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Post by sophizoey on Jul 30, 2018 8:28:19 GMT
I saw this yesterday, and okay while it is plot light. I took a huge theme of motherhood from it. Sophie making her mother proud, Donna's mother returning, Donna becoming a mother in the flashbacks and other things you'll know if you've seen the film. Yes it starts and ends in the same way as the first one but that's intentional. Standout performance for me was Jessica Keenan Wynn, she just was Christine Baranski, however many years ago this was supposed to be.
Lily James reminded more of Sophie than Donna. I suppose thats good casting though, because Donna in the flashbacks is supposed to be around the same age. Despite the glaring timeline issue.
Also When I Kissed the Teacher was a HUGE hit with me. If my graduation from Durham University is not every inch like that we have an issue.
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Post by sophizoey on Jul 29, 2018 12:38:59 GMT
David is older than Sophie. Really because I'm not going to lie in some of those press shots (especially the one where Fiyero and Glinda are standing on the bridge) he looks like he could be similar in age to me and I'm 19.
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Post by sophizoey on Jul 28, 2018 9:32:54 GMT
I've just found out that Sunderland are playing at home the day I'm seeing the tour there... . That will be fun on the Metro back to Newcastle. (Oh, who am I kidding? Which Sunderland fans would be travelling to Newcastle after a match?) Literally none Sunderland and Newcastle have a fierce, fierce rivalry. The few you'll bump into will be Newcastle fans going to laugh at the fact Sunderland are in League 1 now.
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Post by sophizoey on Jul 27, 2018 22:04:08 GMT
The covers for the sisters is a bit confusing I think. Does one person cover all three sisters, Peggy/Maria is cover Eliza, and the ensemble/standbys/alternates/swings do Angelica and cover the other two? The pattern that has emerged in most Hamilton companies is a Standby for all three, and understudy for all three and additional Peggy/Maria cover and becoming more common among the various companies is Peggy/Maria being an additional Eliza understudy. Meaning Eliza and Peggy usually have three understudies while Angelica has two (in my opinion it is the hardest role of the three so this makes sense). However with the departure of London's current standby if all three principal actors were to be off, which has happened before. There would be no way for the show to go on due to only having one Angelica cover. (Woild also be the only available Eliza cover due to the other Eliza cover being principal Peggy/Maria, who in my scenario is absent) One thing I do know about Hamilton is that they have a Universal Schuyler Standby who is employed by all (5) companies and despite the long flight. This can include the London company if they feel that a possible crisis could be in the happening. I'm sure though Hamilton LDN know this and have a plan in that they are currently rehearsing a standby, or rehearsing one of the current ensemble girls to become an additional Angelica cover.
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Post by sophizoey on Jul 27, 2018 20:54:15 GMT
Marsha has left the company permanently now. Meaning that if all 3 of the principal Schuyler sisters were to be absent right now the show would be have to be cancelled. Until they hire a standby the cover situation is as follows (in cover order)
Eliza: Miriam Teak-Lee (was 2nd cover), Christine Allado (principal Peggy/Maria) Angelica: Miriam Teak-Lee (Marsha would be second cover) (and) Peggy/Maria: (Marsha was first cover) Miriam Teak-Lee, Courtney-Mae Briggs
So they are going to have to decide upon and rehearse a new standby, or atleast cover for one of the Sisters very soon.
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Post by sophizoey on Jul 23, 2018 12:34:31 GMT
Gave up on a Hamilton ticket when I’m overnight in London on Wednesday so heading to see the new Wicked cast! Interested to see a new Fieyro as I loved Bradley in the role, that voice - wow! David has big jodhpurs to fill for me! And of course fan favourite Kerry Enright who now takes over as Midwife... Get back to us on the nose riff please!
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Post by sophizoey on Jul 20, 2018 17:01:47 GMT
Three shows left before cast change and I think it’s a huge shame that Alex Grierson hasn’t gone on as Elphaba! It shows how consistent Alice/Laura have been in this run and Rachel/Alice before that where they’ve not needed to call on the 2nd Understudy! You’d think they’d have given her a show though.... wasn’t there another actress years ago who covered but never went on? Alex was offered a show because she was in her second contract but chose to decline it for whatever her reason may be. Also the other actress was Jennifer Tierney! She only did one contract though, so never got the option of a scheduled show.
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Post by sophizoey on Jul 17, 2018 23:00:25 GMT
My emo/punk tween years coming out here but make My Chemical Romance's 'The Black Parade' a musical. It was designed as a concept album, or if we want something more colourful from them, their album 'Danger Days' practically has a mild storyline written in and I can already imagine the costume design 😍😍 You can even throw in other songs from their discography and have Gerard Way star in it for a few weeks.
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Post by sophizoey on Jul 15, 2018 15:47:40 GMT
What I find weird about Broadway is that all the cast members seem to leave at different points instead of having one cast change day. It's because contracts are 6 months over there and are renewed on an individual basis, and then people extend for a few weeks because of holiday or because the management need to tide over until a replacement is rehearsed and after 15 years of that it all becomes a bit of a mess.
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Post by sophizoey on Jul 12, 2018 13:44:43 GMT
The lottery was £20 when I entered it last week, so suspecting it was the beginning of this week.
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Post by sophizoey on Jul 10, 2018 7:19:35 GMT
Worst experience I've had a Wicked was actually on tour and it was physically bumping into my certain favourite Elphaba standby before the show because I had timed my box office ticket collection completely wrong and I don't even know if that classes as stage door because I was actively going to see her until after the show. (Luckily she at least pretends to remember me so all was forgiven and she even said I looked lovely)
Nothing but good experiences at Wicked London though, Alice and Sophie always look happy to stop and seeing them stop and chat to the kids who want to be like them because Wicked is the first show they've seen is always delightfully cute. (Biggest drama with Sophie Evans is when she tried to run away with my pen but actually brought it back to me in a moment of panic)
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Post by sophizoey on Jul 9, 2018 6:50:48 GMT
The pre-recorded version that is being released in cinemas is likely going to be slightly different and was planned. When I went to enter the todaytix lottery on Tuesday 3rd, it was unavailable due to filming, same on the Thursday. (Not that I mind I ended up winning the Kinky Boots lottery)
So additional takes and scenes have been recorded.
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Post by sophizoey on Jul 7, 2018 10:14:04 GMT
Overview of Leeds from me, because I've stopped bothering to report on every show I go to. Saw it 3 times, double show day on the 14th due to Nikki's scheduled show and then her also doing press night. Then again on Thursday 5th matinee.
Nikki really has evolved her performance in Leeds. It was amazing before, but all those things that just weren't quite there are really coming along. Also kudos to her for making as As Long as Your Mine so delightful to watch even though Aaron is doing nothing and Nikki does all the work of making it look and sound romantic and sexy. Her No Good Deed has really gotten frantic and rageful as well. I finally put my finger on something I love about her though, she is quite teenager/childish in act 1, still angry and spiteful but really naive and childish about her presentation of it. Yet in act 2 you can tell she has grown up completely. Enough about Nikki Bentley though.
Helen Woolf is still a complete delight as Glinda. Nothing changed there.
Aaron Sidwell is getting somewhere but he still just shows nothing in As Long as You're Mine.
Caught Helen Walsh as Morrible. I love her, she kind of came across as everyone's favourite teacher to me, you were actually supposed to like her until she decides she doesn't like you anymore. Her and Stephen Pinder work exceptionally well together.
Won't be catching it again until Sunderland, where I'm really excited to see Amy as Elphie again.
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Post by sophizoey on Jul 5, 2018 5:17:08 GMT
Okay so this show was so delightfully fun and probably the best thing I saw on my trip to London. Completely kicking myself for not seeing it sooner because now I have a limited time to enjoy this in town. There wasnt a weak link in the whole cast and I genuinely had the most smiley afternoon.
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Post by sophizoey on Jul 4, 2018 14:57:00 GMT
Interval after I won the TodayTix lottery this morning. This show is absolute GOLD.
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Post by sophizoey on Jul 3, 2018 8:11:35 GMT
Saw the new cast last night and all I have to say is Amara makes the most perfect Cosette. I found myself actually giving a damn about Cosette a lot more than I normally do. I have one complaint, turn her mic up so I can hear that beautiful voice even more clearly.
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Post by sophizoey on Jul 2, 2018 12:33:30 GMT
Arrived in London to find our "hotel" in Tooting Broadway was nothing more than a few houses knocked together. There was rubbish in the front garden, no clear indication of which of the 3 front doors to knock on. The woman who answered the door was the cleaner and didn't speak a word of English, we had to use Google Translate to converse. The key was kept under a outside doormat and inside there was no way to lock our room, the linen hadn't been cleaned in who knows how long and when we asked if there was somewhere secure for our valubles we were told by google translate we could store them with her cleaning supplies. After walking out with our luggage in tow we managed to find an hostel on the other side of London with locks and English speaking staff that could accommodate us for the 3 nights we're staying.
Word to the wise, never book 914 Rooms in Tooting Broadway. It is dirty, unsanitary and not secure.
Very much looking forward to Les Mis tonight though!
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Post by sophizoey on Jun 28, 2018 16:05:48 GMT
I was in Leeds yesterday and after a chat with a few of the cast members there wasn't a fire in the theatre, but instead a small fire in Opera North which lies across the road but due to a bridge of sorts over the street the two fire detection systems have to be connected. However by the time this was figured out it had passed Equity's 45 minute cut off point.
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Post by sophizoey on Jun 26, 2018 22:36:20 GMT
Photos of the cast outside the theatre looking thoroughly thrilled with the fact they have to be outside in 25°C weather in woollen costumes are amusing too look at. Leeds Grand Theatre have said they will contact all ticket holders in the morning. Refunds are looking more likely than exchanges or are refunds the norm in event of a cancellation and everyone on twitter is just wrong. I’m glad they’re refunding. I know with some productions they wouldn’t refund because the “performance had already started” Looking at time stamps on tweets, if the show started on time at 7:30, the performance may have just gotten to Loathing. However Wicked never starts on time so it wouldn't surprise me if they hadn't reached TWAI yet. I think that calls for a refund considering you only got one 'big song' and didn't even get to hear Elphaba belt yet.
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Post by sophizoey on Jun 26, 2018 21:40:20 GMT
Photos of the cast outside the theatre looking thoroughly thrilled with the fact they have to be outside in 25°C weather in woollen costumes are amusing too look at.
Leeds Grand Theatre have said they will contact all ticket holders in the morning. Refunds are looking more likely than exchanges or are refunds the norm in event of a cancellation and everyone on twitter is just wrong.
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Post by sophizoey on Jun 26, 2018 20:49:47 GMT
Fire evacuation around half and hour into the show tonight (still wearing Shiz uniforms). In true British fashion an early finish at work means they MUST go to the pub.
It's going to be interesting to see how Leeds Grand Theatre handle this. Hopefully better than the Bristol Hippodrome did during the bad weather.
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Post by sophizoey on Jun 25, 2018 19:14:59 GMT
Kim Ismay’s eye seems pretty f’d up so Helen Walsh is currently playing Morrible. Meaning Amy Goodwin is midwife, because I know how much we all love a cover midwife.
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Post by sophizoey on Jun 21, 2018 10:37:16 GMT
I'm sat in restricted row D for opening night in Newcastle at £23.50. Probably miss all of the performers legs but we couldn't really afford anything more and me and my mam have seen Mis before.
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Post by sophizoey on Jun 21, 2018 9:29:27 GMT
Any idea on price banding for Theatre Royal there are like 30 of us in the queue with no idea. I'm the only person under 50 in it though 😭
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Post by sophizoey on Jun 21, 2018 8:07:28 GMT
Already on my way into Newcastle to buy tickets at the box office 😴 Purely because both mine and my mam's debit cards are blocked at the same time due to other people's fraud. So cash at the box office it is.
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Post by sophizoey on Jun 18, 2018 17:56:43 GMT
Moved back from university today and after stashing away all of the theatre goodies I've collected since October in a Les Mis carrier bag. I now face the task of sorting the bag of guilt, which is programmes, tickets, fliers everything stagey that I've just shoved away and not thought of for 9 months. Will update on any interesting finds.
EDIT: Found a Phantom Flier from 2003, when I was 4 years old and a Dear Evan Hansen playbill I don't recall even buying or being given because I highly dislike Dear Evan Hansen.
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Post by sophizoey on Jun 17, 2018 14:30:38 GMT
This is her debut for this tour? If I'm not wrong she performed as Morrible once or twice on the International Tour. Amy Ross posted on Instagram that it was her debut. http://instagram.com/p/BQf5_rEBuNg It is her debut on this tour, and given how long it's been since the date of her International Tour performance you might as well call it a debut again. It's her UK Debut at Morrible though.
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Post by sophizoey on Jun 17, 2018 14:16:25 GMT
Emily Olive Boyd is debuting as Madame Morrible today. This is her debut for this tour? If I'm not wrong she performed as Morrible once or twice on the International Tour.
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Post by sophizoey on Jun 16, 2018 15:15:04 GMT
That Defying Gravity was a huge let down if I'm honest. Felt screamed and rushed and there doesn't need to be an embellishment on every single note.
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Post by sophizoey on Jun 15, 2018 6:15:06 GMT
So I was in Leeds yesterday on a shopping trip with my friends, who asked ages ago if we can see the show. Booked the tickets on Sunday just an hour before Nikki Bentley tweets saying shes on for the matinee. Which was brilliant timing.
Come out of the matinee and she told me to go to stage door after the show (after literally walking into her in tesco buying myself a sandwich - she absolutely brilliant at remembering people it's kind of scary). Then she goes and tell me she's on for the evening show because Amy isn't very well, so it wasn't a planned press night for Nikki. I did however get the last ticket for press night and that was such an experience. First two show day, and except for my brief trip to the show in London cause I'm in London I'm pretty glad I'm having a little break from the show. I'm completely Wicked-ed(?) out.
Edit: thoughts on the show when I get back because it was something else on press night.
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