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Post by justfran on Sept 21, 2022 21:22:48 GMT
Considering the West End production cast Ronan Keating as Guy, people can't really be annoyed at this casting. Irish singer/songwriter Ronan Keating cast as an Irish singer/songwriter 😉 I do agree with TallPaul though, it is called acting so any role is an opportunity for someone to show what they can do.
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Post by longinthetooth on Sept 21, 2022 21:25:01 GMT
When I first went to see Once, I wanted to love it. Instead I hated it. A few months later, believe it or not I went back, to see if it was me. Nope, still hated it. Needless to say, I'll be giving this a miss.
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Post by andrew on Sept 21, 2022 22:12:51 GMT
They wouldn't have someone else singing on the trailer, would they, so this is, presumably, Jamie and Carrie. This is Steve Kazee and Cristin Milioti.
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Post by margoc on Sept 22, 2022 1:51:50 GMT
Couldn't agree more!! Its almost like they've not bothered to look for anyone else, yes CHF is good enough but this is clearly a money grab. Over in the comments section of the Facebook WOS post they’ve dubbed Carrie Hope Fletcher the James Corden of the west end. I’m inclined to agree? Any trained triple threat actor/musicians out there. At all? In terms of her continued stunt casting due to her socials. There’s barely any interaction on her Twitter meanwhile over on TikTok Jamie has had over 8 million people watch a few seconds of him being a ‘dreamboat psychotic’ Maybe he’s the big draw here now? vm.tiktok.com/ZMFewKeyL/Millions have reposted their own videos using that song btw saying they ‘would open the door’ to Jamie Muscato Carrie's hardly a triple threat, she can sing thats all
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Post by kyvai on Sept 22, 2022 5:41:21 GMT
I haven’t actually been to an “in concert” production, as either they haven’t appealed or I’ve not been free on the few nights they are on. So I am coming from a theoretical point of view. But, surely their main plus point of a concert is they are cheaper than a full production, due to no staging/set. However, what I can remember from seeing Once about 10 years ago (I saw Arthur Darvill as Guy, he was good), is that the staging here amounts to a piano, a bar and a couple of chairs. So why any need for a concert version? You’re not saving anything, surely. It must be about as low cost a set as a musical gets, even less than Come From Away. There isn’t even a separate band/orchestra, it was designed as an actor/musician show wasn’t it?!?
I am someone who could afford those insane ticket prices if I felt it was worth it. And I really like “Once”, a few of the songs are favourites of mine to play/sing for pleasure But presenting this being in concert just holds zero draw for me, what’s the point. It does just immediately feel cynical.
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Post by BurlyBeaR on Sept 22, 2022 6:03:17 GMT
Over in the comments section of the Facebook WOS post they’ve dubbed Carrie Hope Fletcher the James Corden of the west end. I’m inclined to agree? Any trained triple threat actor/musicians out there. At all? In terms of her continued stunt casting due to her socials. There’s barely any interaction on her Twitter meanwhile over on TikTok Jamie has had over 8 million people watch a few seconds of him being a ‘dreamboat psychotic’ Maybe he’s the big draw here now? vm.tiktok.com/ZMFewKeyL/Millions have reposted their own videos using that song btw saying they ‘would open the door’ to Jamie Muscato Carrie's hardly a triple threat, she can sing thats all She an sing*, she can do YouTube and she can do Instagram. *but not in Heathers
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Post by BurlyBeaR on Sept 22, 2022 6:12:32 GMT
The boots look familiar, maybe Carrie nabbed them before Cinders got boxed up and despatched to America. Broadway Cinders will have to get a new pair 🙂
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Post by Eartha on Sept 22, 2022 8:38:37 GMT
We have this discussion from time to time. Isn't it called acting? I absolutely agree with you. I was just being an uppity Paddy!
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Post by anthony40 on Sept 22, 2022 11:19:31 GMT
Another concert!
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Post by lolalou on Sept 22, 2022 22:10:33 GMT
Over in the comments section of the Facebook WOS post they’ve dubbed Carrie Hope Fletcher the James Corden of the west end. I’m inclined to agree? Any trained triple threat actor/musicians out there. At all? In terms of her continued stunt casting due to her socials. There’s barely any interaction on her Twitter meanwhile over on TikTok Jamie has had over 8 million people watch a few seconds of him being a ‘dreamboat psychotic’ Maybe he’s the big draw here now? vm.tiktok.com/ZMFewKeyL/Millions have reposted their own videos using that song btw saying they ‘would open the door’ to Jamie Muscato Carrie's hardly a triple threat, she can sing thats all That’s what I meant albeit clumsily. With the amount of triple threats out there and triple threats who can also play multiple instruments which is required for this show WHY do they keep casting her? I think producers are blinded by the follower count. I went to a concert of hers at Cadogan hall a few years back and they were literally giving tickets away. I’m not sure she is the draw she was in times past. Jamie however is currently riding an all time online high.
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Post by fluxcapacitor on Sept 23, 2022 6:15:05 GMT
Another bloody concert. So fed up. Where are the actual productions??!!!! And another concert version of a very recently produced show. At least use concert stagings to try new productions of rarely seen shows, or older shows that could develop into full revivals, or new stuff. Like the recent Treason production. I see the merit there - try something as a concert, rather than have to go the whole hog with a full production. A test or tryout. I can also see the point in staging something as a one off concert if it had a huge star name attached who would never do a full run. But was anyone asking for Kinky Boots or Once in concert form like this? Really? What’s the point?
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Post by stagebyte on Sept 23, 2022 9:14:15 GMT
Another bloody concert. So fed up. Where are the actual productions??!!!! And another concert version of a very recently produced show. At least use concert stagings to try new productions of rarely seen shows, or older shows that could develop into full revivals, or new stuff. Like the recent Treason production. I see the merit there - try something as a concert, rather than have to go the whole hog with a full production. A test or tryout. I can also see the point in staging something as a one off concert if it had a huge star name attached who would never do a full run. But was anyone asking for Kinky Boots or Once in concert form like this? Really? What’s the point? I do agree. It’s very boring when there are so many different shows and interesting actor choices that could’ve been made, however tickets are selling well. I’m waiting for them to get overconfident add a matinee then swoop in when ticket prices plummet. The prices are outrageous considering it’s a concert with reduced overheads.
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Post by alece10 on Sept 23, 2022 10:38:13 GMT
Is it on for a few nights or just Once?
I'll get my coat......
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Post by Jon on Sept 23, 2022 12:25:37 GMT
I'm not sure what the outrage is, it's not these concerts are replacing actual shows.
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Post by A.Ham on Oct 5, 2022 8:54:51 GMT
A 3pm matinee has been added. On sale now.
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Post by alece10 on Oct 5, 2022 9:38:58 GMT
A 3pm matinee has been added. On sale now. So are they going to change the title of the show to "Twice"? Sorry but getting in there before anyone else 😀
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Post by Steve on Mar 12, 2023 18:00:39 GMT
Just saw the matinee and loved it. Some spoilers follow. . . Having loved the central duo together in "Heathers," I booked mostly to see them together again, in something different, rather than just to see "Once" lol. From that perspective, it's a show of ironies as not only are they performing it "twice" (ie again tonight), but in "Heathers" they are rolling all over each other on stage and then try to murder each other in unrestrained abandon, but here, in their reunion, for "once" they must exercise almost complete and total restraint in this updated "Brief Encounter." And it is the brief encounter loneliness of this concert production that will linger with me: For one, the Palladium is massive compared to the Phoenix, and the ensemble seated at either side of the stage create a chasm of space between them. Second, the principal lighting approach is almost total darkness, with a few star-like lights above, so when Muscato's Guy takes central stage for his opening number, "Leave," he looks so so lonely. Muscato has such incredible technique and pipes though, that despite his half-Elvis, half lonely cowboy slouch, and despite the morose sadness of his opening line, he builds to an absolute ecstatic finish to the song with so many colours and roaring passion. It was a scene stopper, though uninfused by narrative, it is all Muscato's achievement, rather than the show's. Muscato speaks in a creditable Irish accent, and when Carrie Hope-Fletcher appears, she speaks in a creditable Czech accent. Used to filling a stage with characters consumed by agency, CHF easily assumes the buoyancy of this catalytic character of Girl who inspires the morose Guy back to life. If "Leave" was Muscato's solo highlight, CHF's solo highlight was "If you want me," as she was facing the stage, and she embued the line "if you want me, satisfy me" with a lingering longing and wistful passion. Unfortunately, the director chose to angle her in "The Hill" away from the audience, as she played the piano, so we were denied a facial confirmation to this confession of love, which was frustrating, as the song was exquisitely performed. At the Phoenix Theatre, and I saw it there three times, the stage was so colourful and so busy with actor-musicians, the bar always open, even for the audience during the interval lol, that the sheer liveliness seemed to uplift the bonding and loving element ls of the story. Here, the dark cavernous emptiness of the Palladium, with it's unfriendly curtain descending during the interval (instead of serving drinks lol) served to emphasise the lonely aspects of the story. Muscato, in particular, really leant into this fragile sadness, and no amount of cheeky flirtatious perkiness from Hope Fletcher could quite lift him out of it. Mournfulness and soulfulness were accentuated over the community and collaboration of the Phoenix. A gloriously funny performance by Sean Keany, as Billy the shop owner, all lanky posturing boastfulness and affected threat undercut by physical clumsiness and social awkwardness, relieved some of the sad vibe. But luckily, not all of it, as when, in the starlit sadness of the dark vast lonely stage, Hope Fletcher and Muscato performed the "Falling Slowly Reprise," I had never seen it so splendidly and evocatively mournful, and I was overwhelmed with tears. A terrifically spare and soulful rendering of the musical. 4 and a half stars from me.
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Post by lolalou on Mar 12, 2023 18:47:33 GMT
. Unfortunately, the director chose to angle her in "The Hill" away from the audience, as she played the piano, so . . . . She wrote on her story that she had only reached Grade 3 piano so it’s not surprising she had ‘help’ at the keyboard.
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Post by kyvai on Mar 12, 2023 19:27:21 GMT
At the evening show and 20 minutes in they’ve stopped for “technical issues”.
Falling Slowly was lovely though.
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Post by yokollama on Mar 12, 2023 22:05:22 GMT
I seem to have planned out the same day as Steve: Once followed by 2:22 in the evening. Alas, I had to miss both shows and Steve's review has just dug a bigger hole in my heart. I'm glad it translated well in the vastness of the Palladium.
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Post by kyvai on Mar 12, 2023 22:07:24 GMT
We got going again after 20 minutes with no explanation as to what the stop was about, although Carrie Hope Fletcher’s levels were raised when they performed Falling Slowly again to restart, so perhaps it was something with that. It was a treat to get Falling Slowly twice (well, 3 times if you count the reprise).
So I was not quite as overawed as the previous poster, but then I have no nostalgia for the actors. I did really enjoy it, all performances were top notch. I am confused as to what about it was “in concert” though - it was staged, albeit minimally, but then the original production was as well, really it was only missing the bar, from memory, and was obviously a lot more spread out across the larger stage. There was full lighting design, sound effects etc, even a child actor to play Ivanka which was a non-singing, non-speaking part - kinda like a living prop! But the actors moved around from scene to scene, and acted and interacted just as they would in a standard production. Which was fantastic, obviously, but I had thought that an “in concert” production usually involves a line of microphones across the front of the stage and that’s it. Carrie Hope Fletcher did fine at the piano I thought, I’m a pianist myself, none of the piano parts are complicated stuff, but singing and playing solo at the Palladium - that’s something really, isn’t it. She was a little too big for the role vocally, and a little less delicate than I remember Girl being overall in her interpretation of the role, but that’s a minor criticism really, her performance was fairly flawless given her take on it, and this whole event wouldn’t have happened without her involvement really would it. Jamie Muscato was brilliant, just spot on in every way. The actor/musician ensemble was cohesive and pretty tight given this is only 2 performances, and their Gold a capella moment was a standout. And as mentioned the actor playing Billy stole several scenes and was a little light relief.
A great presentation of the musical overall I felt. Hopefully it will make its way back in another less transient form at some point, it’s a really lovely piece.
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