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Post by Pennywise57 on Feb 14, 2018 23:48:47 GMT
I have seen this production a few times now while it's been in Edinburgh (don't judge, I love Miss Saigon) and it's just Spectacular! There's not a weak link to be found anywhere in the cast and everything is just so tight it's a marvel to watch. Na-Young Jeon was amazing as Gigi, her acting was incredible and really made feel for her character. I really love her voice as well. Gerald Santos was really good as Thuy as well portraying the character sympathetically rather than the 1 dimensional villain that can so easily happen with Thuy. Zoë Doano really impressed me as Ellen. She is given a lot more to work with here as Ellen then she had with Cosette and it really showed in her acting. She had me in tears during "Maybe" (I still wish it was the old song instead but that's another story). Ryan O'Gorman's John was absolutely outstanding. Out of the 4 actors I've seen play John live (the other 3 being over the 4 times I saw the revival in London) Ryan is by far my favourite showing really strong character growth between the start of the show and the end. {Spoiler - click to view}You really get the feeling that he has grown up a lot as a person since first leaving Vietnam and in the second act, is a lot more emotionally mature then he was in the first act allowing him to add even more emotional weight behind "Bui-Doi" and the situation with Kim, Chris, Ellen and Tam. You really feel his pain and frustration. His voice is amazing too! I'd love to see him play Judas one day if he has the vocal range. Ashley Gilmour is great as well and very believable as Chris and has great chemistry with both Sooha and Joreen as Kim. I really enjoyed Red Concepción's Engineer as well offering very different take on the character than Jon Jon Briones. He doesn't play the character as dark as Jon Jon and has a much lighter comedic feel overall but out of nowhere at points he'll suddenly turn on a dime and become very menacing indeed. I found this approach very interesting and he certainly feels like a much more unstable Engineer than I've ever seen before. Sooha Kim was phenomenal as Kim. Her Kim had this real air of innocence about her which made her sad moments in the show even more heartbreaking. Her voice has this wonderful crystal clear tone to it which I thought was just beautiful yet when required she was also able to put some power behind it, very impressed with her voice! I also saw Joreen Bautista as the alternate Kim. she was brilliant as well. Her voice maybe wasn't quite as strong as Sooha's but was still very good. She acted the part amazingly well though and quite differently from Sooha. The fact that she's tiny and actually being 17 years old (I would say she looks slightly younger than that) really helps to sell how young and vulnerable Kim is early on in the show. For a 17 year old I was immensely impressed. Set wise from memory of London apart from not having poles for the two side dancers in "What a Waste", I saw no difference at all which is really impressive to me as I had assumed that they would have had to make some compromises in order to tour it. The lighting really stood out to me as well. it's just gorgeous. I also really like that they've changed the wedding song to actually include Vietnamese lyrics instead of the gibberish that they had in there before. That was one of my major gripes with the show that had no defence really, it was just a bad idea and they should never have done it. I realise that although I don't know what the new words mean, they probably aren't "what all the girls sing at weddings" but it's a step in the right direction. I think if the movie does get made they should rewrite that section to include something that would actually happen at a Vietnamese wedding, or if they really want to include that song make it 100% clear that it has nothing whatsoever to do with a wedding and is just everyone playing around or something. That is only if it does indeed have nothing to do with Vietnamese weddings, having no knowledge of Vietnamese wedding ceremonies, for all I know it could be accurate. if it is, then by all means keep it in in there. I suspect however that like the former gobbledegook lyrics used in the song it probably is nothing like what actually goes on at a Vietnamese wedding and is just lazy writing. I've gone majorly off topic now though. ramble over. Back to the production itself. Worth a special mention as well is Thao Nguyen in the ensemble. Last time I saw the show during "The Movie in My Mind" I was just about holding it together, having already seen the show twice over the prevous two weeks at that point. Then I decided to look over in her direction and saw her absolutely balling her eyes out with tears streaming down her face. Well it was then at that moment that my brain decided for some reason it was a good idea to copy her. I was an emotional wreck for the rest of the song! I'm just glad it was dark so hopefully no one saw me. Overall it's an absolutely stunning production and I feel like I pick up new things each time I watch it. Bring on the 2 show day on Saturday and I feel like a trip down to Manchester might be in order!
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Post by Pennywise57 on Feb 2, 2018 18:24:19 GMT
Thanks for the recommendation @cmonfeet. I will definitely look into that it looks brilliant. I know next to nothing about the Vietnam War so will be very interesting! That's a shame lynette. I hadn't heard about the inaccuracies. it's a pity the New York Times role isn't emphasised a bit more. It's still a great film though!
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Post by Pennywise57 on Jan 29, 2018 16:35:08 GMT
I really enjoyed this. Solid Performances all round particularly Meryl Streep who was electric! It was also nice to see Jessie Mueller pop up as Judith Martin as well. Hopefully at some point they'll make Beautiful into a film with her starring. I want to rewatch All the President's Men now as it almost feels like that could be a sequel to this.
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Post by Pennywise57 on Jan 28, 2018 19:22:50 GMT
I saw Eva's show last night in Dundee. I was a big fan anyway but honestly this exceeded all my expectations. She was just phenomenal! Anyone going tonight is in for a treat! I have put more detailed thoughts in spoiler tags so anyone going tonight can go in blind as I did if you want. {Spoiler - click to view} First of all that opening number (can't remember what it was called anyone know?) was just beautiful, talk about chills. Loved her rendition of Fly Me To The Moon as well, always loved that song.
I thought it was very brave of her but also such a good thing that she was so open and honest about her struggles with anxiety and bulimia during the first few months of Miss Saigon. She's right when she said that people don't Mental Illness enough. Because in my opinion there is still a massive stigma that surrounds it and speaking as someone has suffered with massive social anxiety and depression, It is always good to hear someone famous or with a wider audience than Joe Bloggs talking about Mental Illness and shearing there experiences with it , as that then encourages people to talk about it which is always a good thing.
I also didn't realise quite how funny she is as a person and very, very likeable as well. Another highlight was her "Deva Melody" which was a melody of loads of different musical theatre songs of roles she'd like to play. This included an amazing bit of "Satisfied" (surely Angelica or even Eliza is a role she has to play at some point. please theatre gods make it happen!), a hilarious "Carnaval del Barrio" and "Maybe This Time" where she somehow managed to put more emotion into a 30 second snippet, then Louise Redknapp could muster for a whole 2 hour performance! (Still annoyed about that!) Anyway overall a fantastic night and I think she has probably won some fans judging by the enthusiastic response throughout and the standing ovation at the end. It was also great to meet her at stage door. She was lovely! I was surprised by the amount of people waiting as well I counted about 30. I just hope we don't completely lose her to Broadway and that she does still does some work in London, but sadly I think that’s less likely now. Still I was immensely impressed and hope I get to see her again somewhere down the line in something as I think she’s an enormous talent and has a great future ahead of her.
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Post by Pennywise57 on Oct 19, 2017 11:48:32 GMT
She also has a show booked in Dundee of all places in January. It would be bril to see her live show, however 260 miles is a bit far for me to travel. She will be travelling from New York, I guess. Result!! Dundee, I had to check I read that right, how random. I'm not complaining though, It's brilliant for me. I'm in Perth which is 30 minutes down the road from Dundee so not far at all. I've just booked now. Thanks so much for the info, With Miss Saigon in Edinburgh and now Eva in Dundee, January is shaping up to be a great theatre month for me!!
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Post by Pennywise57 on Jul 16, 2017 17:22:57 GMT
I honestly didn't think I would be this happy but I'm just so thrilled!! I haven't seen Jodie Whittaker in anything but I'm sure she'll be great, Chris Chibnall wouldn't have picked her if not. I applaud the BBC and Chibnall for being brave enough to make this decision and can't wait to see what the future holds! I'm loving Colin Baker's tweets as well.
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Post by Pennywise57 on Jul 4, 2017 14:58:02 GMT
Has anyone heard whether or not the tour uses a helicopter? I hope they do but I think it's unlikely as I imagine something like that would be difficult to transport between venues. There's a physical helicopter like the one from the west end, my friend saw the first preview Thank you. That's brilliant, so pleased. Its such an amazing spectacle.
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Post by Pennywise57 on Jul 4, 2017 13:44:41 GMT
Has anyone heard whether or not the tour uses a helicopter? I hope they do but I think it's unlikely as I imagine something like that would be difficult to transport between venues.
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Post by Pennywise57 on May 31, 2017 14:47:10 GMT
So why have two of our best actors in a play that isn't 'the greatest play in the world' which actually means it is a weak play? I don't think it's a weak play. What I meant by that was that personally I think they're better plays out there which I have seen and preferred because they have emotionally engaged me more and/or made me invest in the characters more. Don Juan in Soho doesn't really allow for either of those things plotwise imo. That doesn't mean it's weak though, like I said I found it really really funny, and that was it's aim at the end of the day. I also really enjoyed the monologue at the end which was scarily on point. David Tennant and Adrian Scarborough performances easily made me forget any misgivings I might have had. Sorry I probably should have worded that better.
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Post by Pennywise57 on May 30, 2017 18:16:33 GMT
I'll go for "Death will come to everyone, you gotta love life, you gotta love life, you gotta love life insurance!" played on a loop as people walk in.
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Post by Pennywise57 on May 30, 2017 17:38:42 GMT
I saw the matinée of this on the 20th. What to say. I don't think there's sufficient words in the English language to adequately describe how much joy I felt while watching this!! Phenomenal, just utterly phenomenal from start to finish. I was grinning like some deranged Cheshire Cat most of the way through the show. Yes there's not much story going on but what is there is more than serviceable, and honestly when every other aspect of this show is that gobsmackingly good, I don't care one jot. One of the best things I've seen in my 4 years of theatre-going. Thank you all for being so positive about 42nd Street here as I wasn't remotely interested in seeing this before I read this thread. Believe the hype here, JUST GO!!!
I'm back down in London in October to see Dreamgirls, so will definitely be seeing 42nd Street again while I'm there. I'm just hoping it'll still be open then, judging by what some people have been saying here, it may not be. Surely a show this good wont close anytime soon?! Surely?!?
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Post by Pennywise57 on May 30, 2017 16:26:14 GMT
I saw this on Friday the 19th and I must say I really enjoyed It. Yes it's not the greatest play in the world but I found it really funny. David Tennant and Adrian Scarborough were both brilliant in this. The relationship between Don Juan and Stan is electric to watch. Being a David Tennant fan as well, It was great to actually get to see him live on stage. He's so energetic!
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Post by Pennywise57 on May 8, 2017 11:28:59 GMT
If anyone wants the link audios for this then let me know! Edit: Link removed, available on request Could you send me the link please? Thanks.
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Post by Pennywise57 on Apr 29, 2017 17:45:24 GMT
That's it, you've all convinced me. I've just booked to to see this on the 20th of May. So excited!!!
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Post by Pennywise57 on Apr 28, 2017 21:40:58 GMT
All scheduled absences are on the Funny Girl website tour list Thank you. looks like there's no scheduled absences for Glasgow. Fingers crossed
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Post by Pennywise57 on Apr 28, 2017 21:32:38 GMT
She was amazing during the run in Edinburgh Playhouse. She looked really humbled when everyone gave her a standing ovation at the end of the show (on both nights I've seen her). Looking on Instagram it seems she did a really nice thing on the last night - she sent roses to people at the stage door. So sweet. I went to Stage Door on Saturday Night so can confirm that is what happened. Darius came out before Sheridan with a big bouquet of roses and apologized on behalf of her, saying she had friends in seeing the show so might be awhile. He said for anyone who didn't what to wait, they can have a rose from Sheridan, so people came up and got a rose if they wanted one. It was such a lovely gesture. Sheridan came out about about 20 minutes later and apologized to everyone for the wait and was just lovely, taking the time to chat to everyone. Both her and Darius were just so sweet, gracious and down to earth. It was a lovely Stage Door experience.
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Post by Pennywise57 on Apr 28, 2017 19:55:25 GMT
I'm a bit late but I saw this last Saturday night in Edinburgh. It was wonderful seeing it again after seeing it last, way back at the Menier. It was interesting going from seeing it in probably one of the smallest theatres in the UK, to the largest, the Playhouse. I think if I had to choose I probably preferred seeing it at the Menier just because you can't beat the intimacy of that place, being a metre (quite literally) away from Sheridan Smith crying her eyes out during The Music That Makes Me Dance was something really special. It also probably didn't help that I was sat in the back of the dress circle, so was quite far away compared with being front row at the Menier. Having said that I liked how they were able to space everyone out better during the big numbers because of the larger stage. Sheridan Smith was incredible again as Fanny Brice! Yes her voice isn't the greatest but is it gets the job done nicely. Her Acting though is Incredible as always. Her comic timing is impeccable the whole audience were laughing so much at the end of "You Are Woman" that Darius literally had to wait a good 10 Seconds for it to die down enough for them to be able to finish the song. Speaking of which Darius really surprised me with his acting. He was actually quite good. I say quite good which for me is a marked improvement as I found him very, very wooden at the Menier. Whether or not that was because I was further back and couldn't see facial expressions, I don't know. His voice was just as lovely as before!! Overall a Great show, still in amazing shape and it was great to see it again after almost a year and a half. P.S I've also booked to see the show again in Glasgow especially to see Natasha as Fanny after all the raves she's been getting so it will be great to see her take on the role. I've booked for the Evening show on Wednesday the 31st of May and have just seen that there's also a two show day on the Thursday instead of an evening show on the Monday, so It's just got me thinking. Does anyone know if there's any chance Natasha might miss the show I've booked because of this? As I know Sheridan's had some scheduled shows she's missed, so was wondering if this was the same for Natasha? I'd just hate to miss her if I can help it. Don't get me wrong I'm sure Jennifer Harding will be brilliant if I see her, but I would really like to see Natasha if possible. I'm probably just over thinking things but that's me.
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Post by Pennywise57 on Aug 25, 2016 19:52:15 GMT
I saw this about a month ago and really really enjoyed it. The whole cast were excellent particularly Rebecca Trehearn who was phenomenal as Julie. Tosh Wanogho-Maud was also brilliant as understudy Joe. It was great to see a piece of real musical theatre history performed so well!! Such a shame it's closing so early as I would have loved to see it again, but glad I got the chance when I did.
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Post by Pennywise57 on Aug 14, 2016 15:23:55 GMT
Saw this on Thursday night and absolutely loved it!! I wasn't quite sure how well this would work as a Musical when it was first announced, but I trusted Tim Minchin so was excited going in. The Score was great with some really lovely songs and some extremely clever and witty lyrics. I loved the way the music was structured as well with little motifs that would come and go throughout but always were different enough so that it didn't get Repetitive and therefore boring, which so easily could've happened here with this subject matter. The Cast were all excellent and all had an amazing energy which really brought the town to life. Georgina Hagen was stunning with her Number at the start of Act 2 which apart from being a really beautiful song was a really clever way to bring her character to the forefront and get it's message across really well. Georgina managed to sell this brilliantly with her Emotional performance which really wouldn't have worked had her performance not been so good. I'm probably not explaining that well but you'll know what I mean if you've seen the show. Carlyss Peer was amazing Rita Hanson Very funny and likeable and managed to bring what is potentially quite an uninteresting character to life helped by Tim Minchin's fantastic diary songs which help give a great insight into her character, and I really liked her voice as well! The real star of the show is Andy Karl as Phil Connors though, his performance was just incredible!! (I'm not sure if the following is a spoiler or not. It's not really plot specific apart from the premise, and more to do with how the story is told, but as this is still in previews and not many people have seen it yet, I would hate the impact of certain aspects of the musical to be spoiled for someone reading the following.) {Spoiler - click to view} Starting off as really quite unlikeable he manages to carry this off because of his incredible comic timing and manages to somehow make you root for him despite how unlikeable he is because he's just so funny which is quite an amazing achievement in itself. As the show goes on though his character goes on an amazing journey becoming less self-centred and much more sympathetic and caring. This transformation is incredible to watch and is superbly acted out by Andy Karl who completely embodies the character. You really get a sense of what his character has to go though mentally and emotionally reliving the same day over and over again. I was surprised and pleased by quite how deep and almost dark the musical goes into showing this at some points, with some beautiful, emotionally rich music by Tim Minchin to help do this. It's this aspect that I feel the musical has one up on the film. The film is a wonderful comedy but just doesn't go to the emotional depths the musical does and Andy Karl has the acting chops to pull this off brilliantly!! I think this musical would really reward repeat viewings and I wish I could get back to see it a few more times before it closes, but as I'm out of country for the majority of September and don't get back until after it closes, I won't be able to. I just have to hope that the Broadway transfer is a success so it can come back over here as soom as possible and I can relive Groundhog Day over and over again!!!
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Post by Pennywise57 on Jul 4, 2016 10:39:30 GMT
That Olivier moment is genuinely my favourite Jonathan Pryce performance. Ever. link link! skip to 8:21 for award. Jonathan Pryce's face at 8:56 onwards. Haha best laugh I've had all week, even martine mccutcheon's face is utterly stunned!!
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Post by Pennywise57 on Mar 12, 2016 15:52:51 GMT
Unrelated to the movie but I've just found this and think it's one of the most bizarre, yet somehow brilliant takes on the song I've heard. It really shouldn't work, but It does!! This is genius isn't it. Half of me wishes that Tim was born in another era so that his brilliance would be appreciated and the other half of me wants everyone else to catch up and appreciate the quality of both his vocals and his writing. I hope his Don weeks in 'Kinky Boots' remind the powers that be of his potential (especially when it comes to casting 'School of Rock'.). You're so right. He'd be perfect for School of Rock!!
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Post by Pennywise57 on Mar 12, 2016 13:21:40 GMT
Unrelated to the movie but I've just found this and think it's one of the most bizarre, yet somehow brilliant takes on the song I've heard. It really shouldn't work, but It does!!
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Post by Pennywise57 on Mar 6, 2016 2:22:16 GMT
I was there for both shows last Saturday. What an incredible day that was!! I'd not seen the show since early April last year before cast change and had forgotten quite what a powerful effecting show it is. I knew it was going to be a special day when I was sitting waiting for the matinee to start, and the cast can be heard back stage doing a huddle cheer. This then prompted what sounded like the entire audience to respond with a very loud roar! The whole atmosphere for both shows was electric. It was great seeing the new cast and some people I'd not seen before. First the matinee. Christian Rey Marbella was on as The Engineer and after initially being quite disappointed that Jon Jon wasn't on, I ended up really enjoying his performance. I much preferred his Engineer to his Thuy who I'd seen him play on my last vist to the show and didn't rate him then much at all. Natalie Chua was on as Ellen. I thought She was great and made Ellen much more likeable then Tamsin Carroll did. it was also really interesting having an Asian woman play Ellen as well as I feel it really added another interesting dynamic to Kim and Chris's relationship. I really liked Marsha Songcome as Gigi. Her voice wasn't quite as good as Rachelle Ann Go's but that's an impossibly high bar to try and reach. It was still very powerful though. Her Acting was great as well. It was great seeing Hugh Maynard as John as I'd not seen him both my previous 2 times I'd seen the show. I thought he was great, his "Bui Doi" was excellent. I really liked Sangwoong Jo as Thuy. His diction wasn't the best. It tickled me a bit when he sort of pronounced "he" as "she", but I feel he more then made up for it with his singing and acting. Chris Peluso as Chris was very good. His voice was great! I think I prefer Alistair Brammer in terms of acting choices though. Chris Peluso just didn't seem to get as emotionally involved in the character as Alistair Brammer did. Maybe though, this in truer to what a real Vietnam war veteran would act like, finding it hard to show they're true feelings. I finally got to see Tanya Manalang as Kim and she was amazing!!! what an Incredible little (literally, she's tiny) actress she is. She played Kim with so much vulnerability that you can't help but shed a tear or two (or several into a very well used tissue). I was particularly impressed with her acting in This Is The Hour {Spoiler - click to view}after Kim shot Thuy. It was just so intense. She was visibly shaking with Tears streaming down her face. You just felt so concerned for her. I also really liked her voice. Yes it isn't quite as powerful as Eva's but there isn't much in it if I'm honest. I was also really nice to hear certain phrases of songs sung as they were originally written (e.g. Paper dragons in the sky). Although that's not to say I don't like the way Eva sing's those bits as I do, it's just nice to hear them as they were originally written. To contradict what I just said though She did a nice little riff at the end if I'd Give My Life For You which I liked, so who knows, I guess I'm just easily pleased. Overall I loved Tanya and wish I'd seen her a few more times in the role. On to the evening Performance. I really didn't think the atmosphere for the matinee could be topped, just equalled but boy how wrong I was. The audience was amazing, with cheers for the end of each song getting louder and longer as the show went on. The roar at the end of "Bui Doi" was insane!! Everyone who performed at the matinee equalled if not bettered they're performance in the evening show. It was incredible to watch! Siobhan Dillon was excellent as Ellen. Her Maybe was flawless! Eva was just as great if not better than the last two times I saw her. Her voice was so strong at this performance. She has some belt doesn't she?! You could tell she put her all into ever song. It was really Interesting compering Tanya and Eva's acting choices as they both play the role quite differently. I really liked how they both acted the role, but for me Tanya wins on the acting side of things, with Eva not quite having the same acting ability that Tanya has. Not to Say Eva's Acting was bad, just different from Tanya's and I preferred Tanya's. Eva's acting was still really good though. Saying that though Eva done have a stronger voice than Tanya if only by a little bit, so I would say she wins on the vocal front (just). I've been trying to pick a favourite ever since seeing them both last Saturday, and I really can't. There both equally amazing in different ways!! Jon Jon was Incredible again, giving a Master Class performance, and given he'd been too ill to do the matinee. I don't think it showed one bit just incredible!! And if all that wasn't enough having Cameron Mackintosh, Alain Boublil and Claude-Michel Schönberg come out at the end and do speeches was fantastic! Just being in the presence of those three great men was amazing!! And the 25th anniversary gala in cinemas in the Autumn WOOOOO!!!!!! The day was rounded off nicely with a visit to the stage which was insane as I expected, with over half the length of the street full of people. I luckily managed to get to the front so got the talk to the cast and thank them when they came out which was a really nice way to end the night. It was an amazing atmosphere at stage door as well. Before any of the actors came out quite a few cast members started randomly poking they're heads out the various small windows above stage door. This would then be followed by a huge cheer from the street below. This went on for a good 10-15 minutes. The funniest case of this happening was when Hugh Maynard poked his head out one of them and said. "Do you guys want to meet my dance partner?" to which we all replied "yes". He then pops his head back in and a second later Cameron Mackintosh's pops his head out and says "Hiiii" - hilarious! Overall it was an Incredible day and probably the greatest theatre experience I've had so far and one that will live with me for a very long time!!! I'm really going to miss Saigon (sorry couldn't resist). Why god why (I'm on a roll) did it have to leave the west end this soon. 2017 can't come soon enough I will be seeing this show a lot when it tours. If we're lucky maybe we can have Tanya as lead on tour since Eva's off to Broadway, or is that Just wishful thinking? Anyway I better stop typing because this has taken far too long to write and I should go to bed. zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
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Post by Pennywise57 on Jan 28, 2016 17:55:17 GMT
It's so weird seeing this thread only have 3 pages.
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