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Post by JJShaw on Apr 8, 2023 18:23:05 GMT
Caught this earlier this week, full principal cast. Was familiar with the broadway cast recording and as much as im not a fan of Jeremy Jordan (blasphemy!) you can really feel his leading presence through it and our Jack Kelly just did not have the presence or vocals necessary to lead this show (his last note on Santa Fe though was gorgeous, but he seemed to struggle with a lot of lower notes and while you could tell he was a very nice guy, he didnt have the charisma needed to lead a strike. Perhaps an off performance?)
Bronte was nice and fabulous blonde wig on her! Of course the choreography is the star of the show, I do wish that it wasnt at 100 all the time as sometimes it didnt match with the music to be going all out, and you need those ebbs and flows so the peaks of choreography really pop! It was very cute at the end of the show to bring out their Olivier award and leave it in the centre of the stage, it is a very deserved award. Shaky first zip line, very clean and impressive zip line. Could have done with a little less mugging from the newsboys (and were there news girls back in the day? not that it has to be completely accurate but having Brooklyn who are the big weight behind them be all girls felt a little forced representation?) but the audience seemed to love all of that, plenty of woo girls in, and despite my personal preferences they are all talented and working hard so the audience enthusiasm is warranted, its a very fun show!
I loved the set and use of space, the lighting, things flying in from above and the sides it felt like a big production and im surprised that it maybe didnt pick up a set design nom at the oliviers as it was very impressive and i really liked it.
Didnt clock until watching the amount of reprises and reusing of melodies, towards the end of act 2 it almost felt comical how you knew after every song there would be a reprise and then another variation of it 20 mins later. But they're all great melodies..!
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Post by Dr Tom on Apr 8, 2023 20:45:31 GMT
I put my lottery voucher to good use towards a Friday evening day seat. Still as good as ever and even managed to get a day seat in Flushing (third row, which is the furthest back I've sat, but perfectly in line with the stage). They did have some principals missing and some odd split tracks, but it all worked. Sold out, as best I could tell.
No zip wire, which looked odd.
There was a family with two small boys right in front, although the boys got rather bored during the first half, cheering up only when both of them ended up with papers, which they looked up, but got rather ripped up in the process. They were much calmer in the second half as both were asleep on one parent or another. I'd guess they didn't get day seat rates, so probably paid about £80 each for a ticket, so some rather expensive naps.
On the subject of papers, thanks to George Michaelides for a perfectly aimed newspaper, even though my catching ability (or lack of) meant it was swiftly grabbed by the guy to my left. Speaking of George, such a talented guy and I still can't believe he's only 19. Sad that he's leaving, but at least I'll get to see him in Grease.
(I wasn't the only person with poor catching skills, one of my favourite ensemble members was having rather an off night, but thankfully he didn't drop Mukeni at the end)
I may get back before cast change.
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Post by marob on Apr 10, 2023 8:30:19 GMT
I saw this yesterday. It’s a spectacular show, should be an easy 5 star rating, but I just feel it was lacking something.
What happens with the ziplines? There was some stuff with them being raised on wires, but didn't notice any ziplinevyesterday. Show was half an hour late starting, so maybe that's why.
Had a bit of a pain getting there as the tube wasn’t running to Wembley Park. Had a two-show day booked, this at 1.00 and Eugenius at 6.00, so should have had plenty of time between them, but only got to the Turbine with about 10 minutes to spare.
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Post by mkmg on Apr 10, 2023 8:41:47 GMT
I saw this yesterday. It’s a spectacular show, should be an easy 5 star rating, but I just feel it was lacking something. What happens with the ziplines? There was some stuff with them being raised on wires, but didn't notice any ziplinevyesterday. Show was half an hour late starting, so maybe that's why. Had a bit of a pain getting there as the tube wasn’t running to Wembley Park. Had a two-show day booked, this at 1.00 and Eugenius at 6.00, so should have had plenty of time between them, but only got to the Turbine with about 10 minutes to spare. Half of the ensemble were missing yesterday therefore a lot of them were splitting 3/4 tracks each. Jordan Issac was playing both the Delancy brothers, Ike and Finch for example. They didn’t have a lot of time to rework the show so that’s probably why it started late and a few things were missing.
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Post by mrnutz on Apr 14, 2023 18:38:49 GMT
How many are leaving this weekend?
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Post by Dr Tom on Apr 16, 2023 9:41:31 GMT
Decided to visit both matinees this weekend. Yesterday I was in the third row of The Bronx, today I'll be in the second row of Flushing. The Saturday matinee was rather busy, today looks slightly quieter but the good seats are almost all taken. I'm glad I was there at the matinee as Wembley looked like it was getting rather busy in the evening with people heading to a metal concert.
The zip line at the start, I thought they'd have to send someone with a ladder to retrieve poor Matt when he got stuck part way down, but he did make it in the end!
They were a bit short of people yesterday, particularly the female ensemble, but everything looked good. The online cast board wasn't very accurate though, claiming falsely that Damon Gould was there.
I did get to tick off a fifth (and likely final as he's leaving today to join Mrs Doubtfire) Zack track off my list, as he was on as Oscar. Alex James-Hatton, in his final weekend, was upgraded to Snyder. Alex is always excellent and I regret that I didn't get to see any of his rare appearances as Davey. Kamilla Fernandes was on as Medda (and very good too).
The cast were having a lot of fun, but not to muck-up levels. I don't remember the break dancing spot being in the show before!
Being in The Bronx, I did get Jack Bromage swinging towards me. Today in Flushing, I should get George Michaelides. Not that you can ever lose with any of the cast.
It was the final performance for Oliver Gordon (Les) and they made a big deal of it for him, pushing him to the front and carrying him around, which was sweet.
It's a shame I can't be there for the evening performance, where there are still seats available, but I'm already booked for the Palladium.
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Post by alece10 on Apr 16, 2023 10:09:09 GMT
Anyone else going to the 5.30pm show today? This was meant to be the final show before they extended but will still be special as some of the cast leave today.
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Post by Dr Tom on Apr 16, 2023 15:11:51 GMT
Fab muckup matinee with all the swings on (either by luck or design), Zack as Ike, all the people leaving getting their solo spots in. To be honest, I didn’t catch a lot of the muckups from my angle, but I could hear a lot of regulars talking about them. Enthusiastic audience too, and I was impressed by whoever managed to throw a news bag and land it on George’s head!
At the end, rather than a newspaper, they left the Olivier Award on the centre of the stage.
Hope everyone there tonight enjoys! I’m sure there won’t be a dry eye on stage.
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Post by alece10 on Apr 16, 2023 18:07:50 GMT
Well this is fun. 2 standing ovations already and that was just in Act 1.
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Post by alece10 on Apr 16, 2023 21:32:38 GMT
Great evening. Amazing audience, on par with the first preview audience. Lots of "Fanzies" in, I bet stage door will be insane afterwards. The cast members leaving all did an extra bow at the end (shame the stage lighting went dark as couldn't really see them taking their bow). Lovely gesture with putting the Olivier centre stage at the end. They are obviously very proud in winning this well deserved award. I was in the front row so got a paper which I gave away to a young girl as I managed to get one last time.
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Post by westendfan2 on Apr 17, 2023 16:50:49 GMT
Just trying to figure out if George Crawford is an alternate jack Kelly or just 1st cover. He seems to been on for Jack very consistently on Thursday Matinees recently. Didn’t know if it was just a coincidence or an actual alternate thing
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Post by hadeswasking on Apr 17, 2023 16:52:25 GMT
Just trying to figure out if George Crawford is an alternate jack Kelly or just 1st cover. He seems to been on for Jack very consistently on Thursday Matinees recently. Didn’t know if it was just a coincidence or an actual alternate thing From my understanding, he is scheduled to do every Thursday mat.
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Post by Dr Tom on Apr 23, 2023 17:48:43 GMT
There was a very good flash ticket sale, so I did book a few extra performances, including both this weekend's matinees. Wembley with football on is quite an experience. The theatre security were having a tough job only letting people with tickets in (rather than football fans looking for access to a bar).
To put all fears aside, this is still an excellent show post cast change. Too many people covering different roles this weekend to really name, but I suspect there's illness going around. Forbes Masson (the new Joseph Pulitzer) is very different to his predecessor, much more speech signing in style, but perhaps he had a cold.
Rory Shafford, who had taken over Elmer for a while, is now back working through the swing roles, of which I believe he debuted three of them this past weekend. He did get to be Henry today, so got to travel on the zip wire (which I'm sure they could sell tickets to fans to try out for extra revenue - that, and the slide too).
We got some nice extra dancing from Mukeni and Jack at the end of Saturday's show, which is always appreciated.
Arcangelo did his best to sell me a paper today. Next time. How could I say no to that smile?
They didn't seem that short of cast today, but there were only four light fittings in place for the swinging and they didn't get raised for spinning at the end, which was odd. Maybe crew shortages.
The highlight today was seeing Matt Trevorrow's debut as Jack Kelly. What else could be said other than describing Matt as the most adorable Jack Kelly ever? Even where he had to make some quick line changes, they still all made sense. To paraphrase something Matt announced on stage yesterday, "he's famous". Hope I get to see him again. Lots of well deserved applause and cheering for Matt at the end, including from everyone on stage.
I shall be back there on Thursday evening.
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Post by margoc on Apr 23, 2023 20:03:54 GMT
I really hope it gets a transfer!!
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Post by Being Alive on Apr 23, 2023 20:28:03 GMT
I really hope it gets a transfer!! ...where?
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Post by danb on Apr 23, 2023 20:35:06 GMT
It’d look great in The Roundhouse.
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Post by alece10 on Apr 23, 2023 20:38:19 GMT
There was a very good flash ticket sale, so I did book a few extra performances, including both this weekend's matinees. Wembley with football on is quite an experience. The theatre security were having a tough job only letting people with tickets in (rather than football fans looking for access to a bar). To put all fears aside, this is still an excellent show post cast change. Too many people covering different roles this weekend to really name, but I suspect there's illness going around. Forbes Masson (the new Joseph Pulitzer) is very different to his predecessor, much more speech signing in style, but perhaps he had a cold. Rory Shafford, who had taken over Elmer for a while, is now back working through the swing roles, of which I believe he debuted three of them this past weekend. He did get to be Henry today, so got to travel on the zip wire (which I'm sure they could sell tickets to fans to try out for extra revenue - that, and the slide too). We got some nice extra dancing from Mukeni and Jack at the end of Saturday's show, which is always appreciated. Arcangelo did his best to sell me a paper today. Next time. How could I say no to that smile? They didn't seem that short of cast today, but there were only four light fittings in place for the swinging and they didn't get raised for spinning at the end, which was odd. Maybe crew shortages. The highlight today was seeing Matt Trevorrow's debut as Jack Kelly. What else could be said other than describing Matt as the most adorable Jack Kelly ever? Even where he had to make some quick line changes, they still all made sense. To paraphrase something Matt announced on stage yesterday, "he's famous". Hope I get to see him again. Lots of well deserved applause and cheering for Matt at the end, including from everyone on stage. I shall be back there on Thursday evening. I'd quite like to see someone else in the role of Jack Kelly as I have only ever seen Michael and would be nice to see a different interpretation of the role. I'd also like to know if Matt is from Cornwall as his surname is very Cornish.
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Post by Jon on Apr 23, 2023 21:33:12 GMT
It’d look great in The Roundhouse. The Roundhouse is nowhere near as flexible as the Troubadour plus they're booked up with concerts for the rest of 2023.
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Post by danb on Apr 24, 2023 4:38:48 GMT
It’d look great in The Roundhouse. The Roundhouse is nowhere near as flexible as the Troubadour plus they're booked up with concerts for the rest of 2023. I said it would ‘look’ great. Nothing else.
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Post by mrnutz on May 1, 2023 8:44:19 GMT
WHY OH WHY DOES THIS VENUE SELL NOISY, EXTRA RUSTLY BAGS OF CRISPS??!!
Started 25 mins late for the 17.30 performance on Sunday eve - "technical issues" meant the auditorium doors weren't opened until about 17.50 resulting in quite a squeeze around the rest of the building.
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Post by Dr Tom on May 1, 2023 10:24:06 GMT
WHY OH WHY DOES THIS VENUE SELL NOISY, EXTRA RUSTLY BAGS OF CRISPS??!! Funny you should say that. I was there for the matinee and the woman with a bag of posh popcorn was irritating me (that, and the people behind translating for their children, although they did get the message in the end - I tolerated the ice rattle). The matinee was largely on time, but they have had a few role covers this week. No shows this coming week, so they may have chance to get everyone back up to speed. Otherwise, no real insights to add to my previous visits. The speakers around the stage cause a few problems. I was there earlier in the week and not only watched several audience members walk into them, but Rory too (who continues to move seamlessly from cover to cover). They always manage to pick a really talented Romeo as well, and fantastic to have Spencer swinging right over me. Third time I've seen Bobbie Chambers as Katherine as well and she really makes the role her own. Do catch her if you can. I'm booked in for reopening night.
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Post by alece10 on May 1, 2023 13:12:22 GMT
WHY OH WHY DOES THIS VENUE SELL NOISY, EXTRA RUSTLY BAGS OF CRISPS??!! Funny you should say that. I was there for the matinee and the woman with a bag of posh popcorn was irritating me (that, and the people behind translating for their children, although they did get the message in the end - I tolerated the ice rattle). The matinee was largely on time, but they have had a few role covers this week. No shows this coming week, so they may have chance to get everyone back up to speed. Otherwise, no real insights to add to my previous visits. The speakers around the stage cause a few problems. I was there earlier in the week and not only watched several audience members walk into them, but Rory too (who continues to move seamlessly from cover to cover). They always manage to pick a really talented Romeo as well, and fantastic to have Spencer swinging right over me. Third time I've seen Bobbie Chambers as Katherine as well and she really makes the role her own. Do catch her if you can. I'm booked in for reopening night. Reopening night?
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Post by Dr Tom on May 1, 2023 15:40:13 GMT
A slightly jokey description as there are no performances now until Wednesday 10 May. Then they have another break at the end of June.
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Post by Jon on May 1, 2023 16:23:01 GMT
It's unusual for a show to take a hiatus but I wonder if it's end being cheaper to have everyone go on holiday at the same time.
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Post by alece10 on May 1, 2023 16:56:05 GMT
A slightly jokey description as there are no performances now until Wednesday 10 May. Then they have another break at the end of June. Thanks. Didn't know that. Makes sense as one or two of the cast I follow on IG have posted pics of them going in holiday.
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Post by fiyerorocher on May 18, 2023 9:43:37 GMT
Are there any offers going around for this for June?
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Post by mrnutz on May 18, 2023 9:59:37 GMT
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Post by Being Alive on May 18, 2023 10:38:23 GMT
Saw it again last night and there were massive chunks of empty seats throughout the theatre, especially up in Manhattan and the sections near the stage. This is the case every show
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Post by fiyerorocher on May 18, 2023 12:53:30 GMT
Amazing, thank you so much!
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