Charlie Stemp in Stoppard's Rough Crossing, Bath

Interesting if it's the touring production also visiting Chichester & Guildford (& Malvern?) & from which Griff Rhys-Jones withdrew - I thought to be replaced by Anthony Andrews. If so, this version seems to have had a chequered history even before opening.

Yep, saw this on the YA Guildford site months ago, even started a thread. Not quite the starry cast first promised but a rare enough revival.

Oh dear - maybe that explains why it appears so rarely - not even when Stoppard appeared to be having a bit of a revival a couple of years ago. Still, as I don't recall ever seeing it and the Guildford matinees are already very full, for me it's a case of book now or risk missing out.

Is Anthony Andrews still in this? I understood it was then meant to be Gryff Rhys Jones, and now it will be John Partridge?

Cast:
John Partridge
Matthew Cottle
Issy Van Randwyck
Simon Dutton
Charlie Stemp
Rob Ostlere

First visit to Windsor Theatre royal, quite a cute little venue! The play was pretty poor I must say, unlikable characters and a really thin plot. That said, Charlie Stemp steals it every time he came onto the stage, he’s very likeable as the goofy butler.

From that list, Charlie is the only one that brings any excitement. I can't stand John Partridge.

I think it just goes to show how well liked Charlie is that any show he is in, he is the one people want to talk about.

Music and lyrics by Elton John and starring Daniella Westbrook!

I don't care about who is in the show. There should CONSISTENCY and RULES about how ALL the threads are named! It should include the title of the production and the theatre location AND THAT'S ALL. They need to be specific and relate to the discussion. No random questions. Nobody's names. No spelling or grammar mistakes. Imagine how brilliant the threads would like in a row if they were all consistent? Eh? Eh? Or is my OCD out of hand?

Approx 2 hours including the interval.

Saw this in Malvern tonight surprisingly quite full 3/4 full I would say .... I really wanted to like it more ... I’d say 2.5/3 stars ... the set was pretty impressive for a BK production
Cast all good mathew cottle is always great value great comic timing .... Jon partridge works hard maybe a little too hard ? Should take a leaf from Mathews book .... and he really try’s to outdo Charlie in the finale tap routine .... 🥰🥰🥰Charlie What’s not to love such a dream boat ... the play comes to life when he’s on stage ... he’s really the star of the night great comic timing too ..... really the cast are better than the material .... I’d love to see them all in a funnier play maybe an ackbourn ? Or even a farce noises off don’t dress for dinner type play came away thinking 🤔 yep an enjoyable night but no desire to sit through it again unless Charlie was in his swim suit longer 🤣

Saw this in Guildford last week. A very ropey, insubstantial, lightweight (and not especially funny) play. I'm not surprised that it isn't revived very often.

The actors are all performing in different styles, which left me with the impression that they all think they're appearing in totally different plays. Given how terrible John Partridge was in that tour of La Cage a couple of years ago, it's astonishing that he is even worse in this, and gives an execrable "performance" that is almost unbearable to watch, all teeth and flounce, whilst Charlie Stemp goes all-out on the perkiness front, and pitches his acting at the level of a children's TV presenter jacked up on Sunny Delight. (Incidentally, I remain puzzled by why Charlie Stemp would bother to drag himself round the provinces in a play like this. With his CV full of leading roles in major musicals in the West End (and on Broadway) what does he gain by knocking himself out doing this schlock 8 times a week in Guildford, and Leeds, and Lord knows where else?)

Rob Ostlere's character barely makes an impression, which is somewhat unfortunate as the whole "plot" of the play revolves around his (unconvincing) relationship with an actress, in this case played by Issy van Randwyck who is, for some reason, about 25 years older than he is. The best performance of the evening comes from the ever-dependable Matthew Cottle.

The worst section is in the second Act when all the actors are frantically running around the stage to indicate that the ship is caught in a storm. I presume this is meant to be comic, but the stony silence from the audience in response to the scene was almost surreal. As the full auditorium emptied at the end, the audience trudged out in grim silence, as if they'd just been to a funeral, rather than a light and frothy comedy.

I'm seeing this in Leeds and I'm looking forward to it.

Is a play with 3 original songs a play or a musical?