing and they appear to have removed it! Meanwhile there's an £18 ticket offer for tonight and Thursday
|
|
197 posts
|
Post by benny20 on Jul 9, 2018 18:57:11 GMT
Damnit. The very last thing I expected after Spring Awakening was a cut back version of Aspects. Surely this is the one musical this year that from name recognition alone is pretty much guaranteed to get new punters through the HM doors and if those people see a bargain basement version of the show it could colour their opinion of fringe theatre in Manchester irrevocably. Let’s hope the niggles with the set are due to lack of preparedness and will be corrected, but incompetent acting and a 3 person band trying to do justice to an ALW score seems difficult to forgive. I’m going at the end of the month.
|
|
197 posts
|
Post by benny20 on Jul 9, 2018 19:01:13 GMT
I have seen all the musicals at Hope Mill and have found them to get better each time. I cannot believe a decision was made to go with three in the band. No other show there has had so few. As has been said, the addition of a couple or more strings would have beefed it up. I also agree this decision may backfire if the reviews aren't great. I really hope it does well though as I love the place and the people. I have my tickets for next month
|
|
364 posts
|
Post by dazzerlump on Jul 10, 2018 11:51:50 GMT
aww what a shame, the reviews on here have really put me off going to see this now. It has some lovely music that I don't feel such a small band can do any justice to
|
|
3,083 posts
|
Post by david on Jul 10, 2018 19:01:30 GMT
A short interview with the director about the production -
|
|
3,083 posts
|
Post by david on Jul 11, 2018 23:39:09 GMT
What is the current running time for the show please? I’ve had a look on the HM website but there doesn’t appear to be one.
|
|
2,149 posts
|
Post by richey on Jul 12, 2018 6:15:31 GMT
What is the current running time for the show please? I’ve had a look on the HM website but there doesn’t appear to be one. The programme says 2hrs 40 including a 20 min interval. At Friday's preview we were out at 10.40 after starting late at 8pm
|
|
2,149 posts
|
Post by richey on Jul 12, 2018 17:31:00 GMT
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Jul 12, 2018 18:51:02 GMT
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder I suppose. Odd he gave Spring Awakening 4 and this 5. A hefty percent of his other reviews seem to be pantomimes though so take of that what you will.
|
|
2,149 posts
|
Post by richey on Jul 13, 2018 12:29:00 GMT
Given these reviews I am actually contemplating a return visit to see if it has improved
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Jul 13, 2018 17:22:21 GMT
Has anyone seen any reviews other than The Stage one?!
|
|
2,452 posts
|
Post by theatremadness on Jul 13, 2018 17:27:08 GMT
Pretty sure I saw 5* in WoS too!
|
|
2,149 posts
|
Post by richey on Jul 13, 2018 17:33:14 GMT
Has anyone seen any reviews other than The Stage one?! Hope mill have retweeted a few local ones, all 5 star
|
|
18,813 posts
|
Post by BurlyBeaR on Jul 13, 2018 17:58:10 GMT
Reviews hub is 4 stars
|
|
2,149 posts
|
Post by richey on Jul 13, 2018 18:58:13 GMT
That one is just about spot on.
|
|
364 posts
|
Post by dazzerlump on Jul 16, 2018 18:48:05 GMT
Oh its sounding better, I might give it a go. How does it actually work getting seats at hope mill? do you just queue and hope you get a decent view?
|
|
318 posts
|
Post by Scswp on Jul 16, 2018 18:52:54 GMT
Oh its sounding better, I might give it a go. How does it actually work getting seats at hope mill? do you just queue and hope you get a decent view? When you turn up, they give you a coloured ticket/card. There are three or four different colours and each group enters at a different time. Basically, if you turn up early, you’ll be given a ticket for the first coloured group etc... At least that’s how it worked for Spring Awakening. Hope that makes sense!
|
|
364 posts
|
Post by dazzerlump on Jul 16, 2018 18:57:18 GMT
Oh its sounding better, I might give it a go. How does it actually work getting seats at hope mill? do you just queue and hope you get a decent view? When you turn up, they give you a coloured ticket/card. There are three or four different colours and each group enters at a different time. Basically, if you turn up early, you’ll be given a ticket for the first coloured group etc... At least that’s how it worked for Spring Awakening. Hope that makes sense! Ah Right, so get there early, do you reckon an hour before the start is enough time?
|
|
318 posts
|
Post by Scswp on Jul 16, 2018 19:11:43 GMT
When you turn up, they give you a coloured ticket/card. There are three or four different colours and each group enters at a different time. Basically, if you turn up early, you’ll be given a ticket for the first coloured group etc... At least that’s how it worked for Spring Awakening. Hope that makes sense! Ah Right, so get there early, do you reckon an hour before the start is enough time? We were there for a Saturday matinee. We were in the first coloured group, but were there about an hour and a quarter/half beforehand. We had food and drink there before the show, so the time passed quite quickly. I think an hour should be fine, though it may not get you in the first group - at least from my experience. It’s unpredictable though tbh. Best of luck - hope you get good seats.
|
|
2,149 posts
|
Post by richey on Jul 16, 2018 20:38:15 GMT
When you turn up, they give you a coloured ticket/card. There are three or four different colours and each group enters at a different time. Basically, if you turn up early, you’ll be given a ticket for the first coloured group etc... At least that’s how it worked for Spring Awakening. Hope that makes sense! Ah Right, so get there early, do you reckon an hour before the start is enough time? I got there about 35 mins before start and ended up in the first group so I got to chose a seat in the very first row which actually wasn't that great. A mate of mine went yesterday and tweeted a pic from a few rows back and it looked better from that angle (he also said that Alex managed to drop Rose on her head as they were making an exit!) Given the pretty positive reviews I've booked a return visit for next week
|
|
364 posts
|
Post by dazzerlump on Jul 16, 2018 22:20:18 GMT
Okey dokey, Thanks for the advice :-)
|
|
18,813 posts
|
Post by BurlyBeaR on Jul 17, 2018 18:27:06 GMT
Oi..... careful! 🤨
|
|
721 posts
|
Post by hulmeman on Jul 18, 2018 18:09:32 GMT
he also said that Alex managed to drop Rose on her head as they were making an exit!) I think that counts as a marriage proposal in some districts of Manchester. That's just plain rude. I've been dropped on me head from a very early age and no one married me - yet! Just back from seeing Aspects this afternoon and I'm afraid I can't share the enthusiasm. The cast and settings are wonderful, but the piece is, in my opinion, episodic, melodramatic and about 20 minutes too long. I felt sorry for the housekeeper, she was the only one who didn't get a solo version of "Love changes everything". As usual, Hope Mill is a great venue.
|
|
2,149 posts
|
Post by richey on Jul 18, 2018 18:15:34 GMT
I think that counts as a marriage proposal in some districts of Manchester. That's just plain rude. I've been dropped on me head from a very early age and no one married me - yet! I felt sorry for the housekeeper, she was the only one who didn't get a solo version of "Love changes everything". As usual, Hope Mill is a great venue. I thought she was a dead ringer for Mrs Doyle from Father Ted
|
|
2,149 posts
|
Post by richey on Jul 20, 2018 21:14:05 GMT
|
|
3,057 posts
|
Post by ali973 on Jul 20, 2018 21:52:50 GMT
Yikes. Pitchy. But looks good.
|
|