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Post by HereForTheatre on May 17, 2019 7:29:49 GMT
I did see the curtain call on twitter and i think that she could be emotional for several reasons. One, is that she has actually just made her leading lady West End debut. She's a well known musical theatre name so it's easy to forget that. Also i feel like we don't know the full story with regards to her history withj Waitress prior to this. It's been speculated she was lined up for Broadway, hence that promo picture, but she was pulled. If that happened but she finally made it on stage playing the role, that would be a big moment and relief for her. Who knows if that is true though. Or else it's just normal first performance emotion and nothing like the above at all. Many performers have that and it's not abnormal.
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Post by singularsensation10 on May 17, 2019 7:31:18 GMT
Yes it slightly backfired for them...they were expecting excitement for a new Jenna to be there as the curtain opens but in stead Twitter turned to fury! Golly. Poor girl.
In terms of those people ‘sticking up’ for Sarah - she’s an understudy. That doesn’t mean she’s automatically lead when the lead is away. That means she fills in if production need her to. Why not have Lucie go on it she’s rehearsed and ready? Sarah will still go on stage in her usual track, which she is employed to do?
I don’t understand the outrage personally.
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Post by danb on May 17, 2019 7:32:03 GMT
Watching a video of curtain call last night, Lucie is very emotional and I can’t help but feel that she could not enjoy her ‘debut’. It’s such terrible treatment of a performer, a west end new cast should be celebrated and a performer not being able to say a word about it is just awful. I hope Waitress explain themselves, it’s not like they can afford to lose fans. By all accounts, Lucie did let the people who matter most to her know so that they could be there for her, as evidenced by all the (not at all) cryptic good luck tweets & congratulations. The only people upset by it appear to be snowflakey onlookers. |
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Post by musical19 on May 17, 2019 7:34:55 GMT
I love Lucie as a performer, so as long as she enjoyed it and got her moment that’s all that matters.
Every role I’ve seen her in she’s been spectacular so I am sure Jenna will be another one to add to the list.
I look forward to her being able to speak about it!
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Post by ensembleswings on May 17, 2019 7:40:58 GMT
Lucie had many friends and her fam in last night, I was sat in front of a group of them. Seems like she was able to privately tell people but not publicly which in all fairness isn’t too dissimilar to many understudies these days (I know Lucie isn’t technically an understudy but you get my point).
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4,178 posts
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Post by HereForTheatre on May 17, 2019 7:44:15 GMT
Lucie had many friends and her fam in last night, I was sat in front of a group of them. Seems like she was able to privately tell people but not publicly which in all fairness isn’t too dissimilar to many understudies these days (I know Lucie isn’t technically an understudy but you get my point). Can you tell us a little about her performance? How was she different to Kat? |
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Post by Deleted on May 17, 2019 8:25:31 GMT
Good grief, all I said was that I thought it was ill-mannered of the production team not to announce that Lucie had joined the cast, particularly given she was going on for the first time in the lead role that everyone knows she is about to take over. No fanfare needed, but the social media account not ignoring it entirely would have been nice, that's all.
If I'm not allowed to state my opinion that they could have been more respectful to her in that manner without being ridiculed for it then I really don't know what the point of a forum like this even is...
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Post by Deleted on May 17, 2019 8:34:24 GMT
"Rude" seems an odd word choice. Rude to whom? The company? Well, I'm sure they know what they've been rehearsing. To the audience? If the producers- or indeed the actress- want an opportunity to introduce a new performer out of the glare of social media, why shouldn't they choose not to publicize the performance? Not every production decision needs to be officially declared and not everything needs to be taken as a personal affront. I'm sorry if my choice of words for expressing my personal opinion offended you. Rude has many synonyms, I just picked the first one that came into my head. I don't however appreciate the assumption that I take this as some sort of personal affront when I've said nothing of the sort. Please actually read my posts - all I've said is that I personally think it would have been nice for Lucie to be recognised for her debut rather than all this unnecessary secrecy when everyone unofficially knows what is going on. That's my personal standard, nothing else, and I'm just expressing my opinion, nothing else. I'm entitled to think it would have been preferable for them to not just act like nothing has happened, and there's nothing more to it than that. If I'm taking anything as a personal affront it's the amount that I've been criticised in this thread for daring to have a different (and not even lone) opinion! |
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Post by BurlyBeaR on May 17, 2019 8:57:14 GMT
The problem is that Theatre has made social media such an intrinsic part of their promotion (understandably, because who wouldn’t) that people who engage heavily with it can feel entitled (and I don’t mean that in a derogatory way, except for a minority) to know absolutely everything including the inner machinations and stuff that’s often none of their business.
Remember the days when you just showed up for the show and found out from the cast board who was or wasn’t on? No histrionics. No nasty comments to the performers. You just swallowed it and grumbled a bit at the interval.
Happy days.
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Post by Dannyboi on May 17, 2019 9:10:42 GMT
I Keep coming back to this thread to try and see what a mess they are making of managing my favourite show and find myself having to wade through endless posts of offended snowflakery! Please can we all make like Elsa, Let it go and get back to talking about the actual musical? Theres plenty kicking off to discuss without snatching each others wigs.
I totally agree about the social media thing, theatre going was a lot more calmer and simpler experience. You turned up and got who you got, no drama. You were a fan of someone in the role once you'd already seen them in that role, not because you've followed them on instagram for three years and demand they are given the role just because you'd always imagined it. Calm down children.
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Post by Deleted on May 17, 2019 9:15:01 GMT
There's also the problem that without even knowing they're doing it people tend to fill the gaps in their knowledge with stuff they've made up, and because they've made it up it makes sense to them, and because it makes sense to them they're convinced it must be true. And before long one action that a person did between sips of tea with barely a passing thought has become an imagined conspiracy of world-shattering significance.
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Post by danb on May 17, 2019 9:23:18 GMT
Remember the days when you just showed up for the show and found out from the cast board who was or wasn’t on? No histrionics. No nasty comments to the performers. You just swallowed it and grumbled a bit at the interval.
Happy days. [/quote]
Scenes from a car driving home from London approx 1987
Nana - “But I paid to see Michael Crawford!”
Usher - “I’m afraid he left three months ago.”
Nana - “Well no one told me, nobody rang..”
Mum - “I don’t think they have to do that”
Ffwd to the end.
Nana - (still dabbing her eyes) Well he was fantastic! Why wasn’t that man on my tape? Oh he was wonderful! Wasn’t he wonderful?
Mum- see it doesn’t matter does it, you saw someone just as good if not better.
Nana - It still would have been nice to be told.
Me - 🤦♂️
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Post by Deleted on May 17, 2019 9:26:34 GMT
Good grief, all I said was that I thought it was ill-mannered of the production team not to announce that Lucie had joined the cast, particularly given she was going on for the first time in the lead role that everyone knows she is about to take over. By everyone you mean the small group of uber fans that follow the show on social media. That isn't everyone. Far from it. They are not here to pander to the fans. |
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Post by sophie92 on May 17, 2019 9:37:05 GMT
In terms of those people ‘sticking up’ for Sarah - she’s an understudy. That doesn’t mean she’s automatically lead when the lead is away. That means she fills in if production need her to. Why not have Lucie go on it she’s rehearsed and ready? It’s not that Lucie just happens to be rehearsed and ready though, everything gives the impression that it was planned that she would cover these few days of Kat’s holiday. If she was only supposed to be taking over once Kat left the show, there’s a good chance she wouldn’t even have started rehearsing yet as there’s still a month to go! It certainly seems she was rehearsed ‘early’ in order to cover this holiday (and perform at Magic at the Musicals). Honestly, I’m not up in arms about the situation like some on Twitter, but I do think it was bad form not to publicly announce Lucie’s debut, as I think it takes something away from her actual take over in June. The whole situation is a more extreme version of what Once did with Arthur Darvill and Ronan Keating (I think it was those two). Both made their debuts as Guy at the Saturday matinee prior to their official announced debut on the Monday. |
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Post by sparky5000 on May 17, 2019 11:03:00 GMT
Yes it slightly backfired for them...they were expecting excitement for a new Jenna to be there as the curtain opens but in stead Twitter turned to fury! Golly. Poor girl. In terms of those people ‘sticking up’ for Sarah - she’s an understudy. That doesn’t mean she’s automatically lead when the lead is away. That means she fills in if production need her to. Why not have Lucie go on it she’s rehearsed and ready? Sarah will still go on stage in her usual track, which she is employed to do? I don’t understand the outrage personally. I think it has probably been an accumulation of the fact that everyone has known Lucie was going to be the new Jenna for forever and were getting frustrated with no announcements, and then some theatre people on twitter started posting lots of tea memes everywhere 🙄 fuelling anxiety, and that spiralled not only into people shouting at everyone, including Lucie and Kat and even Ashley. As for the understudy thing, I’m one who thought it seemed a bit unfair or at least a shame that Sarah or Olivia weren’t getting a chance to stand in, but it does seem to have been planned in advance that Lucie would do the shows when Kat was away. I imagine that Kat maybe wasn’t initially going to take any holiday but they agreed it because Lucie was ready to step in for a bit, but again that’s just more unfounded speculation lol. |
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Post by sparky5000 on May 17, 2019 11:21:28 GMT
Update! Ashley Roberts talking about ‘a fun role onstage’ on GMB next Tuesday. This could really be happening. I do feel this will be a temporary thing like others have said. Say an 8 week stint and then Laura will return. |
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Post by d'James on May 17, 2019 11:24:13 GMT
I’ll be very disappointed if Laura Baldwin is leaving. I was looking forward to seeing her in July. Will have to wait and see before I book.
Sometimes a performer will tip the scales as to if I will see a show or not. Let’s see how the scales are tipping next week.
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Post by sophie92 on May 17, 2019 12:25:42 GMT
I’ve watched a couple of videos of last night’s curtain call and I have to say, I’m not surprised Lucie was emotional. She’s very highly regarded amongst theatre fans, but she doesn’t actually have many West End credits to her name (Cosette in Les Mis is pretty much the only proper WE role she’s done up until now). So to play a role like Jenna in the West End, yeah, I think I’d be pretty emotional if I was in her shoes, and that’s without even thinking about having had to keep it under wraps for so long!
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Post by nick on May 17, 2019 12:57:25 GMT
I’ve overheard some gossip on the train. It means very little to me so please ignore if it’s rubbish. Apparently they’re bringing in a Sugarbabe for 10 weeks. A current member of the cast (waitress who wears glasses?) has been laid off for that time unpaid ( that sounds a bit mean to me). Grumbles about American interference.
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Post by singularsensation10 on May 17, 2019 13:21:06 GMT
With the amount they’ve dicked around with casting on Broadway, I’m not sure why we were imagining even for one second they wouldn’t do it here 😂
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Post by mrbarnaby on May 17, 2019 13:30:20 GMT
I’ve overheard some gossip on the train. It means very little to me so please ignore if it’s rubbish. Apparently they’re bringing in a Sugarbabe for 10 weeks. A current member of the cast (waitress who wears glasses?) has been laid off for that time unpaid ( that sounds a bit mean to me). Grumbles about American interference. Well don’t out the person you’ve overheard!! The producers of this are so cheap that nothing would surprise me. |
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Post by anthem on May 17, 2019 13:54:51 GMT
I’ve overheard some gossip on the train. It means very little to me so please ignore if it’s rubbish. Apparently they’re bringing in a Sugarbabe for 10 weeks. A current member of the cast (waitress who wears glasses?) has been laid off for that time unpaid ( that sounds a bit mean to me). Grumbles about American interference. Well don’t out the person you’ve overheard!! The producers of this are so cheap that nothing would surprise me. This thread is so exhausting to read. Not long ago, people were complaining at the amount of $ the producers supposedly paid out to hire Katharine & Jack; now they’re accused of being cheap. |
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Post by Dr Tom on May 17, 2019 14:07:20 GMT
Apparently they’re bringing in a Sugarbabe for 10 weeks. That doesn't narrow it down much. Weren't there about 50 different Sugababes lineups? Although could they perhaps have misunderstood and meant the Pussycat Dolls? |
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Post by MrsCondomine on May 17, 2019 15:01:42 GMT
Some sort of catnip chew toys? Now I'm either getting old or increasingly confused. Mostly both. Or soft toys that look like cats and purr when you move them around! (this isn't even a lie, I have one from my childhood who sits next to my makeup bag and judges my choices - they are amazing) |
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Post by latefortheoverture on May 17, 2019 15:02:32 GMT
Really love this show, but god what a mess! Every part of this show, outside of the core material, is a mess!
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