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Post by anxiousoctopus on Jan 26, 2023 22:35:34 GMT
Completely agree. I haven't seen Gareth Gates in anything, but with Squidward you kind of need to have a character actor (so you have the physicality and voice, while also being a good dancer) and Gareth doesn't seem to have that vibe - he seems more like a leading man / secondary romantic lead. I hope it isn't just a random star-casting they're banking on for tickets rather than being accurate to the role. Gareth Gates is a star? I’d not heard of him but he has top billing on the website and marketing material, so I assumed it was me being oblivious
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Post by BurlyBeaR on Jan 26, 2023 22:43:07 GMT
Gareth made a surprisingly good Marius in the Les Mis 25 tour but his Willard in Footoose was somewhat lacking.
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Post by intoanewlife on Jan 27, 2023 16:20:24 GMT
Oh so he has done stuff before, I have not heard of him since X-Factor or Popstars or whatever he was on.
I'd say he is more a 'name' than a 'star'.
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Post by h86 on Jan 27, 2023 17:18:56 GMT
I think he played Warner in the legally blonde tour as well
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Post by alece10 on Jan 27, 2023 17:44:24 GMT
This from Wikipedia- he has done a fair bit of MT.
Joseph and His Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat. Joseph. West End 2009
Les Misérables international tour. Marius 2009/10
Les Misérables. Marius. West End 2010/11
Loserville. Eddie Arch. West Yorkshire Playhouse, Leeds 18 June – 14 July 2012
Legally Blonde UK Tour. 'Warner' At various venues from 17 July 2012 to September 2012
Sleeping Beauty. The Prince. Marlowe Theatre 30 November 2012 to 20 January 2013
Boogie Nights. Dean. UK tour January to April 2013
Footloose. Willard. UK tour January to October 2016
Jack and the Beanstalk. Jack. Hull New Theatre December 2022[48]
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Post by intoanewlife on Jan 27, 2023 18:30:07 GMT
This from Wikipedia- he has done a fair bit of MT. Joseph and His Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat. Joseph. West End 2009 Les Misérables international tour. Marius 2009/10 Les Misérables. Marius. West End 2010/11 Loserville. Eddie Arch. West Yorkshire Playhouse, Leeds 18 June – 14 July 2012 Legally Blonde UK Tour. 'Warner' At various venues from 17 July 2012 to September 2012 Sleeping Beauty. The Prince. Marlowe Theatre 30 November 2012 to 20 January 2013 Boogie Nights. Dean. UK tour January to April 2013 Footloose. Willard. UK tour January to October 2016 Jack and the Beanstalk. Jack. Hull New Theatre December 2022[48] That would explain it as I have not seen any of those shows lol
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Post by anxiousoctopus on Jan 28, 2023 1:00:42 GMT
I’m still thinking about Gareth Gates as Squidward, mainly about his ability to do the Not A Loser number.
Gavin Lee (the original Broadway performer) is an experienced tap dancer and has been doing it since he was a child, and even he said that it’s a very tiring number to do - especially with the additional legs. You need to get the other two feet attached to your back feet to make the tapping sounds (that’s why the number is so impressive in the first place!) It’s also meant to be Squidward’s big number, where he essentially becomes Fred Astaire so you need to have a very confident dancer with that theatrical suave flair.
Unless Gareth Gates is somehow already a tap dancer or they dumb down the choreography, I really can’t see someone picking it up that fast. And if you need to dumb it down, then why cast him? There are so many talented performers who have tap experience out there.
I hope I get proven wrong, but (and I know it’s dumb) but this number means a lot to me and I’m actually nervous that the number is going to be a non-tap dancer miming to a backing track.
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Post by annette on Jan 28, 2023 2:00:55 GMT
Having seen and absolutely loved the Broadway version of this show ( and I’d never seen the cartoon, I was dragged along by my husband who works in the animation industry and was curious to see how this TV show could work on stage), I genuinely can’t understand the casting of Gareth Gates. The role was played by Gavin Lee on Broadway, who is not only a phenomenal dancer but also great at playing comedy. Unless this role has been significantly altered, as far as I know Gareth Gates has never displayed either of these talents before.
As far as him being ‘a name’, I’d say that ship sailed quite a while ago.
Unless GG has been hiding extra talents under a bushel, there are just so many musical theatre actors who would have been great in this role. He is just such a weird choice for the part which is a great shame.
Divina de Campo ( an alumni of Ru Paul’s UK Drag Race) has just come off a Hedwig tour and is an interesting choice Choice for the role of Sheldon J Plankton. This character has a big rap and dance number in the show so it’ll be interesting to see if he can pull it off.
That said, I’m not sure I can bear to go and see it in case it’s a travesty of the magic Director Tina Lucas and designer David Zinn created in the original show. To be honest even with a great cast , I’m not sure how well a touring version will play to an English audience.
Age-wise it is a difficult show to categorise.I guess it’s a family show but not for those with very young children.
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Post by joni89 on Feb 6, 2023 17:15:16 GMT
Surprised to see the announcement re: Gareth Gates!
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Post by musiqualetheater on Feb 6, 2023 22:11:43 GMT
Maybe he can tap dance? Or maybe they’ll train him to. Stephen Ashfield played McKinley in Book of Mormon hadn’t tapped until they requested him to in the audition.
Alternatively, as it’s a new production, it’ll be reworked.
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Post by anxiousoctopus on Feb 6, 2023 22:33:49 GMT
Maybe he can tap dance? Or maybe they’ll train him to. Stephen Ashfield played McKinley in Book of Mormon hadn’t tapped until they requested him to in the audition. Alternatively, as it’s a new production, it’ll be reworked. Removing the tap routine from Not A Loser would be a huge disappointment - the song is meant to be a showstopping Bubsy-Berkeley-extravaganza fantasy that Squidward has when his self-esteem hits rock bottom (the broadway casting call for the character highlights how important it is for the performer to be a very confident tap dancer). That number is one of the things EVERYONE who saw the show wants to talk about (the fact that it’s not just a great dance number but he also does it with FOUR LEGS.)
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Post by bobbievanhusen on Feb 7, 2023 0:03:12 GMT
If you're going in expecting to see a copy of the Broadway show, you're going to be very disappointed.
What is weird about Gareth Gates getting top billing, is that he is only doing 8 stops out of the 17 currently booked in - Southampton, Birmingham, Oxford, Dublin, Belfast, Cardiff, Blackpool and Norwich.
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Post by joni89 on Feb 7, 2023 10:22:27 GMT
If you're going in expecting to see a copy of the Broadway show, you're going to be very disappointed. What is weird about Gareth Gates getting top billing, is that he is only doing 8 stops out of the 17 currently booked in - Southampton, Birmingham, Oxford, Dublin, Belfast, Cardiff, Blackpool and Norwich. That is interesting. I think that he should do all dates. 17 dates isn’t a huge number.
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Post by Being Alive on Feb 7, 2023 13:18:58 GMT
It's also worth noting this is being produced by Selladoor...if you're expecting anything other than cardboard sets, you're gonna be very disappointed.
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Post by anxiousoctopus on Mar 16, 2023 11:17:22 GMT
The casting for this show continues to baffle me
He apparently has musical theatre experience but I can’t really see anything online outside of hosting gigs. His claim to fame is currently ‘The receptionist on Celebs Go Dating’
The role of Squidward isnt as intensive as others (he comes on and off and does relatively quick scenes) but he needs a good character actor and has a BIG 11 oclock number, so it’s still so strange for them to pick him to stunt cast.
Also I notice they haven’t mentioned who is covering him at the Southbank Centre yet
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Post by robertb213 on Mar 16, 2023 13:54:19 GMT
I saw him in panto a few years ago as the villain, he was alright.
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Post by alece10 on Mar 16, 2023 15:28:58 GMT
My heart sank when I saw this as I quite fancied seeing the musical, but when I read the details I see he isn't doing London. Phew! I'm still mentally traumatised from when he hosted WOS a few years ago.
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Post by anxiousoctopus on Mar 16, 2023 16:42:06 GMT
My heart sank when I saw this as I quite fancied seeing the musical, but when I read the details I see he isn't doing London. Phew! I'm still mentally traumatised from when he hosted WOS a few years ago. I’m holding it a vague hope that they’ll get someone good for London, but at this rate it’ll be Danny Dyer!
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Post by BurlyBeaR on Mar 16, 2023 17:07:17 GMT
I’ve booked for this, possibly against my better judgment! Not selling well in Manc so far.
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Post by benny20 on Mar 16, 2023 22:05:10 GMT
I’ve booked for this, possibly against my better judgment! Not selling well in Manc so far. It'll be fun....
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Post by danb on Mar 16, 2023 22:15:27 GMT
£15 offer for Cardiff.
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Post by drowseychap on Mar 17, 2023 1:54:44 GMT
I got £15 offer in Birmingham today never seen it before or greats any songs but in a moment of weakness booked it
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Post by sam22 on Mar 19, 2023 12:47:31 GMT
I got £15 offer in Birmingham today never seen it before or greats any songs but in a moment of weakness booked it Where did you see the offer please? Thanks!
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Post by drowseychap on Mar 19, 2023 23:24:16 GMT
I got £15 offer in Birmingham today never seen it before or greats any songs but in a moment of weakness booked it Where did you see the offer please? Thanks! Was via a site called show film first try Travelzoo also
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Post by anxiousoctopus on Mar 21, 2023 16:49:56 GMT
The livestream from the Theatre Cafe confirms my previous suspicions: Patrick, Sandy and SpongeBob are perfectly cast, they’re amazing vocally and in their acting through song. Divina De Campo as Plankton sounds great, I’m sure she’ll be a blast.
Gareth Gates is massively miscast. Not A Loser is Squidward’s only solo number and it really doesn’t suit him. You don’t need to be vocally impressive for the song (and he didn’t really sell the big belting moment after the end), it’s essentially an existential crisis in the form of a song so it’s sold on how you deliver the lines (it gets laughs at the start if you do it right), but because he doesn’t really do any acting in the song the double/triple/quadruple negatives in the lyrics get lost and you have no emotional connection to him
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Post by fiyero on Apr 3, 2023 16:25:00 GMT
Just had this:
Dear Fiyero
We regret to inform you that due to injury Gareth Gates will not be performing in The SpongeBob Musical.
We are excited to have Tom Read Wilson (Celebs Go Dating, Cat in the Hat) stepping into Squidward's tentacles in his stead.
We look forward to seeing you soon.
Kind regards,
Mayflower Theatre
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Post by evilmat360 on Apr 3, 2023 16:38:52 GMT
Just had this: Dear Fiyero We regret to inform you that due to injury Gareth Gates will not be performing in The SpongeBob Musical. We are excited to have Tom Read Wilson (Celebs Go Dating, Cat in the Hat) stepping into Squidward's tentacles in his stead. We look forward to seeing you soon. Kind regards, Mayflower Theatre They've tweeted it out too,
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Post by anxiousoctopus on Apr 3, 2023 17:52:26 GMT
Just had this: Dear Fiyero We regret to inform you that due to injury Gareth Gates will not be performing in The SpongeBob Musical. We are excited to have Tom Read Wilson (Celebs Go Dating, Cat in the Hat) stepping into Squidward's tentacles in his stead. We look forward to seeing you soon. Kind regards, Mayflower Theatre They've tweeted it out too,
I really hope he's okay and makes a quick recovery - but it also doesn't surprise me. He mentioned in an interview a few days ago that they have kept the extra legs from the Broadway production, and from the rehearsal footage it doesn't look like they had them until the tech. So it doesn't surprise me that getting a completely beginner tap dancer to be able to both walk in, operate and tap dance in an extra pair of heavy mannequin legs within a week before performance has resulted in an injury.
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Post by BurlyBeaR on Apr 4, 2023 9:40:26 GMT
I wonder what happened with that £1.7m injury claim Ben Forster made for the Elf situation ?
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Post by benny20 on Apr 4, 2023 13:40:30 GMT
Every cloud.....
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