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Post by HereForTheatre on Jan 15, 2020 20:36:31 GMT
Thanks for all that. Well if you combine the song choice of Over the Rainbow and the mention of ALW shows coming to the theatre.....i'd probably bet The Wizard Of Oz is the Xmas show? We'll see. I have to say, despite me not seeing it yet, i'd find that slightly uninspiring only because quite a few other regional theatres have done it over the last two years. No problem, that was my initial thought and I also find it rather uninspiring so hope its not. I also hope there's an interesting link to that song being performed, as if it is The Wizard of Oz, that would be too obvious a song to have, surely? Who knows, I won't be holding my breath! I mean i guessed they would be doing WWS from the amount of WWS songs they included in their Birthday concert so they aren't often great at being subtle I've never seen it so it will be new for me anyway and i would of course go but it's not an ideal choice when it's been done already over the last two christmases by other regional theatres too. I guess it's hard though because there are only so many shows with mass appeal and that's the type of show that's going to be chosen for their Xmas musicals. People were talking about Merrily and A Chorus Line and i thought there's no way.
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Post by sophie92 on Jan 15, 2020 20:54:25 GMT
No problem, that was my initial thought and I also find it rather uninspiring so hope its not. I also hope there's an interesting link to that song being performed, as if it is The Wizard of Oz, that would be too obvious a song to have, surely? Who knows, I won't be holding my breath! I mean i guessed they would be doing WWS from the amount of WWS songs they included in their Birthday concert so they aren't often great at being subtle I've never seen it so it will be new for me anyway and i would of course go but it's not an ideal choice when it's been done already over the last two christmases by other regional theatres too. I guess it's hard though because there are only so many shows with mass appeal and that's the type of show that's going to be chosen for their Xmas musicals. People were talking about Merrily and A Chorus Line and i thought there's no way. I remember at one of their launches Lucie Jones sang The Power of Love as the hint for a future production so immediate thoughts were that Back to the Future would be happening at Leicester, but it was actually An Officer and a Gentlemen. But Over The Rainbow definitely suggests The Wizard of Oz or another Judy-related show. With regards to West Side Story, I really hope this production has further life. It is a stunning production and I’ll be sad to say goodbye to it on Saturday.
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Post by thenightowl on Jan 15, 2020 20:55:00 GMT
I've never seen it so it will be new for me anyway and i would of course go but it's not an ideal choice when it's been done already over the last two christmases by other regional theatres too. I guess it's hard though because there are only so many shows with mass appeal and that's the type of show that's going to be chosen for their Xmas musicals. People were talking about Merrily and A Chorus Line and i thought there's no way. That’s the nail on the head there. They have to pick shows (certainly for their Christmas 2 month runs) that are more than financially viable and an almost guaranteed success so that they can continue to have such a well balanced and varied program of plays/comedy/dance etc throughout the rest of the year. They were keen to impress this at the season launch and asked people to take a risk and see a production outside of their comfort zone or something you normally wouldn’t. It’s obvious from comments over the years that a lot of the members only want them to do the big well known plays and musicals. They used the analogy that West Side Story was new once and people had to give that a try. Sadly a lot of people fall in the rut of only wanting to see productions where they know they’ll have a good time or are familiar with some of the material (one reason why juke box shows historically tend to do well). I don’t begrudge them for having to make the slightly more commercial decisions (just make sure we leave it a long while before Hot Stuff comes back) as long as the programming continues to be as diverse as it has over the past few years I don’t think I could ever find a reason to be disappointed. I do feel very lucky and proud to have Curve as my local theatre. I don’t think there was ever a time when I thought we’d be getting the big mega musicals like we’ve seen recently. I’m just very keen to see them develop the new musical programming side which I know is both very costly and time consuming!
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Post by HereForTheatre on Jan 15, 2020 21:06:31 GMT
I mean i guessed they would be doing WWS from the amount of WWS songs they included in their Birthday concert so they aren't often great at being subtle I've never seen it so it will be new for me anyway and i would of course go but it's not an ideal choice when it's been done already over the last two christmases by other regional theatres too. I guess it's hard though because there are only so many shows with mass appeal and that's the type of show that's going to be chosen for their Xmas musicals. People were talking about Merrily and A Chorus Line and i thought there's no way. I remember at one of their launches Lucie Jones sang The Power of Love as the hint for a future production so immediate thoughts were that Back to the Future would be happening at Leicester, but it was actually An Officer and a Gentlemen. But Over The Rainbow definitely suggests The Wizard of Oz or another Judy-related show. With regards to West Side Story, I really hope this production has further life. It is a stunning production and I’ll be sad to say goodbye to it on Saturday. I remember that. I still don't know why they had her sing it. It wasn't even in the show. Maybe it was going to be but they cut it or something. The only other link to Officer was that it was an 80's song...which is a bit loose! I've never seen it so it will be new for me anyway and i would of course go but it's not an ideal choice when it's been done already over the last two christmases by other regional theatres too. I guess it's hard though because there are only so many shows with mass appeal and that's the type of show that's going to be chosen for their Xmas musicals. People were talking about Merrily and A Chorus Line and i thought there's no way. That’s the nail on the head there. They have to pick shows (certainly for their Christmas 2 month runs) that are more than financially viable and an almost guaranteed success so that they can continue to have such a well balanced and varied program of plays/comedy/dance etc throughout the rest of the year. They were keen to impress this at the season launch and asked people to take a risk and see a production outside of their comfort zone or something you normally wouldn’t. It’s obvious from comments over the years that a lot of the members only want them to do the big well known plays and musicals. They used the analogy that West Side Story was new once and people had to give that a try. Sadly a lot of people fall in the rut of only wanting to see productions where they know they’ll have a good time or are familiar with some of the material (one reason why juke box shows historically tend to do well). I don’t begrudge them for having to make the slightly more commercial decisions (just make sure we leave it a long while before Hot Stuff comes back) as long as the programming continues to be as diverse as it has over the past few years I don’t think I could ever find a reason to be disappointed. I do feel very lucky and proud to have Curve as my local theatre. I don’t think there was ever a time when I thought we’d be getting the big mega musicals like we’ve seen recently. I’m just very keen to see them develop the new musical programming side which I know is both very costly and time consuming! Yeh i get it too. For me The Color Purple was the biggest surprise in terms of musical they have put on recently. Not one that i'd have expected and a risk but they did it. I was hoping for another slightly more left field (for them) choice again this year so was slightly disappointed when they announce Roman Holiday, even though that is a new musical. I've always thought that Curve would do a good Bombay Dreams. Maybe that is one of the ALW shows they are talking about!
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Post by thenightowl on Jan 15, 2020 21:17:24 GMT
For me The Color Purple was the biggest surprise in terms of musical they have put on recently. I was hoping for another slightly more left field (for them) choice again this year so was slightly disappointed when they announce Roman Holiday, even though that is a new musical. I've always thought that Curve would do a good Bombay Dreams. Maybe that is one of the ALW shows they are talking about! The Colour Purple really was a welcome surprise and inspired programming really, I’m very glad I saw that, having a co-production certainly helps with costs, so this should be something they’re likely to continue doing. Roman Holiday does seem a bit left field, but it ticks boxes for the older customers because of the Cole Porter music whilst also being a film they might of heard of. They’re keen to get young people seeing this show as a way of introducing the classic Cole Porter music to them, we’ll see if it inspires the youth to book. Bombay Dreams would be an amazing show for Curve to revive! I always thought the music was really special for this show and culture wise for Leicester it’s a perfect fit!
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Post by HereForTheatre on Jan 15, 2020 21:30:25 GMT
For me The Color Purple was the biggest surprise in terms of musical they have put on recently. I was hoping for another slightly more left field (for them) choice again this year so was slightly disappointed when they announce Roman Holiday, even though that is a new musical. I've always thought that Curve would do a good Bombay Dreams. Maybe that is one of the ALW shows they are talking about! The Colour Purple really was a welcome surprise and inspired programming really, I’m very glad I saw that, having a co-production certainly helps with costs, so this should be something they’re likely to continue doing. Roman Holiday does seem a bit left field, but it ticks boxes for the older customers because of the Cole Porter music whilst also being a film they might of heard of. They’re keen to get young people seeing this show as a way of introducing the classic Cole Porter music to them, we’ll see if it inspires the youth to book. Bombay Dreams would be an amazing show for Curve to revive! I always thought the music was really special for this show and culture wise for Leicester it’s a perfect fit! I really don't know why they haven't done it so far. It seems so obvious for them to do. Maybe we will see it at some point over the next few years. Interestingly they sent me a survey late last year where you had to pick shows you'd like to see them do off a list. The Wizard of Oz and Bombay Dreams were on it.
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Post by thenightowl on Jan 15, 2020 21:38:51 GMT
Interestingly they sent me a survey late last year where you had to pick shows you'd like to see them do off a list. The Wizard of Oz and Bombay Dreams were on it. I remember that survey, couldn’t tell you what they’d put on the list now though so we’ll remembered. I think I spent most of my time on the survey putting in alternate suggestions for shows they hadn’t thought of or deemed worthy of being popular enough!
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Post by HereForTheatre on Jan 15, 2020 21:40:10 GMT
Interestingly they sent me a survey late last year where you had to pick shows you'd like to see them do off a list. The Wizard of Oz and Bombay Dreams were on it. I remember that survey, couldn’t tell you what they’d put on the list now though so we’ll remembered. I think I spent most of my time on the survey putting in alternate suggestions for shows they hadn’t thought of or deemed worthy of being popular enough! LOL me too!
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Post by Someone in a tree on Jan 16, 2020 11:11:41 GMT
Merrily would be interesting considering the shows history and the role the Leicester Haymarket played. My instinct would be to put it in the studio and share it with a few other theatres like last year's Hired Man (Hornchurch, Hull and Bolton).
That would then free up the main stage for something much more commercial... We haven't seen My fair lady in a while.
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Post by ABr on Jan 16, 2020 11:18:27 GMT
We haven't seen My fair lady in a while. I'm still keeping fingers crossed for the recent Broadway revival to make its way across! Regardless I agree its been too long for a MFL!
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Post by ABr on Jan 16, 2020 11:19:51 GMT
I have always thought that a good Christmas show for Curve to do would be The Secret Garden! As its a popular enough property to get tickets in, its something i think that would work for the festive period, and I think Curve could really put there stamp on it!
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Post by Someone in a tree on Jan 16, 2020 11:20:30 GMT
We haven't seen My fair lady in a while. I'm still keeping fingers crossed for the recent Broadway revival to make its way across! Regardless I agree its been too long for a MFL! I did see it. It was fine. But I think much better productions can be created
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Post by HereForTheatre on Jan 17, 2020 9:56:09 GMT
Just a quick correction, Jamie did injure his foot badly on Tuesday night be he (somehow) carried on and finished the show. So it was Ryan Andersons total debut on the Wednesday afternoon that i saw it. He did a good job. I don't think you would have guessed.
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Post by sophie92 on Jan 17, 2020 23:06:12 GMT
Jamie was back in the show tonight. I’m glad he feels able to perform but I hope he doesn’t aggravate the injury by doing so.
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Post by alucas28 on Jan 18, 2020 19:12:45 GMT
Jamie was back in the show tonight. I’m glad he feels able to perform but I hope he doesn’t aggravate the injury by doing so. Saw today’s final matinee & Jamie was definitely limping. At stage door afterwards he was wearing slides clearly for the sake of his foot (although he may have said it was his ankle). They adapted the scene before A Boy Like That where he usually jumps down the ladder to the ground to just have him walk off, which is appropriate because he really could do some permanent damage to his foot otherwise. I was lucky enough to however be at Ryan’s debut as Tony and he was phenomenal; I could scarcely tell if it was a debut or not. I absolutely cried my eyes out at the end of today’s matinee - what didn’t help was the fact that Adriana too was crying & Carly had been crying, so everything felt so much more real. I wish this production and this cast all the best, hoping it has a promising future.
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Post by HereForTheatre on Jan 18, 2020 20:13:50 GMT
I noticed a tweet today from Carly Mercedes Dyer that said about being proud of the production and "the next life" the production has 🤔🤔🤔
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Post by HereForTheatre on Jan 18, 2020 21:33:23 GMT
I note looking at wiki that Somewhere is usually sung by Consuelo or an off stage voice? Not in this one right? Isn't it Tony & Maria and then the entire company join in? Or am i remembering wrong?
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Post by thenightowl on Jan 18, 2020 21:49:10 GMT
I note looking at wiki that Somewhere is usually sung by Consuelo or an off stage voice? Not in this one right? Is it it Tony & Maria and then the entire company join in? Or am i remembering wrong? You’re correct, it isn’t normally Tony and Maria who sing Somewhere, although part of the song is scripted for Tony and Maria to sing but that’s the bit right at the beginning before the dream sequence starts. The bit that starts with ‘And I’ll take you away, take you far, far away from here etc’. In a past production I’ve been involved in we had a ‘Somewhere Girl’ who sang just that. There’s also a recording where Connie Fisher sings only that song (granted that wasn’t a stage version though). I think it works better having Tony and Maria sing it.
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Post by alucas28 on Jan 18, 2020 22:22:10 GMT
I noticed a tweet today from Carly Mercedes Dyer that said about being proud of the production and "the next life" the production has 🤔🤔🤔 All I can hope for is that they announce soon that the production has plans for a transfer to the West End or a return to the Curve, possibly for this year’s Christmas show seeing as they haven’t announced it yet. My heart is so broken that we’ve lost such a masterpiece today. 😭
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Post by HereForTheatre on Jan 18, 2020 23:00:34 GMT
I noticed a tweet today from Carly Mercedes Dyer that said about being proud of the production and "the next life" the production has 🤔🤔🤔 All I can hope for is that they announce soon that the production has plans for a transfer to the West End or a return to the Curve, possibly for this year’s Christmas show seeing as they haven’t announced it yet. My heart is so broken that we’ve lost such a masterpiece today. 😭 I very much doubt it will be back as the Xmas show this year but maybe it could get another run at some point in the same way the RX version has? The thing with a tour or WE run is they specifically mentioned before the show opened that the set design was fitted to Curves stage only and not with going anywhere else in mind so it might be difficult logistically. I'm wondering if Carly didn't quite word it right as she meant she's excited to see what the next life might be rather than proud of it's next life...
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Post by sophie92 on Jan 18, 2020 23:03:39 GMT
I note looking at wiki that Somewhere is usually sung by Consuelo or an off stage voice? Not in this one right? Isn't it Tony & Maria and then the entire company join in? Or am i remembering wrong? I know that the Royal Exchange production and another production in Austria, I think, that had Anybodys sing Somewhere, but yes this production was Tony & Maria, which is how it is in the film
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Post by sophie92 on Jan 19, 2020 0:41:13 GMT
Jamie was back in the show tonight. I’m glad he feels able to perform but I hope he doesn’t aggravate the injury by doing so. Saw today’s final matinee & Jamie was definitely limping. At stage door afterwards he was wearing slides clearly for the sake of his foot (although he may have said it was his ankle). They adapted the scene before A Boy Like That where he usually jumps down the ladder to the ground to just have him walk off, which is appropriate because he really could do some permanent damage to his foot otherwise. Yeah, I was at both shows today and there were quite a few little changes made to accommodate for the injury. At the evening performance he was back to going down the ladder in the particular scene that you mentioned.
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Post by Someone in a tree on Jan 19, 2020 8:39:25 GMT
Somewhere: my first WSS was a touring production in the 1990's. It had lots of mini skyscrapers on castors that looked like shower cubicals. For Somewhere the showers were pushed towards the wings, opening up the cluttered stage for the first time then a woman in a long white dress was wheeled in on top of a ladder singing Somewhere it was heavenly and worked rather well.
But I'm in favour of giving it it to Maria as she and the Sharks don't get much stage time compared to the others.
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Post by HereForTheatre on Feb 20, 2020 9:28:30 GMT
Cam Mack was on Radio Leicester yesterday and i thought it quite interesting that when answering a question about whether he's planning to continue his relationship with Curve in the future he voluntarily brought up in the answer that he saw Curves West Side Story and thought it was one of the best productions of it he'd ever seen... Maybe he just wanted to get a compliment in but it would be interesting if he was involved in a transfer wouldn't it. Who knows
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Post by sophie92 on Feb 20, 2020 11:35:11 GMT
Cam Mack was on Radio Leicester yesterday and i thought it quite interesting that when answering a question about whether he's planning to continue his relationship with Curve in the future he voluntarily brought up in the answer that he saw Curves West Side Story and thought it was one of the best productions of it he'd ever seen... Maybe he just wanted to get a compliment in but it would be interesting if he was involved in a transfer wouldn't it. Who knows I can only live in hope
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Post by Someone in a tree on Feb 20, 2020 13:00:26 GMT
Cam Mack was on Radio Leicester yesterday and i thought it quite interesting that when answering a question about whether he's planning to continue his relationship with Curve in the future he voluntarily brought up in the answer that he saw Curves West Side Story and thought it was one of the best productions of it he'd ever seen... Maybe he just wanted to get a compliment in but it would be interesting if he was involved in a transfer wouldn't it. Who knows trotters crossed for a transfer. i adored this production and it deserves a further life.
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Post by ABr on Feb 20, 2020 13:10:37 GMT
Cam Mack was on Radio Leicester yesterday and i thought it quite interesting that when answering a question about whether he's planning to continue his relationship with Curve in the future he voluntarily brought up in the answer that he saw Curves West Side Story and thought it was one of the best productions of it he'd ever seen... Maybe he just wanted to get a compliment in but it would be interesting if he was involved in a transfer wouldn't it. Who knows I'd be very happy if this transferred! I think it was a fab production, it could do with some tweaks, but only minor, and I think it could do well in town for a limited run
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Post by Someone in a tree on Sept 23, 2020 19:19:57 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Sept 24, 2020 10:05:06 GMT
Predictably people winging on socials about this. I, personally, would much prefer them push it back and get it right, rather than rush it through Post and end up with another Cats.
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Post by poster J on Sept 24, 2020 19:19:07 GMT
Predictably people winging on socials about this. I, personally, would much prefer them push it back and get it right, rather than rush it through Post and end up with another Cats. Given they finished filming months ago (was it February, or even earlier?) I don't think it is really a case of rushing through Post but just a convenient excuse to avoid lower sales this Christmas given the current circumstances...
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