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Post by Deleted on Mar 22, 2018 17:33:11 GMT
A couple of videos have appeared online. The band seems to be on stage all the time and in full view to the audience (Like Chicago) so to anyone who has seen the show, is this the case?
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Post by meirion on Mar 22, 2018 20:48:34 GMT
A couple of videos have appeared online. The band seems to be on stage all the time and in full view to the audience (Like Chicago) so to anyone who has seen the show, is this the case? No, the band are only on stage properly at the end, unless the scene is set at a recording studio/concert etc when a few appear. I think some of the brass section are from Jools Holland’s orchestra.
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Post by Phantom of London on Mar 22, 2018 21:03:53 GMT
No no no no and no, that is wrong to say. It should say ‘Thanks for the early review latefortheoverture it sounds simply the best.’
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Post by showtoones on Mar 22, 2018 21:20:52 GMT
Better than all the rest?
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Post by Deleted on Mar 22, 2018 21:29:22 GMT
A couple of videos have appeared online. The band seems to be on stage all the time and in full view to the audience (Like Chicago) so to anyone who has seen the show, is this the case? No, the band are only on stage properly at the end, unless the scene is set at a recording studio/concert etc when a few appear. I think some of the brass section are from Jools Holland’s orchestra. Oh cool. Thanks for the reply. I wasn’t that interested in this but my interest is growing.
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Post by latefortheoverture on Mar 23, 2018 13:01:26 GMT
Shame to see so many recordings on Instagram already!
I said to the front of house manager at the interval and mentioned how many people I could see recording- one man had a DSLR! A BLOODY DSLR!!!!
I fear they're still not cracking down- as there was no announcements or anything, and it's worse with jukebox musicals as the audience think they're at a concert not a theatre!
Something seriously needs to happen!
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Post by Deleted on Mar 23, 2018 13:07:03 GMT
They need the usher from the Arts Theatre to clamp down on the phones and cameras. At 'Ruthless' last night, she was . . well ruthless. I had to check to make sure that she wasn't thumbing through a well worn copy of 'Mein Kampf' during the interval. God love her though, she didn't need a megaphone.
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Post by latefortheoverture on Mar 23, 2018 13:44:01 GMT
Bless her....
Feels so deeply about Ruthless....
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Post by viserys on Mar 23, 2018 13:53:49 GMT
Shame to see so many recordings on Instagram already! I said to the front of house manager at the interval and mentioned how many people I could see recording- one man had a DSLR! A BLOODY DSLR!!!! I fear they're still not cracking down- as there was no announcements or anything, and it's worse with jukebox musicals as the audience think they're at a concert not a theatre! Something seriously needs to happen! Could it be, that they don't care because it's marketing? People see the clips online and thus realize that a) this show is happening at all and b) that it looks/sounds good and might nudge people to go "Oh, this lady sounds great, I think I want to see this live". Dunno, just a thought. I'm not a big fan of Tina Turner so I have zero interest in this. I might watch a clip of Adrienne Warren online though to see how she sounds as Tina. And who knows, MAYBE it will entice me to say "Wow, this lady sounds great, might go and see it live after all to see her". It's different for "normal" musicals, I suppose - if there were clips of all the bigger tunes in Hamilton out there, lots of people might go "OK, now I know how this song is done on stage, I don't need to fork out a fortune to see it live".
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Post by latefortheoverture on Mar 23, 2018 14:02:54 GMT
Shame to see so many recordings on Instagram already! I said to the front of house manager at the interval and mentioned how many people I could see recording- one man had a DSLR! A BLOODY DSLR!!!! I fear they're still not cracking down- as there was no announcements or anything, and it's worse with jukebox musicals as the audience think they're at a concert not a theatre! Something seriously needs to happen! Could it be, that they don't care because it's marketing? People see the clips online and thus realize that a) this show is happening at all and b) that it looks/sounds good and might nudge people to go "Oh, this lady sounds great, I think I want to see this live". Dunno, just a thought. I'm not a big fan of Tina Turner so I have zero interest in this. I might watch a clip of Adrienne Warren online though to see how she sounds as Tina. And who knows, MAYBE it will entice me to say "Wow, this lady sounds great, might go and see it live after all to see her". It's different for "normal" musicals, I suppose - if there were clips of all the bigger tunes in Hamilton out there, lots of people might go "OK, now I know how this song is done on stage, I don't need to fork out a fortune to see it live". Well I thought this exactly; but it's still a shame to see recording plastered everywhere! I suppose if it helps sell a few seats the producers don't mind!
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Post by ali973 on Mar 23, 2018 14:06:24 GMT
I haven't seen THAT many recordings online. All I saw are the ones that are tagged under Aldwych Theatre. Are there anymore? I would expect there to be serious filming during the curtain calls/get up and shake your booty end of the show but would be ticked if there are people filming during the show.
So..where are the receipts and the links to these filmed clips?
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Post by Steve on Mar 23, 2018 14:37:43 GMT
Before the bows Tina sings simply the best- not an encore or anything just the end of the story and the whole theatre was up within a blink of an eye I hate to ask the one of us who have seen it, but if you get the chance, could we get a song list please? Saw this last night, and it's the best jukebox musical I've seen. The first half integrates the songs seamlessly into such powerful (and topical me-too style) drama that I'd rate it an exceptional 5 stars. Tears flooded my eyes in the first half, and I didn't think that was possible for a jukebox musical. The second half loses dramatic focus due to Ike's diminished role in the action, but even the second half is a super solid 4 stars of rousing self-actualising feelgood entertainment! This will run and run and run. . . I already got another ticket, for post preview, as the critics are crazy if they don't acknowledge the achievement in putting this together! I'll hopefully put some more thoughts down, in another post, when I get the chance, but while the show's fresh in my mind, I'll write a song list, as best as I can recall, to answer the request above. This is difficult for two reasons: (1) the programme does not contain a song list, limiting itself to a list of "music credits" in alphabetical order, (2) the song list is probably in flux, which is why there is no song list, So here is a flawed-memory recalled song list, from the second preview, as recalled by me, while staring at the "Music Credits" list: (Spoilers follow - only look if, like me, you just don't believe a musical can be "spoiled" by knowledge, only improved) First half (running time - 1 hour, 30 minutes, at 2nd preview): Nutbush - Childhood Tina gets to join in singing a song, which she will one day write, in church Don't Turn Around Shake a Tailfeather The Hunter - Ike's big intro song: I guess he's hunting Tina It's Gonna Work Out Fine A Fool in Love - Tina develops her voice, but not her voice Let's Stay Together - Tina and lover, Raymond, dream of a life apart from Ike Better Be Good to Me - Tina contemplates Ike's proposal, roaring a stunning Shakespearean style song monologue at a frozen-in-time Ike Higher River Deep Mountain High Be Tender with Me Baby Proud Mary I Don't Want to Fight - Ike vs Tina climactic song ends the first half Second Half (running time - 1 hour at second preview): Medley Reprise of Some First Half songs Private Dancer - Tina hits rock bottom, after Ike bans her singing his songs Disco Inferno Open Arms I Can't Stand the Rain - Tina struggles to record new music in rainy London Tonight What's Love Got to Do With It - Tina finds her Mojo We Don't Need Another Hero Simply The Best - Tina becomes TINA! Bows and Final Concert - Nutbush (reprise), Proud Mary (reprise) Songs on the Music Credits List that I can't recall or place: It Takes Two, Matchbox.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 23, 2018 14:59:45 GMT
Well it all sounds like a right old load of bullocks.
Fnar fnar. See what I did there?
I have to say that I wasn't all that bothered by this show and it still does sound like it's got a whiff of 'Beautiful' but with more leather and wigs but I'm actually really rather interested in going now.
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Post by showtoones on Mar 23, 2018 15:00:27 GMT
Do we know which performances the alternate does yet?
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Post by Tibidabo on Mar 23, 2018 15:07:26 GMT
You see, this is why I always book the front row. Apart from the vertically challengedness obvious, if all those people are filming I absolutely hate having my eyes distracted by their stoooopid lit-up screens. Great review Steve. Looking forward to this mucho.
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Post by Mark on Mar 23, 2018 16:44:05 GMT
I cracked. Going tonight
Thank god it’s bonus month
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Post by trox on Mar 23, 2018 17:16:30 GMT
Before the bows Tina sings simply the best- not an encore or anything just the end of the story and the whole theatre was up within a blink of an eye I hate to ask the one of us who have seen it, but if you get the chance, could we get a song list please? Saw this last night, and it's the best jukebox musical I've seen. The first half integrates the songs seamlessly into such powerful (and topical me-too style) drama that I'd rate it an exceptional 5 stars. Tears flooded my eyes in the first half, and I didn't think that was possible for a jukebox musical. The second half loses dramatic focus due to Ike's diminished role in the action, but even the second half is a super solid 4 stars of rousing self-actualising feelgood entertainment! This will run and run and run. . . I already got another ticket, for post preview, as the critics are crazy if they don't acknowledge the achievement in putting this together! I'll hopefully put some more thoughts down, in another post, when I get the chance, but while the show's fresh in my mind, I'll write a song list, as best as I can recall, to answer the request above. This is difficult for two reasons: (1) the programme does not contain a song list, limiting itself to a list of "music credits" in alphabetical order, (2) the song list is probably in flux, which is why there is no song list, So here is a flawed-memory recalled song list, from the second preview, as recalled by me, while staring at the "Music Credits" list: (Spoilers follow - only look if, like me, you just don't believe a musical can be "spoiled" by knowledge, only improved) First half (running time - 1 hour, 30 minutes, at 2nd preview): Nutbush - Childhood Tina gets to join in singing a song, which she will one day write, in church Don't Turn Around Shake a Tailfeather The Hunter - Ike's big intro song: I guess he's hunting Tina It's Gonna Work Out Fine A Fool in Love - Tina develops her voice, but not her voice Let's Stay Together - Tina and lover, Raymond, dream of a life apart from Ike Better Be Good to Me - Tina contemplates Ike's proposal, roaring a stunning Shakespearean style song monologue at a frozen-in-time Ike Higher River Deep Mountain High Be Tender with Me Baby Proud Mary I Don't Want to Fight - Ike vs Tina climactic song ends the first half Second Half (running time - 1 hour at second preview): Medley Reprise of Some First Half songs Private Dancer - Tina hits rock bottom, after Ike bans her singing his songs Disco Inferno Open Arms I Can't Stand the Rain - Tina struggles to record new music in rainy London Tonight What's Love Got to Do With It - Tina finds her Mojo We Don't Need Another Hero Simply The Best - Tina becomes TINA! Bows and Final Concert - Nutbush (reprise), Proud Mary (reprise) Songs on the Music Credits List that I can't recall or place: It Takes Two, Matchbox. Wow. I was so emotional reading all of this. Thank you so much. Sooo much. I live in Brazil and I don't think I can afford a trip to London. So I'll have to live the entire musical in my mind. I was dying to see someone post a detailed description of the show. I think they did a master job with the song order and the dramatic focus for each song. I can imagine how beautiful it is. I'd like to ask about Tina and Erwin Bach (her longterm boyfriend, nowdays husband) relationship in the musical. I thought they'd include Tina's "I Don't Wanna Lose You" or "Two People" as a theme for the couple, but it seems they don't have a special number for them. I was fascinated with the fact that they used "Let's Stay Together" as a love theme for Tina and Raymond, the father of her first child. Fascinated. Thank you so much for everything!
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Post by BurlyBeaR on Mar 23, 2018 17:23:39 GMT
Several posts removed. Sorry to be a killjoy but please see our rules relating to copyright. www.theatreboard.co.uk/thread/126/theatreboard-guidelines-rulesWhile we might be more relaxed about material relating to long running shows where content is already widely known, posting clips of new shows is likely to get us into trouble with producers.
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Post by Mark on Mar 23, 2018 23:11:03 GMT
Wow!
Let me start with Adrienne Warren. She’s the perfect casting, the voice, the moves, the full package - she comes alive as Tina on that stage. She will be a strong contender for the Olivier next year.
The show: I was really impressed. The book was good, and the songs all incorporated very well. It paints Ike as a real villain, and there wasn’t a lot of cheering from the audience when Tina fought back. The set worked very well with a lot of pieces coming up from the floor and some nice use of projections. I was much more familiar with the numbers in the second act (Private Dancer, What’s love got to do with it, We don’t need another hero, Simply the best).
I think they could maybe cut down some of the dialogue, and maybe lose a number or so from act one as it currently clocks at about 2:55. For me, this really worked as a musical about Tina, however there are a lot of slower numbers and intense scenes and you could tell everyone was itching to get up and dance by the end. Everyone was up by the last refrain of simply the best.
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Post by callum on Mar 23, 2018 23:56:33 GMT
Was also there tonight and had a terrific time. 2019 Olivier for Best Actress in a Musical must be going to Adrienne Warren! A true star. Her voice was brilliant and gave such an energetic and well-rounded performance as Tina. She never once strayed into caricature but you always believed you were watching Tina.
Songs were all good - it’s tricky that since only the second half is post-Ike, and a lot of Tina’s most famous songs are post-Ike, Act 2 is a bit shapeless. She leaves Ike, tries to get signed, gets signed and...? There isn’t really much to match the storytelling capital of Act 1. The Angela Bassett film from the 90s made the right choice just to focus on her time with Ike, the rest does seem a tad unremarkable in comparison. Nonetheless, the theatre totally comes to life with The Best, what a finale! Biggest omission from her discography is probably I Don’t Wanna Lose You - all the other favourites are there.
Run time was probably about 3 hours. First and foremost I would cut Shake Your Tailfeather and Disco Inferno immediately considering they aren’t Tina songs, do nothing to advance the plot, and are also performed somewhat unimaginatively. I would have also liked to see some more adventurous lighting - Tina’s breakdown following Proud Mary showed glimmers of this but the overall staging is very tourable. Like I referred to earlier, the structure is really hard to crack - do you want to make the storyline more engaging with Tina’s relationship to Ike and set the story in the 60s/70s or do you want to ensure that her big 80s hits are performed and sacrifice plot...
But this was most definitely the best jukebox musical I’ve seen and can imagine it running and running... and touring and touring! Four stars.
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Post by latefortheoverture on Mar 24, 2018 18:40:09 GMT
The more I think about it- the better it was! 100% returning when I can; I bloody loved it!
Just hope the reviews go in their favour- I fear it may not last long if it doesn't get a good write up! Which makes me so sad, although eben with poor reviews I think this show could do well!
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Post by HereForTheatre on Mar 24, 2018 18:58:49 GMT
Oh three hours? I'd struggle with that.
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Post by callum on Mar 24, 2018 19:16:44 GMT
Definitely needs to be more on the side of Act 1 1h15, interval, then 1h Act 2.
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Post by latefortheoverture on Mar 24, 2018 21:40:59 GMT
Well they still have 2ish more weeks before press night- so I do think they'll get it tightened up before that!
I have everything crossed that this gets good reviews!!!! I think it will considering all of the good press it already has!
Will be interesting to go back and see how it's changed
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Post by madsonmelo on Mar 25, 2018 1:32:55 GMT
I'm so stunned by those reports, and very very glad!
The Donna Summer musical will be opening soon on Broadway and the comments couldn't be more different than those for Tina Turner lol
Hope the Cher musical is also amazing.
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Post by lynette on Mar 25, 2018 12:43:39 GMT
Is there a special website to book tix for this like the Hamilton one? If so, what is it called ? And if not, which is the best way to get tix for this, not particularly reduced or offers. Ta
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Post by LaLuPone on Mar 25, 2018 13:04:51 GMT
Is there a special website to book tix for this like the Hamilton one? If so, what is it called ? And if not, which is the best way to get tix for this, not particularly reduced or offers. Ta tinathemusical.com
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Post by argon on Mar 25, 2018 21:09:21 GMT
What's the crack regarding Day Seats or Lottery on this?
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Post by Mark on Mar 25, 2018 21:11:33 GMT
What's the crack regarding Day Seats or Lottery on this? No policy
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Post by Steve on Mar 26, 2018 0:40:08 GMT
Wow. I was so emotional reading all of this. Thank you so much. Sooo much. I live in Brazil and I don't think I can afford a trip to London. So I'll have to live the entire musical in my mind. I was dying to see someone post a detailed description of the show. I think they did a master job with the song order and the dramatic focus for each song. I can imagine how beautiful it is. I'd like to ask about Tina and Erwin Bach (her longterm boyfriend, nowdays husband) relationship in the musical. I'm emotional reading your response, to a comment about a show you say you probably won't see. It's upset me very much, so I'll try and say a bit more about it. Some spoilers follow in this review of last Thursday's preview. . . One of the reasons that this show is so deep, and hits so hard, is Tina Turner's spirituality. The writer, Katori Hall, and director Phyllida Lloyd, open the show with a miasma of religious chanting, some of it Christian, some of it sounding pagan African, but most of it resolving in the Buddhist sutra "nam myo ho renge kyo," which chant is emblematic of Tina's lifelong quest to turn a life of total lemons into lemonade. So much lemons makes so much drama! The very first scene depicts parental abuse and violence against Tina's family members by Tina's family members. . . IN CHURCH. It's horrific, but it sets the scene for a life of a woman who finds no solace in her elders, or society, or the system, yet who makes peace from violence, makes love out of neglect, makes music out of pain. It's just the most inspiring rush of a show, in that it's titular character faces enormous challenges with endless resilience and grace. It's a rush because Phyllida Lloyd is a phenomenal director, and working with Katori Hall, she pick-n-mixes the songs of Tina Turner's career into just the right moments to tell emotional truths. But even before there are songs, there are chants that turn into songs, giving the very act of singing more weight than it would ordinarily carry. Lloyd infuses a drum beat into the early "beats" of the story, which beats give way to Turner's songs as you've never heard them before. One example: You've no doubt heard "Better Be Good To Me," no doubt experienced it's roaring demand for fair and loving treatment, but have you heard it sung by a Tony nominated singer such as the astonishing morphing Adrienne Warren, who draws desperate roars of need from the depths of her diaphragm and directs these arrows of emotion at the frozen-in-time form of Kobna Holdbrook-Smith's imposing and ferocious, yet powerful and ingratiating Ike, proposing marriage to her, caught in a spotlight, a staging that mimics that of a Shakespearean soliloquy? I hadn't heard a popular song that I know so well, so transformed by theatre as to be almost unrecognisable in it's ramped up ferocious power! Kobna Holdbrook-Smith's Ike Turner is the perfect antagonist for a show like this. The actor not only finds Ike's unpredictable rage and violence, but also his history, of having had to weave his wiles through a racist society to carve out his space, and like Shakespeare's Richard the Third, his desire to hold that space, no matter the cost. This would be great drama at any time in history, to see an unloved, unmonied black woman try to liberate herself from the control of this monster, and from the monstrous society that made him, but in this age of me-too rebellion against machismo and male manipulation, Ike becomes a lightning rod for everything that is happening right now in society, and Tina's past battle becomes the battle for every woman in the present who has silently screamed, like Howard Beale, "i'm not gonna take this anymore!" You can only imagine what the First Half show climactic song, "I Don't Want to Fight" is like, given the showdown prepared for by the setup, and I hope your excellent imagination one day gives way to being able to witness how this all plays out. Suffice to say, Ike does NOT appear enough in the Second Half of the show, and it's only when he does appear (he appears in Tina's dreams once, once in a message, but only once in person) that we feel the same electric dramatic frisson we felt in the first half. The show reaches desperately for all sorts of obstacles to put in Tina's way, whether it's her mothers' lack of love, the more calmly generous manipulations of new would-be svengalis, or the naked racism of a record exec, but truth be told, the show feels much more jukeboxy in the second half on account of Ike's general absence. You wanted to know about Erwin Bach. Well, he's the loveliest man, he's played by the gentle and sweet Gerard McCarthy, and he shows up in the second half to fall in love with Tina. But this is not really a show about a man, this is a show about the spirit, and the show's second half, for want of a villain, at least succeeds in showing a Tina who summons up that spirit, through Buddhist chanting, and through sheer talent, through indomitable will and the total surrender of will, to become someone truly admirable, inspirational and wonderful. And all that while while Adrienne Warren sings an absolute storm out of well-placed standards, leading up to a concert climax that is going to bring so much happiness to all who see the show (or imagine it). Not least amounts of happiness to those who feel that me-too madness with the male status quo, and recognise in Tina Turner, her music, her performance, her transformation, her triumphs, her wisdom, her humility and her spirituality, a pioneer, an example and an icon. This show has legs. 4 and a half stars (at second preview)!
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