|
|
Post by eggemann on Nov 6, 2022 19:56:51 GMT
Suprised about the upset of a female casting for Charlie. I don’t recall gender being particularly relevant or driving in the character or their motives.
Also find it odd as in the musical, the other children have had much wilder changes in character against the original book and nobody seemed to be upset. Violet went from being always played white, and in the book a tomboy, she’s now portrayed as African-American and a social media influencer and it wasn’t accused of “box ticking” from what I recall.
|
|
6,285 posts
Member is Online
|
Post by Jon on Nov 7, 2022 14:15:06 GMT
Suprised about the upset of a female casting for Charlie. I don’t recall gender being particularly relevant or driving in the character or their motives. Also find it odd as in the musical, the other children have had much wilder changes in character against the original book and nobody seemed to be upset. Violet went from being always played white, and in the book a tomboy, she’s now portrayed as African-American and a social media influencer and it wasn’t accused of “box ticking” from what I recall. The Violet casting isn't box ticking, it's just updating the character to be relevant to modern audiences, Mike Teavee doesn't solely watch TV anymore, he plays computer games. |
|
594 posts
|
Post by og on Nov 17, 2022 12:11:34 GMT
Been watching the Playhouse website for the last week for any decent seat returns popping up for the first few shows.
20 minutes go a few pop up for Tomorow and Saturday night, get them into a basket to buy, continue and they disappear and now both Friday and Saturday are appearing as off sale.
Not sure what's going on, trying to phone but no-ones picking up yet, id assume I'm in a queue with others in the same situation...
|
|
594 posts
|
Post by og on Nov 17, 2022 12:21:40 GMT
Website updated to say it's running 21st Nov onwards.
Maybe its not ready and they've cut a few performances.
|
|
594 posts
|
Post by og on Nov 17, 2022 14:37:22 GMT
Confirmed. Friday & Saturday performances cancelled.
|
|
196 posts
|
Post by benny20 on Nov 17, 2022 14:45:33 GMT
Not a lift problem again....??
|
|
594 posts
|
Post by og on Nov 17, 2022 15:19:55 GMT
Haha, can you imagine!
"Covid in the cast meant tech rehearsals were behind" I'm told.
|
|
594 posts
|
Post by og on Nov 21, 2022 18:57:15 GMT
|
|
2,733 posts
|
Post by ceebee on Nov 21, 2022 19:47:32 GMT
Thank you!! Please review!! |
|
594 posts
|
Post by og on Nov 21, 2022 20:26:41 GMT
First night of previews.
Interval.
Act one 1hr5min.
They’ve brought it back to the London edition from many of the changes made for broadway; with a few of the newer songs remaining like You and I and Candyman.
A lot of new underscoring and orchestrations that underwhelm me. Most of it feels like change for changes sake. Similarly Queen of Pop v2, like a lot of the new material, fails to hit. Most of the big reactions are to the original unchanged west end songs.
The TV/News theme has changed for the worse and lacks the punch of the original.
First scene in the bucket house drags; 3 slow “I want” type songs. It needs a snappier start, by the end of what feels like 15mins in the house we’re ready for change.
Nice set and production value that is functional and effective.‘Accessible’ direction with the bucket family is a nice touch.
Im a hardcore original score fan, so some of the changes aren’t ticking the box for me, it probably all works for those unfamiliar with the west end production.
20min interval.
Oh; some here will be disappointed to read that the basic format is unchanged. Act 1 is the hunt for chocolate, Act 2 inside the factory.
|
|
594 posts
|
Post by og on Nov 21, 2022 20:34:43 GMT
Whilst there’s time til act2 curtain up.
Girl playing Charlie tonight. All references to Charlie are as “he/him” so it’s a girl playing a boy, not a change of characters sex.
If you were annoyed that a girl would be playing Charlie, wait til you find out she’s wearing a rainbow cardigan! 🤣
She’s doing a great job!
|
|
2,733 posts
|
Post by ceebee on Nov 21, 2022 21:56:01 GMT
Whilst there’s time til act2 curtain up. Girl playing Charlie tonight. All references to Charlie are as “he/him” so it’s a girl playing a boy, not a change of characters sex. If you were annoyed that a girl would be playing Charlie, wait til you find out she’s wearing a rainbow cardigan! 🤣 She’s doing a great job! Charlie and the Technicolor Dreamcardi. Surely nobody would be daft enough to write such a random musical... |
|
594 posts
|
Post by og on Nov 21, 2022 21:58:27 GMT
Act 2 1hr10min.
Clearly the more rehearsed half.
Some outstanding moments of visual theatre, including some real wow moments. Money has been spent here. I won’t spoil themed by giving them away, feel they work best when you don’t know what’s coming.
Truer to the original in form, the changes here work for the most part too.
The Great Glass elevator scene was almost wonderful.
It’s workings on show from its appearance but becomes seamless by the end of the scene (bizarrely) it feels like this scene would play out better if staged inversely.
Snook makes for a great Willy Wonka.
Charlie is adorable, the other ‘kids’ work well (and so thankful the Russian Salts are English again).
Plenty of fat to trim and screws to tighten but there’s a really wonderful show in the making here.
What lets it down (in my humble opinion) is the overly electronic orchestration, thin programmed drums and a lot of track with a weird mix of heavy live keys overlayed. This could even out in the mix as the days pass.
|
|
2,733 posts
|
Post by ceebee on Nov 21, 2022 22:01:46 GMT
Act 2 1hr10min. Clearly the more rehearsed half. Some outstanding moments of visual theatre, including some real wow moments. Money has been spent here. I won’t spoil themed by giving them away, feel they work best when you don’t know what’s coming. Truer to the original in form, the changes here work for the most part too. The Great Glass elevator scene was almost wonderful. It’s workings on show from its appearance but becomes seamless by the end of the scene (bizarrely) it feels like this scene would play out better if staged inversely. Snook makes for a great Willy Wonka. Charlie is adorable, the other ‘kids’ work well (and so thankful the Russian Salts are English again). Plenty of fat to trim and screws to tighten but there’s a really wonderful show in the making here. What lets it down (in my humble opinion) is the overly electronic orchestration, thin programmed drums and a lot of track with a weird mix of heavy live keys overlayed. This could even out in the mix as the days pass. Thank you so much og for this detailed review. I'm so excited to see this show again and it's good to hear that it's closer to the original London version! |
|
6,285 posts
Member is Online
|
Post by Jon on Nov 21, 2022 22:05:32 GMT
It sounds like an amalgamation of both the West End and Broadway production.
|
|
5,268 posts
|
Post by mrbarnaby on Nov 21, 2022 22:10:36 GMT
The fact it’s a girl.. playing a boy and they refer to her as he/him.. that’s just weird. Would have been better to just say Charlie is a girl.
|
|
594 posts
|
Post by og on Nov 21, 2022 23:17:26 GMT
The fact it’s a girl.. playing a boy and they refer to her as he/him.. that’s just weird. Would have been better to just say Charlie is a girl. I mean we buy into two people getting into a flying glass box, so some suspension of disbelief is allowed. |
|
594 posts
|
Post by og on Nov 21, 2022 23:39:16 GMT
More thoughts, in spoiler form. {Spoiler}
It feels like the revisions to the score are to make the show more standalone from the original movie again.
Willy Wonka/Willy Wonka and Golden Ticket bloated and unnecessary have gone.
Almost Nearly Perfect is back
Candy Man - Not Wonka's song anymore; works.
If Your Mother/Father Was Here - gone
Doncha Pinch me Charlie - back
It Must Be Believed to be Seen - has been butchered and mashed up into some weird new hodge-podge of two very different songs.
Juicy is gone - replaced by 'Dont Want What You Got Now' as heard in the promo vid. I preferred Juicy. Sharper song and more memorable.
-
We don't see Wonka at all until the end of Act One. He is however brought into the show in a scene strangely reminiscent of The Phantom of the Opera (ironically - with Wonka played by Gareth Snook). It's a shame that the sub-plot of Wonka having a little influence in Charlie's journey prior to coming into the factory is gone; granted it didn't need to be as literal as him running a candy shop ala Broadway but some little hint of it may have been nice.
-
Cut the cabbage soup! We don't need a 60 second segment of 6 people (Grandparents, Charlie and mum) miming eating soup. The show completely stalled because of this.
-
The Glass Elevator flies, but its flown in whilst the stage is brightly lit so all the mechanics are visible and clear. Strangely by the end of the scene the stage is dark except starlight and the elevator, which appears to fly unaided. A real shame they staged the scene this way, as they missed the opportunity for a very big magical moment, flying the elevator up in darkness.
-
If Sam Mendes sees this, he will be kicking himself about the way some the scenes work visually. With the technology accessible now it's a different playing field to what he wanted vs what he achieved. |
|
|
|
Post by samjwallop on Nov 22, 2022 14:47:20 GMT
More thoughts, in spoiler form. {Spoiler}
It feels like the revisions to the score are to make the show more standalone from the original movie again.
Willy Wonka/Willy Wonka and Golden Ticket bloated and unnecessary have gone.
Almost Nearly Perfect is back
Candy Man - Not Wonka's song anymore; works.
If Your Mother/Father Was Here - gone
Doncha Pinch me Charlie - back
It Must Be Believed to be Seen - has been butchered and mashed up into some weird new hodge-podge of two very different songs.
Juicy is gone - replaced by 'Dont Want What You Got Now' as heard in the promo vid. I preferred Juicy. Sharper song and more memorable.
-
We don't see Wonka at all until the end of Act One. He is however brought into the show in a scene strangely reminiscent of The Phantom of the Opera (ironically - with Wonka played by Gareth Snook). It's a shame that the sub-plot of Wonka having a little influence in Charlie's journey prior to coming into the factory is gone; granted it didn't need to be as literal as him running a candy shop ala Broadway but some little hint of it may have been nice.
-
Cut the cabbage soup! We don't need a 60 second segment of 6 people (Grandparents, Charlie and mum) miming eating soup. The show completely stalled because of this.
-
The Glass Elevator flies, but its flown in whilst the stage is brightly lit so all the mechanics are visible and clear. Strangely by the end of the scene the stage is dark except starlight and the elevator, which appears to fly unaided. A real shame they staged the scene this way, as they missed the opportunity for a very big magical moment, flying the elevator up in darkness.
-
If Sam Mendes sees this, he will be kicking himself about the way some the scenes work visually. With the technology accessible now it's a different playing field to what he wanted vs what he achieved. Man it really sounds like the show's making a turn for the better in balancing the film and making its own thing. {Spoiler - click to view}If there's no "If Your Mother/Father Were Here" then what's in place of that? (1) Also it's a real shame knowing they messed up It Must Be Believed to Be Seen. That was one of, if not THE strongest standalone song.(2)
Candyman also being sung by someone who's not Wonka really sounds like a turn for the better though. I ideally imagined this to be THE Wonka exposition song if there was dialogue sprinkled between.
|
|
594 posts
|
Post by og on Nov 22, 2022 14:55:39 GMT
More thoughts, in spoiler form. {Spoiler}It feels like the revisions to the score are to make the show more standalone from the original movie again.
Willy Wonka/Willy Wonka and Golden Ticket bloated and unnecessary have gone.
Almost Nearly Perfect is back
Candy Man - Not Wonka's song anymore; works.
If Your Mother/Father Was Here - gone
Doncha Pinch me Charlie - back
It Must Be Believed to be Seen - has been butchered and mashed up into some weird new hodge-podge of two very different songs.
Juicy is gone - replaced by 'Dont Want What You Got Now' as heard in the promo vid. I preferred Juicy. Sharper song and more memorable.
-
We don't see Wonka at all until the end of Act One. He is however brought into the show in a scene strangely reminiscent of The Phantom of the Opera (ironically - with Wonka played by Gareth Snook). It's a shame that the sub-plot of Wonka having a little influence in Charlie's journey prior to coming into the factory is gone; granted it didn't need to be as literal as him running a candy shop ala Broadway but some little hint of it may have been nice.
-
Cut the cabbage soup! We don't need a 60 second segment of 6 people (Grandparents, Charlie and mum) miming eating soup. The show completely stalled because of this.
-
The Glass Elevator flies, but its flown in whilst the stage is brightly lit so all the mechanics are visible and clear. Strangely by the end of the scene the stage is dark except starlight and the elevator, which appears to fly unaided. A real shame they staged the scene this way, as they missed the opportunity for a very big magical moment, flying the elevator up in darkness.
-
If Sam Mendes sees this, he will be kicking himself about the way some the scenes work visually. With the technology accessible now it's a different playing field to what he wanted vs what he achieved. Man it really sounds like the show's making a turn for the better in balancing the film and making its own thing. {Spoiler - click to view}
If there's no "If Your Mother/Father Were Here" then what's in place of that? (1) Also it's a real shame knowing they messed up It Must Be Believed to Be Seen. That was one of, if not THE strongest standalone song.(2)
Candyman also being sung by someone who's not Wonka really sounds like a turn for the better though. I ideally imagined this to be THE Wonka exposition song if there was dialogue sprinkled between. 1. Candy Man {Spoiler - click to view}
After Charlie leaves the house a little dejected and down, Charlies Mum, whilst flicking through his notebook of inventions, sings 'Candy Man' in place of 'If your Father Was Here'. It really works the way they develop it from a small intricate moment of reflection into something bigger.
Candy Man also has a reprise in Act 2. 2. If Must Be Believed to be Seen {Spoiler - click to view}I suspect they might rework this. The staging was a little underwhelming (with some really obvious bad rolling out of a red carpet etc) Wonka basically wandering round in circles up and down the red carpet.
I suspect it's been overlooked whilst other parts are ironed out for opening night.
Granted, where the original song did come it seemed to punch bigger than London, which was good. |
|
|
|
Post by samjwallop on Nov 24, 2022 14:28:33 GMT
Man it really sounds like the show's making a turn for the better in balancing the film and making its own thing. {Spoiler - click to view}
If there's no "If Your Mother/Father Were Here" then what's in place of that? (1) Also it's a real shame knowing they messed up It Must Be Believed to Be Seen. That was one of, if not THE strongest standalone song.(2)
Candyman also being sung by someone who's not Wonka really sounds like a turn for the better though. I ideally imagined this to be THE Wonka exposition song if there was dialogue sprinkled between. 1. Candy Man {Spoiler - click to view}
After Charlie leaves the house a little dejected and down, Charlies Mum, whilst flicking through his notebook of inventions, sings 'Candy Man' in place of 'If your Father Was Here'. It really works the way they develop it from a small intricate moment of reflection into something bigger.
Candy Man also has a reprise in Act 2. 2. If Must Be Believed to be Seen {Spoiler - click to view}I suspect they might rework this. The staging was a little underwhelming (with some really obvious bad rolling out of a red carpet etc) Wonka basically wandering round in circles up and down the red carpet.
I suspect it's been overlooked whilst other parts are ironed out for opening night.
Granted, where the original song did come it seemed to punch bigger than London, which was good. That sounds super interesting! I hope at least the full version of Believed to Be Seen is intact though despite the hodgepodge, much like how Grandpa Joe was put in between Pure Imagination in the Broadway version. Speaking of which, is that song still in the Chocolate Room scene? |
|
594 posts
|
Post by og on Nov 24, 2022 19:17:17 GMT
1. Candy Man {Spoiler - click to view}
After Charlie leaves the house a little dejected and down, Charlies Mum, whilst flicking through his notebook of inventions, sings 'Candy Man' in place of 'If your Father Was Here'. It really works the way they develop it from a small intricate moment of reflection into something bigger.
Candy Man also has a reprise in Act 2. 2. If Must Be Believed to be Seen {Spoiler - click to view}I suspect they might rework this. The staging was a little underwhelming (with some really obvious bad rolling out of a red carpet etc) Wonka basically wandering round in circles up and down the red carpet.
I suspect it's been overlooked whilst other parts are ironed out for opening night.
Granted, where the original song did come it seemed to punch bigger than London, which was good. That sounds super interesting! I hope at least {Spoiler - click to view}
the full version of Believed to Be Seen is intact though despite the hodgepodge, much like how Grandpa Joe was put in between Pure Imagination in the Broadway version. Speaking of which, is that song still in the Chocolate Room scene? Believed to Be Seen {Spoiler - click to view}
It's almost full. Goes New intro, into "Beyond this door's a factory, begat from just a bean..." into new verse thing, into the rest of IMBBTBS. It felt like two separate songs squeezed together and wasn't particularly cohesive, so maybe they'll change it. Pure Imagination {Spoiler - click to view}
Pure Imagine is in the transition into the chocolate room. It's quite a spectacular scene and got a great reaction from the audience. |
|
256 posts
|
Post by theatrenerd on Nov 25, 2022 14:28:45 GMT
|
|
|
|
Post by theatrelegofan87 on Nov 25, 2022 14:37:28 GMT
From my POv this is a woke production. They even have a slim augustus gloop as to not offend anybody. So now we are marginalising children actors 🤣.
This world! Ughh its bonkers
|
|
|
|
Post by hadeswasking on Nov 25, 2022 14:48:36 GMT
From my POv this is a woke production. They even have a slim augustus gloop as to not offend anybody. So now we are marginalising children actors 🤣. This world! Ughh its bonkers Lol who hurt you? |
|
1,078 posts
Member is Online
|
Post by theatrefan62 on Nov 25, 2022 14:50:15 GMT
Production pics don't inspire me to book, especially as it's the same price as The Lion King at my local theatre
|
|
|
|
Post by theatrelegofan87 on Nov 25, 2022 14:55:24 GMT
Nobody but come on… this is now discrimination against plus size child actors lol.
Everything is soo da*n complicated in the industry now
|
|
|
|
Post by cezbear on Nov 25, 2022 15:24:46 GMT
Could they not just... pad the actor out a bit?
|
|
|
|
Post by hades on Nov 25, 2022 15:36:07 GMT
Agreed they should've cast a plus size actor for Augustus, but would hardly call this a 'woke' production...
|
|
4,950 posts
|
Post by TallPaul on Nov 25, 2022 15:41:26 GMT
Isn't it only the Charlies who are real children, and the other 'children' are actually adults?
|
|
