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Post by westendboy on Jun 4, 2024 22:17:13 GMT
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Post by westendboy on Jun 4, 2024 22:21:25 GMT
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Post by blamerobots on Jun 4, 2024 22:36:31 GMT
A show as condensed and tightly paced as this one and trimming an hour out... seems dodge.
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Post by westendboy on Jun 4, 2024 22:45:10 GMT
A show as condensed and tightly paced as this one and trimming an hour out... seems dodge. Yeah, I'm not getting great vibes about this. Mind you, I didn't see the Watermill production, so I don't know if there's anything that could be cut down. Not to mention, if this is what they're planning to tour across the world after this ends it's run, will this be the new run time from now on?
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Post by mattnyc on Jun 4, 2024 22:53:07 GMT
I’m seeing this in August and really looking forward to it. Never had a chance to see anything from this musical before so I’m hoping (whatever it is) it’s good.
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1,041 posts
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Post by David J on Jun 5, 2024 2:09:30 GMT
Frankly that's going to be tough order to cut this down further, speaking as someone who saw the watermill version
I could see them doing the majority of the cuts in the first act, which was practically Fellowship of the Ring. How on earth they can slimline Two Towers/Return of the King further, which is already cut and crammed together in the second act, is beyond me
On the other hand because first half was he sparknotes version of Fellowship it was pretty much the best part of the show. Cutting it it will make it less coherent and what character depth there was in this musical will be severely reduced as well
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3,202 posts
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Post by ceebee on Jun 5, 2024 11:14:44 GMT
Yeah, I'm not sure how this can be cut down by such a large amount. Sure, they could lose some of the scene-setting pratting about that took place outside and jump straight into things - this would lop off 20 minutes. Maybe lose Gimli's song, compress Star of Earandil, reduce Song of Hope and ditch the reprise, shrink Lothlorien, knock a verse off Now and For Always. All of this would sacrifice the essence of the whole piece. I'm surprised that Middle Earth / Paul Hart / Kevin Wallace would agree to this though.
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Post by blamerobots on Jun 5, 2024 11:24:19 GMT
Is it possible it's a temp runtime on the page?
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4,820 posts
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Post by Someone in a tree on Jun 5, 2024 11:53:21 GMT
Out of interest how long was it at Dury land and at the Watermill ? Please and ta!
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Post by blamerobots on Jun 5, 2024 12:51:59 GMT
Out of interest how long was it at Dury land and at the Watermill ? Please and ta! 3h30.
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Post by mattnyc on Jun 5, 2024 15:00:18 GMT
Is it possible it's a temp runtime on the page? I wondered that, as well. Showtimes seem to start at 7pm for evening shows, so maybe that earlier start implies a longer show?
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Post by westendboy on Jun 5, 2024 17:13:08 GMT
Is it possible it's a temp runtime on the page? I wondered that, as well. Showtimes seem to start at 7pm for evening shows, so maybe that earlier start implies a longer show? Maybe, or it could be that they start all the outdoor stuff at 7pm, which lasts for however long it does, before the show officially begins? Just speculating on my end. I hope the 2h 30m runtime is a placeholder and not final, because if they really have cut it down to that length, then that could do more damage than good.
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Post by westendboy on Jun 5, 2024 17:15:40 GMT
Out of interest how long was it at Dury land and at the Watermill ? Please and ta! At Drury Lane it was 3 hours, although it was cut down from the Toronto production's 3h 30m runtime. At the Watermill it was 3h 20m, although they changed it from a 3 Act show, to a traditional 2 Act one. Still long though.
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519 posts
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Post by WireHangers on Jun 6, 2024 17:45:29 GMT
Ooooohhhhh - Lauren Zarkin is going to sing the sh*t out of Galadriel’s songs!!!
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Post by Oobi on Jun 7, 2024 16:23:42 GMT
Out of interest how long was it at Dury land and at the Watermill ? Please and ta! At Drury Lane it was 3 hours, although it was cut down from the Toronto production's 3h 30m runtime. At the Watermill it was 3h 20m, although they changed it from a 3 Act show, to a traditional 2 Act one. Still long though. Also, Watermill had two ten-minute breaks to allow the audience to filter in/out of the theatre from the garden scenes.
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Post by westendboy on Jul 5, 2024 22:09:23 GMT
Looks like they updated the run time. Now going 2h 45m: www.chicagoshakes.com/productions/the-lord-of-the-rings/I suppose that's better than the initial 2h 30m, but still seems a bit short. I imagine the two ten-minute breaks to get the audience inside and out at the beginning and end in the Watermill production have been cut, which would've made that production technically 3 hours. Not sure what material they'd thought it best to trim 15 mins off.
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Post by blamerobots on Jul 9, 2024 20:29:54 GMT
Also going to New Zealand now..!!
Didn't think to make a new thread as there's no real point and it is the same production.
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210 posts
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Post by Peter on Jul 9, 2024 20:34:59 GMT
Will the Watermill benefit financially from either subsequent staging? I don’t know how things like this work, but would hope so as it was a big risk for them to take and I’m glad it’s paying off ![:)](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/smiley/smiley.png)
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Post by westendboy on Jul 9, 2024 22:10:19 GMT
Also going to New Zealand now..!! Didn't think to make a new thread as there's no real point and it is the same production. Great news! Was wondering when we'd get news for the international tour, but glad we've been given an update! And in New Zealand of all places! If I remember correctly, the World Tour that was announced back in 2013 (11 years ago!) was set to begin there, so it kind of come full circle in a way.
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Post by westendboy on Jul 9, 2024 22:12:49 GMT
Will the Watermill benefit financially from either subsequent staging? I don’t know how things like this work, but would hope so as it was a big risk for them to take and I’m glad it’s paying off ![:)](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/smiley/smiley.png) Paul Hart, who directed it at the Watermill, is also directing it in Chicago, and I assume in Auckland too, so I imagine it will be financially beneficial.
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Post by westendboy on Jul 9, 2024 22:19:09 GMT
Didn't think to make a new thread as there's no real point and it is the same production. Perhaps someone can make a new thread for the Auckland production, or even for the international tour in general? When I initially made this thread, I tried to include "International Tour" in the title, but ran out of space (word count), so just stuck to "Chicago".
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Post by westendboy on Jul 9, 2024 22:22:29 GMT
With the recent annoucnement of the Auckland production, does anyone reckon we'll see it make a comeback to the UK? If so, which of these three ways could it do so;
1). A return to the Watermill? 2). A West End run? 3). An off-West End run?
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74 posts
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Post by theatrekiwi on Jul 10, 2024 8:10:04 GMT
Having seen it at the Watermill, will be very interesting to see how it adapts to somewhere like The Civic in Auckland. It's a theatre I am fond of as growing up in NZ this was where I had my first intros to professional theatre!
It's a stunning theatre but really is a barn with a similar capacity to Victoria Apollo in London. Feels like some hybrid between Victoria Apollo and The Dominion. The few times I've been in the Circle there have felt very distant from the stage. I hope this doesn't lose all of the charm it had at the Watermill. They will certainly need to scale up the set etc.
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Post by westendboy on Jul 10, 2024 10:56:51 GMT
Having seen it at the Watermill, will be very interesting to see how it adapts to somewhere like The Civic in Auckland. It's a theatre I am fond of as growing up in NZ this was where I had my first intros to professional theatre! It's a stunning theatre but really is a barn with a similar capacity to Victoria Apollo in London. Feels like some hybrid between Victoria Apollo and The Dominion. The few times I've been in the Circle there have felt very distant from the stage. I hope this doesn't lose all of the charm it had at the Watermill. They will certainly need to scale up the set etc. If the venue is how you've described it, I imagine it would be scaled up to a degree. I've seen some photos of rehearsals in The Yard and it does look like the set is slightly bigger, but still has that same feel as it did at the Watermill, so hopefully the same will apply for The Civic.
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Post by westendboy on Jul 17, 2024 16:48:06 GMT
Out of curiosity, is anyone seeing the first performance this Friday?
Wish I could, but traveling to the state is expensive!
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