Taboo 20th Anniversary Concert - Palladium

No worries, you didn’t upset me - I only mentioned it because people had been asking for spoilers to be used earlier in the thread, I thought better to catch it early given they’d asked. Apologies for the excessive exclamation marks.

Wonder if there was anyone different in it last night from Sunday. Sunday was fantastic though. We were sat near the front on Row E of the stalls a few rows in front of Phillip Salon, though hadn't realised it was him until he stood up after being introduced. The score really stands up and here's hoping for a new production.

I wasn't aware of any celebrities in the audience last night - certainly nobody pointing, requesting selfies or autographs which is usually the sign. It was a near sellout which given the short notice of a second night was a big achievement by Adam and his team. Great concert especially once Boy George took the stage at the beginning of act two...

Some thoughts from Marilyn... it does feel a little shady that he wasn't even informed it was happening, let alone invited, considering how big a part of the story is and how much the micky is taken out of him!

This was my first time seeing the show. Took my brother who is a big fan of George, and a bit of an oracle on the whole period.

I’d love to hear the thoughts of people who have seen the show multiple times. I think there’s a good show in there, but right now it’s a bit all over the place. I did wonder if the renovated Playhouse could be an interesting venue to stage an immersive, rejigged show. That would assume that Taboo becomes much more about Leigh, George and the club and the scene, and that we lose most of the Josie and Kim storylines. Attitudes have changed so much in the past 20 years, those stories felt shoehorned in to me, there to give the show broader appeal. I’d love to see a much tighter focus on the scene.

On thing that confused me was the whole ‘Spartacus’ thing. I’m assuming it’s because Billy is an invented character, but it seemed odd to not have Trojan in the show, and then use the term Spartacus. It just seemed like really poor writing choices. Although, I guess Taboo was never famed for having a strong book.

I must be looking in all the wrong places but would someone be kind enough to link/post the cast and song lists please ta

So do we think two sold out charity nights has generated enough interest  to get this on tour as George suggested in his speech?

It might get a bit of traction if they renamed it ‘Taboo-The Boy George & Culture Club’ musical.

The show is so much more than a Boy George show.

The emotional core lies with Kim, Josie, Sue and Philip. Yes George gets Stranger in this World but that doesn't land with the same punch as Il Adore or Petrified.

Leigh is arguably a more prominent character than George - certainly more interesting.

I much prefer the UK versions of the piece rather than the Broadway reworking and would want to preserve as much of the original as possible.

I think it is a show you can enjoy without knowing that it is based on real people. The score is good enough to take you on the journey

As far as I can remember the Broadway version doesn’t feature Billy at all? It is all about George. Or if Billy did feature it wasn’t as the main character at all. Also there’s no Kim.

To be honest I think this show would do better now than it did 10 and 20 years ago. As George said on Sunday it really was ahead of its time. It would work perfectly in somewhere like The Other Palace.