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Post by popcultureboy on Oct 13, 2016 22:52:34 GMT
Heavens! Miss Jackson is 80! I do hope she has the stamina for this! How many matiness is she doing? A two show day sounds really tough at that age with that running time! There are only two 2 show days in the whole run, 19th and 23rd November. At least that part of the scheduling they paid attention to.
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Post by popcultureboy on Oct 9, 2016 7:39:40 GMT
A boy can dream! I am in NYC during its run but the whole run is sold out. I would love this and her hubby's Iago to come to London after they complete their NYC runs.
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Post by popcultureboy on Oct 2, 2016 8:08:22 GMT
Just seen another good review but ye gods, the prices! They appear to have whacked them up for this, which either shows confidence or need to cover higher costs or both, but given that you have to add not one but two booking fees to your ticket (I know Theatremonkey's site currently lists an offer minus these), it makes for a very expensive visit. I usually pay up to £20 for a production at the Rose but wouldn't be able to get even a poor seat at that price for this one - unless I sat on the floor, which injury won't allow. The highest priced ticket is £41 on the theatre's website. What am I missing here?
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Post by popcultureboy on Sept 28, 2016 7:40:47 GMT
You CANNOT be referred for fertility treatment without the male partner having a sperm count See the NICE guidelines and fertility protocol for any major CCG The male character continually stalling was unbelievable and if not that then simply stupid They will be rationing IVF even further in the NHS shortly making the referral criteria more stringent Where did I say anything about referral for anything, Parsley? Moreover, where did Yerma? What I did say was I've known friends go through EXACTLY the kind of macho alpha male stalling of testing sperm counts when they're failing to conceive. So therefore, I don't agree with you that this plot point was unbelievable or stupid.
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Post by popcultureboy on Sept 25, 2016 20:55:22 GMT
People who aren't keen on it have dubbed it as '2 hours of people shouting at each other' Ironic really as there isn't actually THAT much shouting in it, especially as Martha will tell you "I don't bray".
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Post by popcultureboy on Sept 25, 2016 20:49:46 GMT
And on the subject of blogs – WHERE IS THEIR MONEY COMING FROM? Buying London houses is no issue to a blogger; blogging apparently makes you Midas. Oh, and also, I know that him not getting his sperm tested is for dramatic/character purposes – about pride and masculinity and all that – but practically, Brendan Cowell stringing loved ones on for years out of stubbornness just makes him a dislikeable arse, end of; dramatically it takes the edge off as he becomes one-dimensional too and quite unpleasant, and this makes it somewhat unbelievable at times. She's not a self employed blogger, she's employed by some nameless faceless publication to write a column/blog for them. The money is coming from that and mostly from her husband's job, which is why he's never there when she wants him, because he's always working. I don't agree with your sperm testing point either. It wasn't solely for dramatic or character purposes. Some of my friends have had to undertake the beginning of Yerma's journey towards pregnancy and this was essentially true to life.
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Post by popcultureboy on Sept 25, 2016 9:13:10 GMT
Jamie Parker also has a family...
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Post by popcultureboy on Sept 25, 2016 9:08:38 GMT
The Flick won the Pulitzer, and deservedly so.
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Post by popcultureboy on Sept 25, 2016 8:56:57 GMT
The Phoenix has The Girls now. The main reason this is doing such strong New York business is because of Jessie Mueller. She became a Broadway Big Deal on the back of Beautiful and that means something to both the regular theatre people over there (like us) and to the American tourists, who make up the biggest % of Broadway business.
Over here, the film, the creatives and the cast have pretty much zero recognition for the majority of people. Plonking this straight into the West End would, in my opinion, not work out well. We don't really have a West End performer who has the same kind of pull AND talent as Mueller (I would imagine Kerry Ellis would end up cast, which, well, *shudder*). A limited season somewhere with an option to bring it in if it's a roaring success would be the route I would opt for, personally.
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Post by popcultureboy on Sept 23, 2016 8:37:43 GMT
Peter Bowles as Father Merrin. Wow. That is a wooden cast they have assembled right there.
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Post by popcultureboy on Sept 23, 2016 8:24:00 GMT
Regarding the transfer, it would need to be 100% restaged for it, whether Piper is available or not. I don't know of any West End house that would have the wing space for sets, for starters. I would love to see Yerma come in, but it's likelier it will do a Happy Days and they'll bring it back for an encore run at the Young Vic rather than try and squeeze it in to a traditional house, I think slash hope.
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Post by popcultureboy on Sept 23, 2016 8:21:40 GMT
Yeah, there are other Albee plays, but none of them match up to this. It's renowned as his masterpiece for a reason. I've booked the bargain stalls row C seats for 2nd preview and again for midway through the run.
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Post by popcultureboy on Sept 22, 2016 22:44:37 GMT
February 17th 2016 was the beginning of this Olivier year, it will run for "approximately 12 months", so should really end on February 16th 2017, almost a full week before this even begins to preview. In 2013, The Audience opened on March 5th, which was the last day of the 2012-2013 season. It would be s t r e t c h i n g it somewhat for this to get into consideration. But if it's good enough, it'll still be remembered 9 months after it closes. She managed that feat with Sweeney Todd, after all.
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Post by popcultureboy on Sept 22, 2016 22:37:05 GMT
The opening night of March 9th puts this into 2018 Olivier Awards territory. Awkward.
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Post by popcultureboy on Sept 18, 2016 8:21:56 GMT
You don't need microphones for anything in a space that small, no matter how loud the band.
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Post by popcultureboy on Sept 16, 2016 23:09:23 GMT
I'm all for no booking fees or no premiums, but not if it pushes the rest of the house price's up as this seems to have done! Has it? £69.50 top price is below the regular non-premium top price for some musicals (and at least one play I can think of) and on par with most of them. So I can't see how you think it's pushing the rest of the prices up here? In regards to Full Monty's austerity pricing, I don't think the lack of premiums was what felled it. Their previews were priced VERY low, the regular run was then at normal West End play pricing. I think that massive jump meant that EVERYONE piled into the previews and nobody bothered after it opened. The fact that it was one of the tattiest things I have ever had the misfortune to lay eyes on is neither here nor there. With The Girls, I really hope they have a quality product that sells like gangbusters and has a long healthy run, and that this starts to turn the tide on premium seats. Something has to. They are the scourge of theatregoing!
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Post by popcultureboy on Aug 26, 2016 7:54:49 GMT
Given how merciless the "fan" resellers were for Lin-Manuel's final show ($12,000 a ticket on on Ticketmaster, something that was reported in the press without so much as a hint at any condemnation), I imagine this isn't poor management. I would say this is the producers doing what little they can to try and prevent scalpers from cashing in, so giving as little advance notice as possible for the main leads departing is one way of doing that. Book of Mormon on Broadway took a similar tack with their original cast members too.
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Post by popcultureboy on Aug 21, 2016 8:36:56 GMT
Just to chip in on the Sally Bowles/Liza Minnelli/Judi Dench thing, I love that Dame Judi herself put up notices in the Palace Theatre during the run that said "Miss Judi Dench does not have a cold. She always sounds like this". She is the first person to say that she acts a song as she can't really sing. And I'll be the first person to say that her version of Send In The Clowns is the one I would always prefer to listen to over ANY other. However, Sally Bowles has diegetic and non-diegetic songs, so I would be interested to listen to how well Dame Judi gets across something like Perfectly Marvellous.
Anyway! My point is that in Funny Girl, it's the same thing. You have songs like Cornet Man and Rat-Tat-Tat-Tat, which are being performed as a show within a show, and you have songs like Don't Rain On My Parade which are most emphatically NOT a show within a show. I saw Natasha recently and was really struck by how she concentrated so much more on the comedy and the silliness in the "performance" numbers before going on to tear the roof off with Don't Rain on My Parade. Last year, I saw Sheridan at the Menier and loved her too, but I don't remember my jaw dropping with the power of her voice at any point. I've been saying since Flare Path that she has the potential to be our generation's Judi Dench and her decisions to act her way through all the songs just supports my theory all the more :-)
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Post by popcultureboy on Aug 17, 2016 21:24:38 GMT
Her voice was okay but, in the style of the time, not very subtle with a pervasive vibrato. I would imagine that comes from their being no amplification and having to sell the song whilst overcoming that. So she sounds like Ethel Merman then?
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Post by popcultureboy on Aug 17, 2016 7:16:33 GMT
People, Places & Things closed at the NT in November and didn't begin its West End run until the following March. Just because a transfer isn't immediate, doesn't mean the chances of it are bleak.
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Post by popcultureboy on Jul 24, 2016 7:33:14 GMT
It was cancelled Friday night too. Tom Hanson injured himself at fight call on Friday. Does anyone know if it went ahead Saturday night?
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Post by popcultureboy on Jul 21, 2016 7:36:04 GMT
I've had such hideous service the last two times I've been in that Busaba that I won't be going back for a third visit.
Speaking of hideous, Jesse Eisenberg has written such a hateful character in Ben that it made the show a tough watch for me. Great performances, some lovely writing too, but Ben being so weird and having exactly zero redeeming features made this a difficult one to invest in.
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Post by popcultureboy on Jul 17, 2016 8:04:09 GMT
To me the rain shower represented that Josie Rourke has had enough of the heinous Donmar audience wandering across the stage to get their seats before then putting their feet up on it like they're at home and is finding ways to stop it. And for that I say brava.
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Post by popcultureboy on Jul 10, 2016 7:41:32 GMT
A Friends membership is my plan, for sure.
As for the role swaps mentioned above, for Old Times, it was all scheduled bar the Thursday evening performance, which was decided by a coin toss. For the RSC Faustus, it is decided by both actors striking a match at the same time at the very start of the play. Whoever's match blows out first remains on stage to play Faustus, the other leaves the stage to change into the Mephistopheles costume.
Personally, I am VERY excited for this. Lia Williams blew my mind so comprehensively in Oresteia I would now watch her in anything. And I'll probably book more than twice, to increase my chances of seeing it played both ways, so you could argue that it's a crafty decision on the Almeida's behalf to get more than 2 bookings out of people :-).
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Post by popcultureboy on Jul 10, 2016 7:13:31 GMT
So maybe Waitress could go to the Harold Pinter once Nice Fish closes or is the theatre too small for it? It's not a massive show technically, but the house is only about 800, which is small for a musical of that size. Waitress won't have anything like the appeal here as it does there, though. Jessie Mueller is a Big Deal in Broadway terms, but nobody here knows who she is. Sara Bareilles is much better known there than here too, I would argue. They would be wise to go somewhere like the Noel Coward with it.
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Post by popcultureboy on Jul 6, 2016 21:38:03 GMT
IF Shuffle Along transfers, then maybe Audra would do this instead of Lady Day? Although she's not as big here as in NYC, I can't imagine either show would do particularly well without her. I cannot see Shuffle Along transferring to London, given that it's just flopped on Broadway. And it's telling the story of a forgotten but important Broadway show. If they couldn't keep it running over there, they would be INSANE to bring it here.
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Post by popcultureboy on Jul 4, 2016 18:36:24 GMT
The Doctor just explained That they had never done this operation before But they would have a go anyway They had seen it on the TV And could look on the Internet whilst they were doing it for guidance And the patient shouldn't likely die God the arrogance of some theatre f***s me off Then JUST STOP GOING!
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Post by popcultureboy on Jul 4, 2016 18:25:18 GMT
Perhaps the transfer of The Master Builder has been put on hold/delayed. Whenever Playbill publishes their "upcoming Broadway shows" articles, Master Builder is always mentioned in the "no dates or theatre confirmed" section, so it's likely they'll fit that around Ralph's commitments to Richard III and directing the Nureyev film and the availability of a suitable Broadway house for it, I would think. I'm seeing Richard III this week, I'm very intrigued by the negative opinions on here, I must say.
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Post by popcultureboy on Jul 4, 2016 18:17:23 GMT
The spoiler is Honoured Guest thinks they're uproariously funny.
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Post by popcultureboy on Jul 3, 2016 8:28:08 GMT
Parsley, your new username is fooling exactly nobody.
BUT, I have to agree (up to a point). It's an odd play. The ending is so rushed and flat and odd, I left feeling short changed by the whole thing. It is also asking a lot of the audience to care about someone as horrible as Hanson's character. Tara Franks is giving the best performance of the whole thing, but is woefully underused. The real problem with the whole thing is Robert Portal, who seems to think he's in Howard's Way. He's completely disconnected from the material and the other actors, and just wanders around braying his lines like a poor man's Toby Stephens.
And yes, it's only 80 minutes, I don't know why they don't say that.
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