494 posts
|
Post by ellie1981 on Mar 6, 2018 13:29:46 GMT
I know it’s expected that Hamilton will get a lot of noms, but I’m rather passionate about Obioma Ugoala getting a nod for Best Actor in a Supporting Role. I’m genuinely a bit stunned that he didn’t get the nomination Absolutely. I know it’s the most Hamilton heavy category, but I’d have picked Obioma over Jason Pennycooke.
|
|
494 posts
|
Post by ellie1981 on Mar 6, 2018 11:07:55 GMT
I know it’s expected that Hamilton will get a lot of noms, but I’m rather passionate about Obioma Ugoala getting a nod for Best Actor in a Supporting Role.
|
|
494 posts
|
Post by ellie1981 on Mar 6, 2018 10:30:06 GMT
What an absolute mess. A lot of our enjoyment was also thwarted by the group of people sat directly behind, who seemed to find the whole thing utterly hilarious, and could not stop whooping and cheering throughout the entire thing. Friends of cast. You can bet your life. Oh absolutely. I usually only expect that with smaller Fringe productions where they clearly struggle to put bums on seats.
|
|
494 posts
|
Post by ellie1981 on Mar 5, 2018 23:55:41 GMT
Just finished tonight and on my bus home. I’ll go by the phrase that if you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all. That’s all. You can't leave it at that! Please do share your thoughts on the show. I wasn't keen on it either and seem to be in the minority on this one. Some company would be nice I'm not hugely succinct with these things, but neither is the plot of Pippin I suppose. I was fully prepared for that and going in I was only expecting to enjoy the score. I knew the Original Broadway Cast album and especially the Jackson 5 and Michael Jackson recordings of Corner of the Sky and Morning Glow respectively, but I'd never actually seen the show. What an absolute mess. A lot of our enjoyment was also thwarted by the group of people sat directly behind, who seemed to find the whole thing utterly hilarious, and could not stop whooping and cheering throughout the entire thing. Apparently I missed the part where Pippin murdering his father at the end of Act 1 was supposed to be hysterically funny I felt the cast were really talented, but a lot of them seemed very young. I ended up playing a game of 'spot the Health & Safety hazard' to keep myself interested, of which there were loads including the King running off stage and stumbling, hitting a floor light into our row - the interval was spent with a stagehand using an electric drill by our feet trying to fix it!
|
|
494 posts
|
Post by ellie1981 on Mar 5, 2018 22:01:34 GMT
Just finished tonight and on my bus home. I’ll go by the phrase that if you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all. That’s all.
|
|
494 posts
|
Post by ellie1981 on Mar 1, 2018 23:46:00 GMT
Not sure what was happening in central London tonight, but everyone and their uncle was out partying. Left work at 5pm and just south of the river was completely dead. Work was dead as anyone who commutes in didn't turn up and all the parents had to leave early to pick up their kids from school. Went to see School of Rock tonight however and it was simply packed with school groups. By the time we got back to Waterloo (later than expected due to the slippery route) it was close to 11pm and it was as if it was rush hour - absolutely heaving with people, drinks in hand. Did I miss something?
|
|
494 posts
|
Post by ellie1981 on Feb 28, 2018 20:22:10 GMT
I've long resisted posting here as genuinely I find it a difficult one. I find the Mail abhorrent in it's views, and I seriously think they walk dangerously close to a line of what's legal in our libel and privacy laws at times, as well as those on 'hate speech'. But equally, if they aren't breaking the law, I believe in freedom of speech and freedom of the press so who am I to say they should be outright shut down if I don't agree with them? Alongside that I recognise that the Mail is a key player in theatre marketing. If you look at their weekend supplements they run interviews/features/reviews in those magazines on theatre with equal regularity as say, the Guardian and they give theatre a hell of a lot of air time- something we all cry out for. And they reach 'middle England' (as it were). Again who I am to say that these people shouldn't be allowed to buy, or encouraged to buy theatre tickets? if they're buying tickets that keep the very theatres I love afloat. So while it's a vile hate filled rag of a newspaper, it's readers probably think the Guardian is...well we know what they think that is. So how can I ask for it to be shut down (as long as it stays on the right side of that law). The thing I find with some of these papers is that is how they maintain their readership. A lot of people don't even think about the politics of their paper of choice as they just buy them for their special supplements. No matter how much I protest, my mum buys the weekend editions just for the crosswords. She says that she doesn't care about their political standings and pays no attention to their point of view, although I have on occasion caught her spouting some absolute rubbish she's read in there before I have to stop her. I have known plenty of men who bought The Sun purely for the Football coverage; The Guardian for the Jobs and Property sections etc. It's how they draw you in, and any political leanings tend to subtly seep into your subconscious.
|
|
494 posts
|
Post by ellie1981 on Feb 28, 2018 19:34:52 GMT
I may not pay £75 but when I paid £37.50 it was well worth it. Why don't they just re-draw the lottery if they are unclaimed? I expect the weather might have put a few people off this week. Unfortunately I sent my only photo ID (passport) off for renewal a couple of days ago as my next booked tickets are for June, so will have to wait before any further impulse purchases. However, slight result in that my bank recently changed my sort code for some unknown reason so have issued a replacement debit card, so I have a new one to play with
|
|
494 posts
|
Post by ellie1981 on Feb 27, 2018 18:19:54 GMT
Gosh - three words spring to mind in no particular order - death milked to ! It’s pretty cheap to stage for a tour and the jukebox element easily brings in the Hen parties. That’s the only reason I can see why this is happening again.
|
|
494 posts
|
Post by ellie1981 on Feb 26, 2018 16:55:06 GMT
Just got a message from a friend to say that one of her mates from Germany flew over to see the show at the weekend. They made the very silly mistake of not looking at their booking as they had booked the matinee, but turned up for the evening show.
I’m just far too organised for this ever to happen to me.
|
|
494 posts
|
Post by ellie1981 on Feb 24, 2018 0:19:26 GMT
Just back from tonight - my fourth time but this was actually my original booking. I am so pleased, mostly because my two unbearably cynical and critical [but best] friends adored it. They truly adored it and were singing its praises all the way home, having dismissed most of the OCR as "annoying" after one previous listen. You have no idea how difficult it is to get these guys to flip out over something and for us all to agree. Usually when a show ends, they are the first to try to rush out of the door to beat the crowds, but this time they were first on their feet for the standing ovation.
I think I slightly preferred Sifiso Mazibuko as Burr. He gave a very strong performance tonight, however Waylon Jacobs really didn't fit King George, however I think this was his first performance as cover. I'm still yet to hear the so-called fangirl whooping though. Strangely the biggest audience cheer tonight was for the first Cabinet Battle.
Also got a good laugh as was met in the queue outside by an American girl thinking it was for Wicked, so I told her to cross the road and look for the theatre with lots of green!
|
|
494 posts
|
Post by ellie1981 on Feb 23, 2018 0:02:33 GMT
i saw this back in August at the Apollo, catching Kerry Fox as Big Mama with script in hand.
The one thing I thought didn’t really work was the setting it in modern day. The whole theme of Brick’s repressed homosexuality just didn’t make as much sense in this time. I suppose in the southern US states its not exactly the same as the big cities, but I still couldn’t believe it quite the same as the original setting.
|
|
494 posts
|
Post by ellie1981 on Feb 22, 2018 23:50:59 GMT
Be nice to me people have been a lurker for a while. Now joined. Was at Hamilton on the 3rd feb matinee. I was loving it as was everyone else around me. 3/4 of the way through the first act a woman got up and started walking through the row kicking coats etc out of the way, shortly before she reached me she said at the top of her voice 'I'm not going to watch any more of this cr*p!' At the top of her voice. Kicked my leg as she left despite the fact I was getting up to let her pass. People either side of me we just looked at each other and got back to the performance. Never seen anything like it. I left half way through Chicago at the Adelphi because it really wasn't for me but did it quietly with a couple of 'excuse me' comments on the way. Never seen behaviour like it. Oh dear, what an awful lady, not least for her bad taste in musicals. I was at that exact same matinee but fortunately didn’t witness that.
|
|
494 posts
|
Post by ellie1981 on Feb 22, 2018 23:46:53 GMT
I don't know who Lulu is - so not sure people in their 40s and below may know who she is? (I'm 39). Maybe I'm just naiive? LOL Really? Are you British? I’m 36 and grew up with her on TV and the radio. Even though her peak years were the 60s, she was very prominent all the way up to the mid 90s. Anyway, I’m not a fan of her at all. I’ve always got a rather smug vibe from her.
|
|
494 posts
|
Post by ellie1981 on Feb 22, 2018 21:16:53 GMT
I only joined this place a couple of months ago, but one thing I do have to say is that I’ve found this little community to be one of the most pleasant and respectful I’ve ever visited.
Maybe I had just been hanging around with horrible people online for the last 20 years.
|
|
494 posts
|
Post by ellie1981 on Feb 20, 2018 10:34:12 GMT
I saw this last night and it was SO much fun. Such a dedicated cast. I actually bought the album on iTunes during the interval.
The whole show seemed like it was tailored for the friend I went with. I’m taking him to Hamilton on Friday and he even said he’s not expecting it to be half as good as this.
I only had an issue with the Hollywood song at the end of the first act, because that really did seem like it was just a bunch of 80s reference name checking without any context to anything. Some of the songs were eerily similar to other lesser know hits from the 80s; ‘Comic Book Kind of Love’ was exactly Celine Dion’s ‘Where Does My Heart Beat Now’, and ‘She’s Amazing’ really is just ‘Far From Over’ by Frank Stallone (from the Staying Alive soundtrack) - seriously play them back to back to tell me I’m not crazy.!
|
|
494 posts
|
Post by ellie1981 on Feb 18, 2018 11:03:10 GMT
I booked for 5th March. Unfortunately at the time I forgot it’s the day after the Oscars. I have a tradition with a couple of friends to stay up all night to watch them and this will be the 12th year in a row we’ve done it. We’re going to be very very tired seeing this
|
|
494 posts
|
Post by ellie1981 on Feb 17, 2018 11:35:35 GMT
It’s a story told a million times on here, but it was all set to close in July 2009 (when Michael Jackson was due to start his mammoth O2 run) but it was kept open when he died unexpectedly. It’s kept running ever since. I guess you’ve got Dr Conrad Murray to blame them? It gets the tourists in because there’s no dialogue. I think his jail sentence was far too short. It was anyway, but theatre goers should also have testified in his trial.
|
|
494 posts
|
Post by ellie1981 on Feb 13, 2018 12:12:01 GMT
Is/was it anything to do with...cats? As a cat lover I was quite upset by this scene. It took me a good few minutes to get over it.
|
|
494 posts
|
Post by ellie1981 on Feb 8, 2018 14:17:06 GMT
Wonderful. Thank you.
|
|
494 posts
|
Post by ellie1981 on Feb 8, 2018 13:35:54 GMT
I may have missed this, but does anyone have a list of the standbys and what roles they cover?
|
|
494 posts
|
Post by ellie1981 on Feb 7, 2018 23:31:35 GMT
I very rarely book that far in advance. Even for planned group trips for some kind of celebration it’s a maximum of about 3 months. Hamilton might be the first that I’ve ever booked a whole year in advance.
|
|
494 posts
|
Post by ellie1981 on Feb 7, 2018 17:06:29 GMT
I actually preferred The Shape of Water and especially I, Tonya in the actress stakes. Yet to see Lady Bird.
I enjoyed this film but had so many problems with holes in the plot and the actions of the characters. So much didn’t make sense at all, particularly the scene in the gift shop.
|
|
494 posts
|
Post by ellie1981 on Feb 7, 2018 10:32:06 GMT
If anyone has purchased the souvenire brochure recently, would it be possible to know whether it features the London cast yet, or is it still pictures of the original Broadway cast? Thanks! It’s still the Broadway one on sale.
|
|
494 posts
|
Post by ellie1981 on Feb 4, 2018 20:27:47 GMT
I saw this at the London Film Festival and adored it. I don't think I've seen anything like it. Now seen 8 or the 9 Best Picture nominees (just Lady Bird to go) and tis is by far my favourite.
|
|
494 posts
|
Post by ellie1981 on Feb 4, 2018 20:17:35 GMT
The stalls look a lot fuller with the extra row of seats in. I did spot a handful of empty seats around the stalls as well. I wonder if they're just holding too many late release seats back at premium prices and they're not all selling? If that was the case then surely it would make more sense to just increase the number of lottery winners. I know they'd never do a London cast recording but I do thing there should be some re-recordings of a few songs, a bit like some of the alternate Wicked cast members have done. I'd love to hear a new recording of One Last Time and You'll Be Back for instance.
|
|
494 posts
|
Post by ellie1981 on Feb 4, 2018 11:28:40 GMT
I find a lot (not all) of the American stars on Graham Norton to be a complete pain in the rear. It's usually either sit there and say nothing or hog the whole thing. Neither is entertaining. Give me guests like Vicky McClure or Keeley Hawes any day. I'm a big fan of Norton though. I don’t mind it when they hog the show, so long as they interract with the other guests and don’t just plug their film/show. The worst is when the entire couch is made up of the cast of one film, like last week with Mission Impossible. I couldn’t care less about how they did the stunts on set.
|
|
494 posts
|
Post by ellie1981 on Feb 3, 2018 18:08:36 GMT
Just come out of the matinee. I was dead centre front row stalls (strangely with two empty seats next to me one side and two lottery winners the other).
I got the ticket a few weeks back thinking at the time that Ash Hunter was scheduled for all matinees. Well I did get to see him as he was playing Laurens/Phillip (I believe Cleve September has had a nasty cold for quite a while from Twitter) otherwise it was all the main cast. Ash did well but looks a little too old for that part!
I would absolutely sit at the front again. Yes, the stage is high but for the £37.50 price and being able to see the sweat glands of the cast and regularly make eye contact, by god it’s worth it. I’m only 5’5 1/2” and the expected crick in the neck was only ever so slight, plus any view missed was surprisingly minimal. This was the first time seeing it since previews and everyone is really coming into their own. Obioma Ugoala seriously can be my president any time - oh my! Ahem.
This is now quickly becoming my favourite musical. Going back in two weeks with two friends for what was my first original booking during the opening rush. I truly hope they like it because I don’t think I could take it if they didn’t (they’re quite unbearable when I love something they don’t and never stop criticising).
|
|
494 posts
|
Post by ellie1981 on Feb 2, 2018 11:04:03 GMT
Seeing the film at the Prince Charles Cinema tonight. Maybe next year for the show.
|
|
494 posts
|
Post by ellie1981 on Feb 1, 2018 15:45:52 GMT
i was certainly spoiled with the artists I loved growing up. I saw Prince many many times and never paid more than £40. The final time I saw him in 2014 the ticket was £10 and I was stood right beneath his feet. I saw Michael Jackson for £26 too (before the likes of Rolling Stones, U2 and Madonna lead the way with premium prices). Grew up loving Kylie and it wasn’t until 2011 that her ticket prices started exceeding the £50 mark. The price of a big concert for an established Pop/Rock act is simply based on greed.But it's a greed then that you have been happy to feed as you have forked out substantial sums to attend concerts recently. (£160 for bruce Springsteen???) If you don't want to pay it, don't go. Yeah I suppose. That was a one off because he was the last living, working person left on my bucket list.
|
|