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Post by Mark on Jun 9, 2022 22:56:30 GMT
It's almost parody at this point. Aah, but this is ACTUALLY an immersive version like their previous Shakespeare productions.
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Post by marob on Jun 9, 2022 23:08:41 GMT
Hmmm, I’d rather it be staged normally tbh. I didn’t mind Julius Caesar, but the novelty had worn off for me by A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Being constantly yelled at to move is not exactly fun.
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Post by oxfordsimon on Jun 9, 2022 23:14:09 GMT
Will everyone be expected to sit down lest they cause the ship to capsize?
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Post by Being Alive on Jun 9, 2022 23:26:21 GMT
It's almost parody at this point. Aah, but this is ACTUALLY an immersive version like their previous Shakespeare productions. Exactly this. Their Shakespeare productions ARE immersive, so THISLL be great - and actually is what they're advertising.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 10, 2022 0:13:01 GMT
Is immersive now code for rip off pricing?
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Post by Dr Tom on Jun 10, 2022 0:40:36 GMT
Love the music. Immersive sounds terrifying. Are we mingling with the band?
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Post by mattnyc on Jun 10, 2022 1:19:16 GMT
This probably only means immersive for the stalls, right? Everyone upstairs can just sit and watch?
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Post by BurlyBeaR on Jun 10, 2022 5:28:12 GMT
I don’t want to “party with the cast”. I just want to sit and watch it 😕
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Post by Deleted on Jun 10, 2022 6:45:04 GMT
I bet It just means they’ll transform it into the Hot Box Club.
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Post by theoracle on Jun 10, 2022 7:59:38 GMT
Is immersive now code for rip off pricing? No, in the article - the 400 people who will get to move around in the show will have the cheapest tickets. The people sitting down will probably be paying most.
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Post by anthony40 on Jun 10, 2022 8:06:17 GMT
This is exciting stuff!
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Post by BurlyBeaR on Jun 10, 2022 8:20:46 GMT
So how have they done this sort of thing in the past at The Bridge? Do they take the stalls seats out and extend the stage out with areas for people to stand?
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Post by Someone in a tree on Jun 10, 2022 8:29:14 GMT
So how have they done this sort of thing in the past at The Bridge? Do they take the stalls seats out and extend the stage out with areas for people to stand? I think the stalls are gutted and full of prommers but you can sit on the upper levels. I could be wrong but I sense you get a very different perspective from sitting and standing. I love promenade productions - Bridewell's Sweeney Todd was one of the best things ever. I've got scottish opera's Candide coming up this summer 😀
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Post by jgblunners on Jun 10, 2022 9:31:22 GMT
So how have they done this sort of thing in the past at The Bridge? Do they take the stalls seats out and extend the stage out with areas for people to stand? I think the stalls are gutted and full of prommers but you can sit on the upper levels. I could be wrong but I sense you get a very different perspective from sitting and standing. This is exactly true - if you find promo footage for their productions of Julius Caesar or A Midsummer Night's Dream you can see how the entire stalls are ripped out and turned into a level area, where people stand and are able to move around. The upper levels are extended to wrap (almost) all the way around and are still regular seating. Whether the 'immersive' area will in fact have club style seating in this production (for the Hot Box club) I don't know - I don't expect it to but there's always a possibility!
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Post by bordeaux on Jun 10, 2022 9:49:06 GMT
On till early September, that's five and a half months. Can't blame them - they probably need the money after the difficult time all theatres have had. I was pleased to see that the David Hare I saw on Wednesday was 95% full, though. A theatre that size can't survive on new writing alone. I wonder how well The Southbury Child is selling.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 10, 2022 10:03:18 GMT
Is immersive now code for rip off pricing? No, in the article - the 400 people who will get to move around in the show will have the cheapest tickets. The people sitting down will probably be paying most. So cheap seats don’t exist anymore you have cheap walking tickets 😂
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Post by oxfordsimon on Jun 10, 2022 10:14:45 GMT
You can't make it the Hot Box club as that is only really home to a couple of numbers.
The mission hall is more central
But the streets of New York are vital. As is the trip to the Sewers and the trip to Havana.
So you have to have a very flexible stage to accommodate all the different settings
Which means immersive is likely to involve a lot of projection and furniture shifting.
Much as I love the score, this doesn't sound like the right plan for the piece
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Post by Someone in a tree on Jun 10, 2022 11:08:12 GMT
Much as I love the score, this doesn't sound like the right plan for the piece
- I quite agree. I'm not sure if there is that much of a journey or the need for crowd scenes to justify the promenade aspect. Off thr top of my head, Into the woods, Candide and Superstar all seem more suitable to this approach.
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Post by BurlyBeaR on Jun 10, 2022 12:08:00 GMT
You can't make it the Hot Box club as that is only really home to a couple of numbers. The mission hall is more central But the streets of New York are vital. As is the trip to the Sewers and the trip to Havana. So you have to have a very flexible stage to accommodate all the different settings Which means immersive is likely to involve a lot of projection and furniture shifting. Much as I love the score, this doesn't sound like the right plan for the piece Maybe different stages with different sets connected by runways? Standing crowd turns and directs their attention to whichever one the action is taking place on?
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Post by Dawnstar on Jun 10, 2022 12:16:08 GMT
I think the stalls are gutted and full of prommers but you can sit on the upper levels. I could be wrong but I sense you get a very different perspective from sitting and standing. This is exactly true - if you find promo footage for their productions of Julius Caesar or A Midsummer Night's Dream you can see how the entire stalls are ripped out and turned into a level area, where people stand and are able to move around. The upper levels are extended to wrap (almost) all the way around and are still regular seating. Whether the 'immersive' area will in fact have club style seating in this production (for the Hot Box club) I don't know - I don't expect it to but there's always a possibility! Does that mean that if you have a seat you're going to be looking not only at the cast but also at several hundred audience members milling around? I think I'd find that pretty detrimental to concentrating on the show.
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Post by anthony40 on Jun 10, 2022 12:21:58 GMT
Similar to Here Lies Love at the National a couple of years beck at The Dorfman, I think where they had three or four 'floating' stages that they moved around throughout the show and the standing members of the audience move around accordingly.
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Post by jgblunners on Jun 10, 2022 12:22:40 GMT
This is exactly true - if you find promo footage for their productions of Julius Caesar or A Midsummer Night's Dream you can see how the entire stalls are ripped out and turned into a level area, where people stand and are able to move around. The upper levels are extended to wrap (almost) all the way around and are still regular seating. Whether the 'immersive' area will in fact have club style seating in this production (for the Hot Box club) I don't know - I don't expect it to but there's always a possibility! Does that mean that if you have a seat you're going to be looking not only at the cast but also at several hundred audience members milling around? I think I'd find that pretty detrimental to concentrating on the show. In the previous 'immersive' productions at the Bridge all of the performance has occured on raised platforms within the standing area, so it's fairly easy to focus. It's not like the actors are getting lost in the middle of the crowds.
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Post by oxfordsimon on Jun 10, 2022 12:31:56 GMT
You can't make it the Hot Box club as that is only really home to a couple of numbers. The mission hall is more central But the streets of New York are vital. As is the trip to the Sewers and the trip to Havana. So you have to have a very flexible stage to accommodate all the different settings Which means immersive is likely to involve a lot of projection and furniture shifting. Much as I love the score, this doesn't sound like the right plan for the piece Maybe different stages with different sets connected by runways? Standing crowd turns and directs their attention to whichever one the action is taking place on? If you are going to do the big scale company numbers, you need a lot of space for the dancing and chorus which seems incompatible with a series of smaller stages and runways. It is far easier to reimagine a Shakespeare piece in an immersive way because they were never conceived to be performed with lots of scenery. And interaction or at least close engagement with the audience is part of how the plays were intended to be received. A big book musical like G&D really doesn't fit that model. I know Hytner can be very creative. But I just remain unconvinced by the virtue of taking this sort of approach
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Post by Being Alive on Jun 10, 2022 12:33:01 GMT
Bunny Christie's sets for the promenade Shakespeares have been minimal but effective - I think this will work really well.
If they've managed it before with minimal set at the Royal Exchange, I'm sure itll be fine.
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Post by Dawnstar on Jun 10, 2022 12:56:57 GMT
Does that mean that if you have a seat you're going to be looking not only at the cast but also at several hundred audience members milling around? I think I'd find that pretty detrimental to concentrating on the show. In the previous 'immersive' productions at the Bridge all of the performance has occured on raised platforms within the standing area, so it's fairly easy to focus. It's not like the actors are getting lost in the middle of the crowds. Thanks. I guess I'll wait for the casting & see if there are enough people in the cast that I want to see to overcome my wariness about the production style.
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Post by digne on Jun 10, 2022 17:21:39 GMT
Those news made my day today - the Bridge's immersive Julius Caesar and Midsummer Night's Dream are among my favourite theatre memories! I'm really excited they're trying that concept with musicals now. I can see Guys & Dolls working well in that setup and atmosphere, especially with the musicians also being a part of it. (Also I've never been shouted at and I've seen both shows twice - when an actor or helper gently nudges you, you just move out of the way. I was usually standing right at the front of a platform where the crowd is thickest, and even there you can make space for the actors because generally everyone else in the audience is aware that actors need to get through now and then, so when you try to move to make way for an actor, your neighbours will allow you do so. I have, in fact, always been impressed with their crowd maneuvering, and I've seen the immersive shows in early previews as well as later in the run. Just make sure to wear comfy shoes if you're getting a promenade ticket.)
Also for those wondering about the immersive aspect/the stage, the trailers for their former immersive shows show the platforms that raise out of the ground. If you have a promenade ticket, you gather around the platforms and move from one to the other as the actors and action moves. If you have a seated ticket, you have a pretty normal view at the actors above the crowd:
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Post by Latecomer on Jun 10, 2022 18:41:43 GMT
I sat in lowest seats around the edge of the area for Midsummer Nights Dream and the view was splendid. Also saw Julius Caesar from the floor, as it were, and that was fab too. They were both imaginative dynamic performances and the space has been deliberately designed to be flexible, from the very start, so lots of sets arriving and disappearing like a choreographed piece, but didn’t seem intrusive. I think this will probably be splendid. I expect they will also get some starry casting!
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Post by lynette on Jun 10, 2022 22:01:15 GMT
In the previous 'immersive' productions at the Bridge all of the performance has occured on raised platforms within the standing area, so it's fairly easy to focus. It's not like the actors are getting lost in the middle of the crowds. Thanks. I guess I'll wait for the casting & see if there are enough people in the cast that I want to see to overcome my wariness about the production style. Dawnstar, it worked a treat for previous shows. I would go for this one. Has pedigree as it were…
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Post by Dawnstar on Jun 10, 2022 22:07:19 GMT
Thanks. I guess I'll wait for the casting & see if there are enough people in the cast that I want to see to overcome my wariness about the production style. Dawnstar, it worked a treat for previous shows. I would go for this one. Has pedigree as it were… I would be waiting for the cast announcement no matter what the production style, as I have a rooted objection to booking anything without knowing the cast, so not actually doing anything different to my normal booking habit.
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Post by showtoones on Jun 11, 2022 6:31:55 GMT
No, in the article - the 400 people who will get to move around in the show will have the cheapest tickets. The people sitting down will probably be paying most. So cheap seats don’t exist anymore you have cheap walking tickets 😂 This seems to be how “Here Lies Love” worked at the National. I’ll be sitting…thank you very much 😜
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