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Post by oxfordsimon on Sept 2, 2024 23:09:21 GMT
Just back from opening night in Oxford. I enjoyed my first exposure to the show very much.
I didn't feel as if I was seeing anything scaled back. It worked well as what is a essentially a high quality Shakespearean panto. And I mean that in a positive way.
It is a well constructed jukebox show and one I would happily revisit
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Post by newda on Sept 2, 2024 23:27:40 GMT
Blimey, quite an Oxford crowd we had.
I agree the tour didn't feel at all scaled down like some do. I remember someone here saying the moon thing was pointless for the time they spend on it, which I agree with.
Really enjoyed seeing it again, but I felt some of the acting was a bit hammy and not very believable. Lines were delivered on a way that made me feel like I was at a low level pantomime. Lara was brilliant and an excellent match to continue what Cassidy started.
Ranj wasn't the worst stunt casting I've seen, but his accent was all over the place and he pretty much sung spoke though the little he has to sing (thankfully ).
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Post by Rozzi Rainbow on Sept 15, 2024 17:05:47 GMT
I was intrigued by this in London, but not enough to make the trip down, so was very glad it's now touring. I went to the matinee yesterday and really enjoyed it. It's a bit mad, but a lot of fun. I love the soundtrack - there's quite a variety in there.
I thought it was nice to have a different type of storyline rather than the traditional "boy meets girl" and I really loved the boy band scene. I'd happily go again if I got chance.
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629 posts
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Post by christya on Sept 17, 2024 10:02:35 GMT
Taking a look at the sales for this in Sunderland and it's absolutely appalling. Without actually counting, it looks only about half full for tonight and the rest of the week the same. Hope the rest of the tour is selling better!
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Post by lotster on Sept 17, 2024 10:40:32 GMT
As somebody who loved this show and saw it 5 times in London, I always thought the name of the show was odd and didn't really pull people in. The reason I went the first time, was for the London cast, and then I was hooked. I'm sure the creators must have researched the title, but I've never really liked it.
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Post by ladidah on Sept 17, 2024 11:11:09 GMT
I agree, it works when you see the set and the cute joke with the names - but not in ads.
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Post by tommy81 on Sept 17, 2024 12:27:00 GMT
I saw it twice in Glasgow, both mid week matinees and I was worried cause it wasn't selling well at all but thankfully it was very busy when it came to it. It's not the kind of show that I can imagine being as fun with a half empty house.
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Post by ThereWillBeSun on Oct 5, 2024 21:50:58 GMT
Saw this today and we had Psalms-Nissi Myers-Reid as Juliet (Alternate) she was incredible.
Matt Cardle, Lara Denning and Sandra Marvin were excellent.
I think the obvious difference were costumes, the set design and some of the language being a bit more sexual than I remember?! I don’t mind but it’s interesting seeing different nuances - or maybe this time around I was paying more attention to the dialogue.
Took two first timers and they loved it! The London cast recording was a big mental health boost during the pandemic (those orchestrations are so punchy, aren’t they?!)
So glad I made the effort to see this at Plymouth today. 💕🎧
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Post by SilverFox on Oct 6, 2024 18:45:22 GMT
Just returned from Hamburg, where the Stage Operettenhaus is preparing to open the show (renamed Und Julia) using the Shaftesbury set. They have described it as a "hard sell".
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Post by sph on Oct 6, 2024 22:11:43 GMT
I think the issue is that it's a jukebox musical, but not by one particular group or artist. It's the work of one particular writer, and Joe Public doesn't often know the details of who wrote what.
Max Martin? Who? A lot of people won't know. Tell them he wrote for Britney, Backstreet Boys, Katy Perry etc and you'll get somewhere, but it's not as straightforward a marketing pitch as "featuring the songs of ABBA" for example.
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Post by danb on Oct 7, 2024 11:27:24 GMT
Lou Perlman soft launched lots of his acts in Germany, so it should be a much easier over there?
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2,676 posts
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Post by viserys on Oct 7, 2024 11:39:57 GMT
Lou Perlman soft launched lots of his acts in Germany, so it should be a much easier over there? Who on earth is Lou Perlman? No, SilverFox is right, &Julia is not selling at all - the title means absolutely nothing to anyone, especially since Julia is one of those names that have been leading the lists of "most popular girls' names" for years, so no one makes the immediate connection to Shakespeare. As per usual, Stage Entertainment prices are far too high to attract younger people who might be interested in this and the "mildly curious". Interestingly enough MJ - the Musical is selling just as badly though, even if it's a proper jukebox musical based on one artist's work. My guess here is that since Thriller Live did the rounds on tour for so long, nobody bothers with the overpriced Stage Entertainment version now. |
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Post by danb on Oct 7, 2024 11:48:57 GMT
He’s the guy that the ‘Dirty Pop’ documentary is about on Netflix; that formed The Backstreet Boys, NSync, Britney etc that lots of the &J songs use.
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2,676 posts
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Post by viserys on Oct 7, 2024 12:45:08 GMT
I'm too old to know much about the onslaught of noise that were the 90s and I could never tell all the boybands apart. I'll have to drag a younger person out of a hole to check with this, from where I sit I don't think any of these are names you can sell an overpriced musical on. ABBA, Queen, etc. were a whole different ballpark.
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Post by danb on Oct 7, 2024 14:08:05 GMT
It’s pretty much 90’s & noughties pop as a whole. What on earth were you doing to miss such classic music? 😂
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2,676 posts
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Post by viserys on Oct 7, 2024 15:24:47 GMT
Listening to good music instead?  |
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Post by xanady on Oct 15, 2024 18:55:16 GMT
Saw at the weekend at Grand,Wolverhampton.
Pretty good production values.
Some fab vocal performances from a really top notch cast.
Lots of aerial work
Loads of pyro,glitter and confetti cannons
A great reminder of those heady days when this wonderful show first appeared.
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3,301 posts
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Post by david on Oct 29, 2024 0:07:59 GMT
Having rated my previous viewings in Manchester and London at 5 stars, after tonight's visit to the Liverpool Empire, I am rating this the same. As jukebox musicals go, &Juliet is a top tier show in this genre of musical theatre. Unlike a fair few jukebox shows that have done the rounds over the years, the book by David West Read is both engaging and able to have a nice balance of comedy and more emotional stuff which is backed by a fantastic set of songs from Max Martin which are well placed and used to move the plot forward.
As a complete show, director Luke Shepard and his team have done a great job here. It is still a big in your face show that has a great lighting, video, set design and choreography on show with this 2024-25 tour and I certainly got full value from my ticket with the 2.5hr run time. As touring productions go this one really is a very high quality one and whether this is your 1st or 10th time seeing thus show, nobody will go away disappointed. I can certainly recommend seeing this one if it tours near you.
The casts may have changed over the years, but the quality of the folk on stage and in the band still remains very high and this tour cast is no exception. A really great cast and band here on at tonight's show. There are definite no weak links here and despite my reservations about the casting of Ranj Singh, I actually really liked him and certainly had a strong stage presence. His vocals I thought were really good and more than held up against his other MT trained cast members, Lara's Act 2 "That's the Way It Is" a highlight for me and got a massive cheer at the end of the song.
The whole cast were certainly on fine form and full of energy in delivering the show. A great atmosphere tonight with everyone in the audience thankfully behaving themselves and allowing all of us to enjoy the vocal talents of this cast in peace and saving their vocal talents for the finale.
A great night out at the theatre overall.
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