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Post by sph on Dec 9, 2021 23:09:14 GMT
I mean, to each their own and all, but Sutton Foster is one of my favourite actors I have ever seen on stage. Her performance in Anything Goes was a perfect example of how to do musical comedy. Added to that, she wasn't really a huge name with London (or British in general) audiences beforehand, yet she arrived every night like a star and commanded the stage. By the time the curtain came down everyone in that audience knew she was the real deal.
I feel from having seen the show however, that perhaps the audiences who saw Anything Goes are not necessarily the "online voting" type, and that perhaps the younger generation who DID see the show are still suspicious of her as a result of her attempted "cancellation" earlier this year.
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Post by interval99 on Dec 26, 2021 20:00:45 GMT
Was looking forward to seeing this on TV boxing day and had been recommending it to others but this is falling absolutely flat, not sure anyone other than Haydn Oakley has come across very well, Hopefully will improve but this is very disappointing filming.
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Post by danielwhit on Dec 26, 2021 20:08:34 GMT
Yeah, it's not flying as well as I thought it would - can't really place why.
Audience seems to be very quiet in the mix. Might well be the idea but I don't think it's helping the atmosphere carry across.
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Post by alicechallice on Dec 26, 2021 20:15:49 GMT
Oh I’m enjoying it immensely! And quite grateful the audience isn’t too intrusive.
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Post by alece10 on Dec 26, 2021 20:29:24 GMT
I'm really enjoying it and thought it was filmed really well. Some great camera work. Would be nice to show the audience a bit. Maybe at the end?
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Post by oxfordsimon on Dec 26, 2021 21:12:08 GMT
I enjoy much of the music from the score. But the book is just painful. I know this is the rewrite of a rewrite of a rewrite of an original that had been reworked. But it still doesn't work as a plot.
It was an entertaining enough romp and in the theatre you would forgive the clunky dialogue a little more easily. But it didn't work on screen for me.
And sorry to say that the Hope did not have the right voice for the score. She always felt ill at ease with the music to me.
I came away rather deflated I am sorry to say.
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Post by emmy on Dec 26, 2021 21:16:14 GMT
I still adore the filmed version, but do agree it comes across as weaker than live. The sound mix isn’t quite right, particularly in the first half an hour or so, so you don’t really get the audience reaction to the jokes or interaction with the cast. The nature of film/ close ups etc means it’s harder to avoid or draw your focus away from the one or, to slightly less of an extent, two weaker cast members, plus some of the costumes look a bit cheap on film. Sutton Foster, Robert Lindsay and Haydn Oakley are as fabulous as ever though and I’m so pleased it’s recorded.
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Post by londonpostie on Dec 26, 2021 23:10:07 GMT
Ouf. If ever I needed a reminder of why live performance is so special ..
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Post by karloscar on Dec 27, 2021 10:44:55 GMT
It was an enjoyable way to spend Boxing Day, some of it fell a little flat, but it's always been a piece of fluff held together by a few big numbers. I was left wondering why Cole Porter never came up with a decent ending to Buddy Beware," if to come home you fail, I'll open all your mail" is a huge anticlimax to a song that was building nicely. Considering it was originally meant for Reno, you'd think he'd have found something funnier to end it.
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Post by lonlad on Dec 27, 2021 12:08:56 GMT
Yes, it felt very parched onscreen whereas it was a total joy live. I watched it with neighbours who were very keen to love it, as I had live, but I could tell they didn't: no sense of occasion or atmosphere.
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Post by scarpia on Dec 27, 2021 12:56:40 GMT
It's a real shame the show didn't translate well but I'm glad it's been preserved for posterity. But what was sparkling and joyful at the Barbican comes across as flat and lifeless here. A show like this probably wouldn't fare well in any kind of recording of this kind. So much of the joy of seeing it live was the rapport with the audience (e.g. in numbers like 'Friendship'), which no recording is going to be able to capture. Funnily enough I think the shows that would translate well are those that haven't been recorded, such as Wicked and the original Phantom and Sunset, which are directed cinematically and don't rely so much on audience rapport given they're not musical comedies.
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Post by inthenose on Dec 27, 2021 13:24:58 GMT
Just to echo the consensus. While I did still enjoy it, I didn't love it. Live, it was one of the best things I've ever seen, this recording just felt very flat. Great to have it recorded forever though!
Oh and Nicole-Lily Baisden is really, really bad. I don't remember her being *that* awful live either.
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Post by BurlyBeaR on Dec 27, 2021 13:27:07 GMT
I watched Gypsy on Netflix the other day and the difference is notable as to how successfully they translate.
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Post by properjob on Dec 27, 2021 13:58:23 GMT
I only caught a small amount of it on the TV between other things but it didn't work for me as well as it did when I saw it in the cinema. Maybe it needs the big screen to work as it is a spectacle rather than an intimate show.
It is course best live by the cinema felt much closer to it than the same recording on the TV.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 27, 2021 14:07:37 GMT
The filmed version felt exactly like it did in the theatre on the day i saw it. I know I'm in the minority, buts thats how flat i thought the show, and Sutton, were.
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Post by interval99 on Dec 27, 2021 14:10:26 GMT
It does seem they did just film it without any plans to cover the lighting sound or performance tweaks which would be needed to make it work on film.
We have been getting use to high quality recordings of recent musicals with kinky boots, an American in paris, and the wonderful version of 42nd street which makes this film even more jarring and disappointing in its failure to capture the joy and buzz the show had.
A quick search on YouTube will give us a wealth of clips and songs even from the original Broadway production which caught the mood of the show better.
Had several emails pushing bookings for the tour and Barbican return so will be interesting to see if it does give a boost, certainly none of the people I recommended it to seem in a hurry to see it live.
Have to pin hopes that the Kipp's musical on Wednesday works on film
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Post by shambles on Dec 27, 2021 14:14:43 GMT
The filmed version felt exactly like it did in the theatre on the day i saw it. I know I'm in the minority, buts thats how flat i thought the show, and Sutton, were. Yeah I never caught the show live, but here, apart from the title song, I couldn't see the appeal of wanting to do so. It's just a whole lot of just decent songs performed very well, but you could watch any other dance show if that's what needed. Sutton Foster is very (and multi) talented, but in terms of acting, the show itself doesn't ask her to do anything but smile wide.
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Post by ThereWillBeSun on Dec 27, 2021 14:15:00 GMT
Just to echo the consensus. While I did still enjoy it, I didn't love it. Live, it was one of the best things I've ever seen, this recording just felt very flat. Great to have it recorded forever though! Oh and Nicole-Lily Baisden is really, really bad. I don't remember her being *that* awful live either. I remember them not wowing me both times in person, this was a reminder of that. Hope is a bit of a wimpy character, hard to do anything or feel sorry for her character story (no reflection of the performer) - however vocally very weak...
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Post by mkb on Dec 27, 2021 14:27:40 GMT
Those who felt this fell flat, how are you watching?
With lights dimmed, no interruptions, sat within 3m of a 65-inch HD screen, and sound cranked right up through seven full-range THX speakers and two huge THX sub-woofers, this is not as good as it was live, but it runs a good second.
Audience sounded pretty good on the surrounds too.
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Post by londonpostie on Dec 27, 2021 14:59:16 GMT
It does seem they did just film it without any plans to cover the lighting sound or performance tweaks which would be needed to make it work on film. We have been getting use to high quality recordings of recent musicals with kinky boots, an American in paris, and the wonderful version of 42nd street which makes this film even more jarring and disappointing in its failure to capture the joy and buzz the show had. A quick search on YouTube will give us a wealth of clips and songs even from the original Broadway production which caught the mood of the show better.
It's not something I know anything about but I was slightly reminded of the BBC's style at Glastonbury, but without the regular panning of audience involvement. They do have a dedicated 'outside broadcast unit' which does Glasto, and all the sports events, and they can throw resources at this kind of thing. AG was also different to the few other theatrical works I've seen on a screen in that it's large scale and eveything else has had a small cast - Uncle Vanya, Tennessee Williams, etc.
Certainly interesting to ponder ...
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Post by justsaying113 on Dec 28, 2021 13:25:25 GMT
I caught a little of this. I'm sure it was much better in the theatre (or indeed on a cinema screen) but I thought it was pretty poor. I know some people love SF - and I can see she's an extremely talented lady - but to me she's not right. Reno Sweeney is supposed to be brash, loud and a tad common (a la LuPone and Paige). The dance numbers, though, were terrific and it's clearly a tonic in these times so I wish the tour and return to The Barbican all the best for successful and healthy runs.
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Post by og on Dec 28, 2021 14:48:45 GMT
It does seem they did just film it without any plans to cover the lighting sound or performance tweaks which would be needed to make it work on film. We have been getting use to high quality recordings of recent musicals with kinky boots, an American in paris, and the wonderful version of 42nd street which makes this film even more jarring and disappointing in its failure to capture the joy and buzz the show had. A quick search on YouTube will give us a wealth of clips and songs even from the original Broadway production which caught the mood of the show better.
It's not something I know anything about but I was slightly reminded of the BBC's style at Glastonbury, but without the regular panning of audience involvement. They do have a dedicated 'outside broadcast unit' which does Glasto, and all the sports events, and they can throw resources at this kind of thing. AG was also different to the few other theatrical works I've seen on a screen in that it's large scale and eveything else has had a small cast - Uncle Vanya, Tennessee Williams, etc.
Certainly interesting to ponder ...
Interesting because this has been produced by Stage2View - who incidentally produced the films of Kinky Boot, American in Paris, 42st etc. Same screen Director also - Ross McGibbon. This is no way associated or produced by the OB teams involved in Glastonbury or "all of sporting events" (most of which aren't even BBC productions these days as they're outsourced through Arena, CTV, Timeline etc.) BBC just paid for the rights as is most of what they do these days for anything Arts, significantly cheaper to commission than produce.
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Post by og on Dec 28, 2021 15:09:47 GMT
A quick scan through on iPlayer and I don't think this is comparable to Glastonbury footage in anyway; it's cut considerably slower for a start and much more stationary.
There's a distinct choice been made to keep the entire production shot quite tight. Even the widest shots of the full stage cut off the top of the prosc. There's no establishing shot of the theatre and no audience, no musicians shown either.
I suspect this is a conscious choice due to covid and not wanting to show an audience in masks for posterity/future value, however without establishing the environment of the performance they've effectively left it open to interpretation and feels like an empty performance with audience reactions inserted in.
Due to covid production guidelines I suspect it's quite possible they filmed this on a closed performance and then took an audience track mix from a following performance, hence the lack of auditorium views and a tighter visual.
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Post by alece10 on Dec 28, 2021 15:37:19 GMT
A quick scan through on iPlayer and I don't think this is comparable to Glastonbury footage in anyway; it's cut considerably slower for a start and much more stationary. There's a distinct choice been made to keep the entire production shot quite tight. Even the widest shots of the full stage cut off the top of the prosc. There's no establishing shot of the theatre and no audience, no musicians shown either. I suspect this is a conscious choice due to covid and not wanting to show an audience in masks for posterity/future value, however without establishing the environment of the performance they've effectively left it open to interpretation and feels like an empty performance with audience reactions inserted in. Due to covid production guidelines I suspect it's quite possible they filmed this on a closed performance and then took an audience track mix from a following performance, hence the lack of auditorium views and a tighter visual. You do see a tiny bit of the audience at the very end when they are taking bows and you can clearly see the first row at least standing to ovate. I also remember other board members commentating about cameras in the auditorium on the nights it was being filmed. But good point about not wanting to show audience with masks for posterity.
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Post by mrbarnaby on Dec 28, 2021 15:38:18 GMT
A quick scan through on iPlayer and I don't think this is comparable to Glastonbury footage in anyway; it's cut considerably slower for a start and much more stationary. There's a distinct choice been made to keep the entire production shot quite tight. Even the widest shots of the full stage cut off the top of the prosc. There's no establishing shot of the theatre and no audience, no musicians shown either. I suspect this is a conscious choice due to covid and not wanting to show an audience in masks for posterity/future value, however without establishing the environment of the performance they've effectively left it open to interpretation and feels like an empty performance with audience reactions inserted in. Due to covid production guidelines I suspect it's quite possible they filmed this on a closed performance and then took an audience track mix from a following performance, hence the lack of auditorium views and a tighter visual. They didn’t. It was filmed over 3 performances with full audiences. It’s a shame that they didn’t feature more. It made it all feel a bit dead IMO.
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Post by danielwhit on Dec 28, 2021 15:44:12 GMT
They must have also done recordings of some songs outside of regular performances too, else that crane in front of the stage would have totally wound the audiences up.
Interestingly I found those shots the most distracting. Probably as you couldn't ever see the show from such a strangely moving angle.
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Post by sph on Dec 28, 2021 18:03:22 GMT
It would be kind of interesting if they showed the audience more, masked and all, as future generations would probably enjoy the trivia that the production took place during the "Great Pandemic" of the 2020s. But anyway...
Maybe there are no audience shots as they'd come under criticism for not enough of the audience being masked at all, since the habit tends to be for people to take them off as soon as they sit down.
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Post by danielwhit on Dec 28, 2021 19:01:47 GMT
Dunno, the performance I attended was very well masked up.
To be honest though I don't think shots of the audience would have made any difference here, if they did that we'd be sat here complaining about seeing the audience rather than what's happening on stage!
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Post by lolalou on Dec 29, 2021 0:58:18 GMT
Just to echo the consensus. While I did still enjoy it, I didn't love it. Live, it was one of the best things I've ever seen, this recording just felt very flat. Great to have it recorded forever though! Oh and Nicole-Lily Baisden is really, really bad. I don't remember her being *that* awful live either. I remember them not wowing me both times in person, this was a reminder of that. Hope is a bit of a wimpy character, hard to do anything or feel sorry for her character story (no reflection of the performer) - however vocally very weak... Agreed She really did seem to struggle with some of the songs.
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Post by bimse on Dec 29, 2021 9:24:11 GMT
A very talented cast, (with one who seemed out of her depth as mentioned in the previous post) and the “character” of Reno didn’t come across for me, I expected a Megan Mullally broad type, instead she was like a clever, knowing observer. Having said that , the song and dance numbers were terrific , and Sutton Foster was fantastic in those . Carly Mercedes Dyer was a revelation , the best performer for me, with great comic timing. I didn’t get the point of the Blow, Gabriel, Blow number , obviously I missed something in the plot ? It would be better on stage rather than the tv showing (I missed the cinema due to snow and illness) , the broad farcical comedy didn’t always hit the mark , and just looked frantic at times . Great cast , beautiful costumes and set, I wouldn’t want to see the show again.
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