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Post by blamerobots on Apr 27, 2024 23:23:13 GMT
Grace wasn’t on tonight. It didn’t bother me as I didn’t really like her performance in Sunset. Happy to have seen this show but won’t be going back anytime soon. I struggled to hear what some cast members were saying/singing as their pronunciation was off. I’ve no issue at all with accents but I want to know what they are saying. If I hear “La La La La” one more time I think I’ll rip my ears off Totally understandable, I can't stand the Epic leitmotif and the quite unimaginative 'La's. Seems like a holdover for how long the development of this show has been.
I think Grace missing so many shows is a massive let-down, but at the same time it's a challenging sing. I wonder how much of it is preserving her voice for an upcoming job of hers.
I like the accents, but I admit if you told me that a production was gonna make a decision like that maybe a year ago, before this opened, I'd be way more sceptic. It's an American show.
Where did you sit? Whilst the accents can make some words sound wildly different (Donal has some issue enunciating when he's belting high, but who wouldn't), there's definitely some gaps in the sound system at the Lyric that they've yet to improve/patch up. When I sat on the far right of the Grand Circle, it was like audio mud. I could barely make out some lyrics.
I thought that the sound system was changed/upgraded for Thriller Live, but that's an assumption.
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Post by Matt on Apr 28, 2024 6:54:17 GMT
Grace wasn’t on tonight. It didn’t bother me as I didn’t really like her performance in Sunset. Happy to have seen this show but won’t be going back anytime soon. I struggled to hear what some cast members were saying/singing as their pronunciation was off. I’ve no issue at all with accents but I want to know what they are saying. If I hear “La La La La” one more time I think I’ll rip my ears off Totally understandable, I can't stand the Epic leitmotif and the quite unimaginative 'La's. Seems like a holdover for how long the development of this show has been.
I think Grace missing so many shows is a massive let-down, but at the same time it's a challenging sing. I wonder how much of it is preserving her voice for an upcoming job of hers.
I like the accents, but I admit if you told me that a production was gonna make a decision like that maybe a year ago, before this opened, I'd be way more sceptic. It's an American show.
Where did you sit? Whilst the accents can make some words sound wildly different (Donal has some issue enunciating when he's belting high, but who wouldn't), there's definitely some gaps in the sound system at the Lyric that they've yet to improve/patch up. When I sat on the far right of the Grand Circle, it was like audio mud. I could barely make out some lyrics.
I thought that the sound system was changed/upgraded for Thriller Live, but that's an assumption.
Pretty sure Grace had the week booked off as holiday.
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Post by dollybm on Apr 28, 2024 7:42:41 GMT
Yes this week has been a scheduled holiday for Grace.
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Post by theatremiss on Apr 28, 2024 14:33:20 GMT
Grace wasn’t on tonight. It didn’t bother me as I didn’t really like her performance in Sunset. Happy to have seen this show but won’t be going back anytime soon. I struggled to hear what some cast members were saying/singing as their pronunciation was off. I’ve no issue at all with accents but I want to know what they are saying. If I hear “La La La La” one more time I think I’ll rip my ears off Totally understandable, I can't stand the Epic leitmotif and the quite unimaginative 'La's. Seems like a holdover for how long the development of this show has been.
I think Grace missing so many shows is a massive let-down, but at the same time it's a challenging sing. I wonder how much of it is preserving her voice for an upcoming job of hers.
I like the accents, but I admit if you told me that a production was gonna make a decision like that maybe a year ago, before this opened, I'd be way more sceptic. It's an American show.
Where did you sit? Whilst the accents can make some words sound wildly different (Donal has some issue enunciating when he's belting high, but who wouldn't), there's definitely some gaps in the sound system at the Lyric that they've yet to improve/patch up. When I sat on the far right of the Grand Circle, it was like audio mud. I could barely make out some lyrics.
I thought that the sound system was changed/upgraded for Thriller Live, but that's an assumption.
I was sat row C of the stalls. Hermes was almost impossible to understand at times. I get the strong Caribbean accent but I didn’t understand a lot of what she was saying as she didn’t finish off words. Also too much expecting the audience to clap at every opportunity, even pausing for it which was grinding my gears a lot. They could have cut a good 10 mins off the show if they’d just got on with it. I know most people love this, but I didn’t, but I didn’t hate it.
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Post by blamerobots on Apr 28, 2024 14:53:43 GMT
Totally understandable, I can't stand the Epic leitmotif and the quite unimaginative 'La's. Seems like a holdover for how long the development of this show has been.
I think Grace missing so many shows is a massive let-down, but at the same time it's a challenging sing. I wonder how much of it is preserving her voice for an upcoming job of hers.
I like the accents, but I admit if you told me that a production was gonna make a decision like that maybe a year ago, before this opened, I'd be way more sceptic. It's an American show.
Where did you sit? Whilst the accents can make some words sound wildly different (Donal has some issue enunciating when he's belting high, but who wouldn't), there's definitely some gaps in the sound system at the Lyric that they've yet to improve/patch up. When I sat on the far right of the Grand Circle, it was like audio mud. I could barely make out some lyrics.
I thought that the sound system was changed/upgraded for Thriller Live, but that's an assumption.
I was sat row C of the stalls. Hermes was almost impossible to understand at times. I get the strong Caribbean accent but I didn’t understand a lot of what she was saying as she didn’t finish off words. Also too much expecting the audience to clap at every opportunity, even pausing for it which was grinding my gears a lot. They could have cut a good 10 mins off the show if they’d just got on with it. I know most people love this, but I didn’t, but I didn’t hate it. Mmhm, I dislike the practice of wringing out claps. It was worse at the National; they paused at the end of the first Wait for Me to get some extra claps then stopped again after the small outro bit.
Row C!? Definitely not a sound issue then!
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Post by theatremiss on Apr 28, 2024 15:06:40 GMT
I was sat row C of the stalls. Hermes was almost impossible to understand at times. I get the strong Caribbean accent but I didn’t understand a lot of what she was saying as she didn’t finish off words. Also too much expecting the audience to clap at every opportunity, even pausing for it which was grinding my gears a lot. They could have cut a good 10 mins off the show if they’d just got on with it. I know most people love this, but I didn’t, but I didn’t hate it. Mmhm, I dislike the practice of wringing out claps. It was worse at the National; they paused at the end of the first Wait for Me to get some extra claps then stopped again after the small outro bit.
Row C!? Definitely not a sound issue then! Probably my old ears
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Post by forfivemoreminutes on Apr 28, 2024 15:47:59 GMT
Mmhm, I dislike the practice of wringing out claps. It was worse at the National; they paused at the end of the first Wait for Me to get some extra claps then stopped again after the small outro bit.
Row C!? Definitely not a sound issue then! Probably my old ears must be, her accent isn’t difficult to understand at all - she’s very well spoken
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Post by eliza on Apr 28, 2024 15:48:01 GMT
I saw this last week. I went in with no previous knowledge but loved it and loved the music. I agree I struggled to understand what they were singing sometimes, particularly at the beginning and when there were lots of voices at once. My friend and I both said at the interval that we hadn't always been clear on what was happening as we couldn't really clearly hear them.
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Post by theatremiss on Apr 28, 2024 15:50:10 GMT
must be, her accent isn’t difficult to understand at all - she’s very well spoken I never said there was a problem with her accent. I said pronunciation was off
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Post by forfivemoreminutes on Apr 28, 2024 15:53:14 GMT
must be, her accent isn’t difficult to understand at all - she’s very well spoken I never said there was a problem with her accent. I said pronunciation was off please elaborate on what the difference is
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Post by danb on Apr 28, 2024 16:13:45 GMT
As someone who was neutral about this show, from a decent side stalls seat, I would say that the sound design was very good. The assorted accents didn’t jar exactly but stopped the piece feeling like a cohesive whole as it felt like everyone was doing their own show. I’ve said already that I thought Hermes the strongest, due in the main to her inhabiting her character fully, including the patois accent. The show felt on its solidest ground when she was leading it.
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Post by blamerobots on Apr 28, 2024 16:45:30 GMT
must be, her accent isn’t difficult to understand at all - she’s very well spoken I never said there was a problem with her accent. I said pronunciation was off Do you mean enunciation? As in making sure you pronounce your consonants.
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Post by theatremiss on Apr 28, 2024 18:53:57 GMT
I never said there was a problem with her accent. I said pronunciation was off please elaborate on what the difference is As someone else has mentioned after me, I should have said enunciation, which is to do with the clarity of the way someone forms a word, pronunciation is how syllables are emphasized within a word. So her enunciation was off.
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Post by theatremiss on Apr 28, 2024 18:54:13 GMT
I never said there was a problem with her accent. I said pronunciation was off Do you mean enunciation? As in making sure you pronounce your consonants. Yes sorry I did
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Post by curiouskc on Apr 29, 2024 14:06:37 GMT
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Post by ladidah on Apr 29, 2024 14:44:49 GMT
I saw on Allie Daniel's stories about cast members, she cited mainly POC's being called by the wrong name too.
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Post by solotheatregoer on Apr 29, 2024 16:33:14 GMT
I saw on Allie Daniel's stories about cast members, she cited mainly POC's being called by the wrong name too. Saw that on Donal Finn's Insta stories too. I've done stage door only a handful of times and it must be a pretty intimidating situation for anyone. But to run after people, harass them for photos and mistake them for other cast members is completely out of order and disrespectful. No wonder a lot of people are stopping them altogether now.
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Post by danb on Apr 29, 2024 17:35:05 GMT
Or just let individual performers decide if it is something they want to do, almost as if they are sentient, adult humans!? Formalising it to the point of a ‘meet & greet’ gives me the creeps, like they are an exhibit in a zoo or something.
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Post by Seriously on Apr 29, 2024 17:41:00 GMT
Well we wouldn't want to give danb the creeps.
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Post by BVM on Apr 29, 2024 18:25:16 GMT
They do need to do something about stage door, particularly for younger audience fanperson attracting shows as this issue comes up time and time again.
(Personally I’ve literally never seen the appeal but appreciate a lot of young fans seem to love it. The boundaries inevitably get blurred though for the problematic minority….)
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Post by BVM on Apr 29, 2024 19:20:04 GMT
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Post by scarletmood on Apr 30, 2024 0:17:00 GMT
Sorry to hear that MLB had to endure this at her show's Stage Door. If she had put her headphones on this was a clear sign that she was leaving and was listening to music/taking a call. She had engaged with the people waiting as if she hadn't wanted to she could have walked out with her headphones on and ignored everyone.
This is a show without a "star" name in it but clearly has a following. Star names get far more attention but they will have security or can be whisked out of another entrance to a waiting car. Most performers don't have this luxury sadly.
I'd hate theatres to go down M and G route like a lot of concerts now do and few have the facilities to hold them by the SD and it would be logistically hard to do. Some stars did do signings in the foyer after their show. The Old Vic reception window worked well back in the day I thought.
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Post by theatrefan62 on Apr 30, 2024 5:24:06 GMT
I actually think in some ways shows without big names have it worse. Big names usually skip it completely, or have a more organised structured set up.
These shows with 'unknowns' can have more a parasocial relationship where fans see them as equals or friends. There is also the clout chasing via social media and a culture develops around one show or actor.
Of course actors also have a role to play as some actively encourage it (especially those you use social media to their advantage) and blur boundaries which can confuse fans by encouraging stage door, contradicting theatre policy (as CHF has done before), encourage gifts etc. Their actions have a knock on affect for the wider industry and fellow actors as precedents can be set in (usually) younger minds
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Post by shownut on Apr 30, 2024 5:46:00 GMT
Sorry to hear that MLB had to endure this at her show's Stage Door. If she had put her headphones on this was a clear sign that she was leaving and was listening to music/taking a call. She had engaged with the people waiting as if she hadn't wanted to she could have walked out with her headphones on and ignored everyone. This is a show without a "star" name in it but clearly has a following. Star names get far more attention but they will have security or can be whisked out of another entrance to a waiting car. Most performers don't have this luxury sadly. I'd hate theatres to go down M and G route like a lot of concerts now do and few have the facilities to hold them by the SD and it would be logistically hard to do. Some stars did do signings in the foyer after their show. The Old Vic reception window worked well back in the day I thought. Unless things have mysteriously changed in the last few years, actors may have to sign out at the stage door but they can use any exit they want. MLB could use other exits where folks are less likely to harrass her.
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Post by scarletmood on Apr 30, 2024 20:05:09 GMT
Unless things have mysteriously changed in the last few years, actors may have to sign out at the stage door but they can use any exit they want. MLB could use other exits where folks are less likely to harrass her. Performers still have to sign out or have someone sign them out. But going out of other exits would depend if they are open or not. If other exits can be reached via backstage then they can do that. But if say the exits from the auditorium have been closed they cannot really start trying to go out that way.
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Post by scarletmood on May 1, 2024 12:54:56 GMT
I actually think in some ways shows without big names have it worse. Big names usually skip it completely, or have a more organised structured set up. These shows with 'unknowns' can have more a parasocial relationship where fans see them as equals or friends. There is also the clout chasing via social media and a culture develops around one show or actor. Of course actors also have a role to play as some actively encourage it (especially those you use social media to their advantage) and blur boundaries which can confuse fans by encouraging stage door, contradicting theatre policy (as CHF has done before), encourage gifts etc. Their actions have a knock on affect for the wider industry and fellow actors as precedents can be set in (usually) younger minds Just seen this post reading back in the forum. I missed it last night. An excellent point about shows developing a "cult" following or making a big star out of someone. When you have a "star name" in a show which may sell well fans may only see it once, get a ticket once, be able to afford to see it once. But with a show which builds a following lets say "Six" fans return to see it many times and perhaps do feel they build a "friendship" with cast members. This can be a two way thing a lot of CHF's fans she built up from her social media posts and they have helped her sell tickets for a number of shows she has been in. But even someone as engaging as CHF has had fans cross the line with her and now she has a young baby she may not be able to be as accessible after shows as she was before. When fandom is around a show like Six or even the Rocky Horror Show which are both dedicated and hard core it tends to stay with the show rather than follow previous cast members around. But these two shows have a very different fanbase - Six is more a younger female fanbase whilst RHS has the colourful and character dressed slightly older fans. A lot of the RHS cast are long term performers in the show and likely get to know the fans fairly well, that fanbase also has always seemed to be respectful but for a younger performer cast in that show it could be abit of a culture shock to be greeted by loading of fans dressed as a show character at the SD. Six with a younger cast and fans could well have seen fans thinking they have a strong link to certain performers but their SD's look to be pretty well organized with a security man stood there I heard at a number of tour venues. Plus with younger fans they often have parents/guardians with them or have to be collected so cannot wait around for ages. Stars like David Essex who has done numerous musicals over the years always had time for his fans and had his sharpie ready to sign but controlled the time he gave each fan and would keep things moving so everyone got a chance but he wasn't stuck at SD for ages. But I fully see the point of fans latching onto a performer in a breakout role who is accessible to them and not Harry Styles/Taylor Swift on a stage in a stadium.
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Post by shownut on May 1, 2024 13:03:44 GMT
Unless things have mysteriously changed in the last few years, actors may have to sign out at the stage door but they can use any exit they want. MLB could use other exits where folks are less likely to harrass her. Performers still have to sign out or have someone sign them out. But going out of other exits would depend if they are open or not. If other exits can be reached via backstage then they can do that. But if say the exits from the auditorium have been closed they cannot really start trying to go out that way. Most theatres have a pass door from backstage to the auditorium and house doors are rarely locked immediately after the performance so I would imagine that if she felt there was a threat, management would help her leave safely and securely. It's too bad that what could be a fun way to end a night's work is something she doesn't feel safe doing (but based on how audience behaviour has changed, I would imagine the occasional stage door experience could be a nightmare).
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Post by scarletmood on May 1, 2024 16:14:37 GMT
Performers still have to sign out or have someone sign them out. But going out of other exits would depend if they are open or not. If other exits can be reached via backstage then they can do that. But if say the exits from the auditorium have been closed they cannot really start trying to go out that way. Most theatres have a pass door from backstage to the auditorium and house doors are rarely locked immediately after the performance so I would imagine that if she felt there was a threat, management would help her leave safely and securely. It's too bad that what could be a fun way to end a night's work is something she doesn't feel safe doing (but based on how audience behaviour has changed, I would imagine the occasional stage door experience could be a nightmare). Performers who want to leave fairly quickly can likely get through the auditorium and possibly out one of the side doors. But those who take a bit of time would likely find the auditorium doors locked bar fire doors and certainly the FOH doors. I've Stage Doored a fair bit and I've often seen the FOH guys handing the keys back in at the SD where I assume the keys are kept. Some theatres do have 24 hour security who will sit on the SD but I'd imagine a lot are opened and closed via the SD. I don't know if this differs when the cleaners would go in of a morning to do the auditorium.
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Post by capybara on May 2, 2024 19:27:09 GMT
I found watching Hadestown a curious viewing experience. While it’s a show that I really don’t connect with, I was certainly able to appreciate the spectacle that Anais Mitchell has created.
I loved Rachel Hauck’s set design and clearly the highlight of this piece is when Orpheus sings ‘Wait for Me’ and the set transforms. That was a wonderful moment of theatre. Donal Finn did a good job as Orpheus but the character really is a bit of a wet lettuce, isn’t he?
Grace Hodgett-Young was excellent as Eurydice and sang beautifully. However, I just found it hard to believe in the intensity of their relationship. In fact, it was quite hard to garner any sort of feeling for the characters beyond indifference.
Melanie La Barrie (Hermes) and Zachary James (Hades) injected some much-needed energy and charisma into the show and I was lucky enough to see Lauren Azania on as Persephone. I actually thought she ended up being the character you most felt any sort of empathy for.
Mitchell’s score is enjoyable enough in the moment, aided by the excellent band performing live on stage, but it never really catches alight. So, while I do see why some people are so passionate about Hadestown (I did enjoy it and there are some good individual performances), it isn’t quite for me.
Three stars.
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