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Post by robertb213 on Jun 13, 2021 11:33:02 GMT
I've had this card for about 3 years and have (pandemic aside) never received any kind of notice of a pre-sale, special offer, discount etc. I've asked them numerous times if I need to be added to a mailing list but never seem to get added. I rely on this board to tell me when stuff is going on sale. Does anyone else have this problem? I won't be renewing. I've never had any emailed offers either and I've been a member for about the same length of time. I've just become used to logging in and checking the shows I want to see, and finding the deals that way. My nearest venue is Milton Keynes and there's always deals on the opening night, sometimes other nights as well. It's weird that they don't email to push the offers, but the offers are generally still worth having so I'll be renewing when the time comes. |
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Post by robertb213 on Jun 13, 2021 11:25:36 GMT
I agree with the positivity of others who have seen this, it's a wonderful 'best of celebration that proves when Webber is good, he really is very very good.
I was on the Studio side (row J, £20, absolute bargain). No real issues with sound from there that I noticed.
I did think the beginning medley didn't really start the show off with the 'bang' that I was expecting, but the rest of the show had obviously been very well thought out and it came together really well. I thought the ALW video interludes worked well and I learned a few things I didn't know before.
For me, the Evita and Phantom sections were the standouts, they were just electric. Also as others have said, the lighting rig is just stunning and deserved a round of applause all to itself.
Madalena Alberto's 'Don't Cry For Me Argentina' is a masterclass, as is Tim Howar's 'Music Of The Night'. I'm not a huge fan of Ria Jones, and strangely I thought her 'Memory' was much better than her Sunset Boulevard songs. She can definitely act a song well, I just find her voice gets very strained at the higher end and it grates on me a tad.
Karen Mav is performing, she just sings from a wheelchair rather than being part of the group. She sounded great. Seeing her being wheeled on to the overture from Starlight Express was unintentionally brilliant.
I would say that Tim Rogers was the biggest disappointment for me, he seemed to struggle with all of his songs despite having played those roles previously (JCS, Aspects Of Love, LND). I don't know if it was 'end of the week fatigue' but his timing and phrasing seemed all over the place and some of the big money notes were a bit painful.
I do however need to know where Jessica Daley has been all my life, because she was the absolute highlight for me, every note was just phenomenal. I watched Over The Rainbow last year and I don't even remember her on that show. She's worth the ticket price on her own. Maybe shared with the lighting rig.
Definitely grab a ticket but I'd be surprised if they don't stream it at some point as well. I think it would get a big home audience.
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Post by robertb213 on Jun 13, 2021 11:11:00 GMT
I agree on the lovely Johnny. He can do character-driven 'acting-singing' (he was very good in The Last Five Years and of course Company), but he's not got the rich belt needed for this. If only Oliver Tompsett was 15 years younger....
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Post by robertb213 on Jun 10, 2021 12:01:53 GMT
OK I've given in. Saturday night booked. The box office happily split an existing bubble of two up for me, sitting on the studio side for £20. First show back in 65 weeks. I am so gonna cry when those lights go down 😭😁
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Post by robertb213 on Jun 10, 2021 10:19:48 GMT
I was initially underwhelmed by the casting for this but based on the above review I may decide to give in as well!
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Post by robertb213 on Jun 9, 2021 20:57:04 GMT
Oh that is a shame. It ended open to interpretation but definite scope for a third season. Fingers crossed someone else picks it up, there's a lot of talent there.
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Post by robertb213 on Jun 9, 2021 14:59:48 GMT
You're welcome!
The fees are expensive. I mean, really the whole thing is expensive! Still a lot of availability left so I do wonder if we'll see some last-minute deals emerge tomorrow.
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Post by robertb213 on Jun 9, 2021 10:44:32 GMT
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Post by robertb213 on Jun 9, 2021 10:43:59 GMT
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Post by robertb213 on Jun 9, 2021 10:41:35 GMT
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Post by robertb213 on Jun 9, 2021 9:38:43 GMT
Directed by Steven Dexter, that's all they've confirmed so far.
Theatre Cafe have £25 tickets for the next 48 hours, I can post the link if anyone wants it.
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Post by robertb213 on Jun 9, 2021 9:18:15 GMT
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Post by robertb213 on Jun 8, 2021 22:30:04 GMT
People seem to be calling it hypocritical that Seyi Omooba was vilified but Sutton Foster can do no wrong....?
These are in no way the same thing!! Seyi basically said 'homosexuality is wrong but please let me play the lead in The Color Purple'. Sutton gave a stylised performance of a very OTT song as part of an 'iconic divas' tribute. These situations could not be further apart from each other.
I also don't get what's caused the footage to recirculate this week when it's been around for a decade (as has the album it appears on!).
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Post by robertb213 on Jun 8, 2021 20:35:43 GMT
For anyone interested, Laura Pick performed The Wizard and I recently as part of "The Show Must Go On". The full performance is available on YouTube. The Elphaba purists will be delighted to know that Laura performed no riffs! Laura was very good and sang it really well, if a little bit 'safe' for me. 'TWAI' is our first real introduction to who Elphaba is and should hint at the force of nature that she becomes. It's also the actress' first chance to wow us and put her own unique stamp on the character, and in that sense I like a new riff or two. Not every other word as some recent Elphabas have done, but definitely in the last 30 seconds on the various 'me'/'melt'/'team' lines. Still, she was very good 😀 |
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Post by robertb213 on Jun 8, 2021 18:18:15 GMT
I’m playing catch up. Who was that fabulous woman doing Thunderdome from Tina? Aisha Jawando 😀 |
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Post by robertb213 on Jun 8, 2021 17:13:37 GMT
That's what I was asking and interested to know, what restrictions were you hoping to be lifted, what can't you do today (albeit with limitations) that you were hoping to be able to do from the 21st? All of my friends and I work in theatre, we're kinda depending on it so that we can keep our jobs going forward tbh. Well of course that's a different matter and I do feel for you, I thought you were referring to the leisure/'nice to have' restrictions rather than your livelihood. |
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Post by robertb213 on Jun 8, 2021 17:08:35 GMT
I'm getting quite fed up with the lack of provision for single theatregoers. Booking Oleanna at the MAST Mayflower Studios, the only single seats are at the back. Bubbles of two are £60 yet a bubble of three front row seats is £43? How does any of that make sense? Same. I'm resigned to not seeing anything as a solo theatregoer until next year now. I get the economics but it's a shame. |
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Post by robertb213 on Jun 8, 2021 16:33:24 GMT
If you're one of the lucky people currently leading a normal life and not too bothered about the lifting of restrictions then... good for you I guess? There are still many of us depending on restrictions lifting so that we can get back to ours. And as this is a theatre forum, remember guys... it will start to affect you if it trickles down into further months of socially-distanced theatre trips and further postponements and cancellations of shows... Which is still a possibility. That's what I was asking and interested to know, what restrictions were you hoping to be lifted, what can't you do today (albeit with limitations) that you were hoping to be able to do from the 21st? |
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Post by robertb213 on Jun 8, 2021 15:26:23 GMT
If I'm honest I don't really get why people are angry, was anything major changing on the 21st? Something we can't do as at today? Aside from foreign travel which was never going to be an overnight sort anyway. But we can go to the pub, have dinner, shop, work, see friends and family, go to the theatre... just not in unlimited numbers or without a few precautions which aren't exactly a huge burden to put up with. Maybe I'm just odd but my life wasn't going to be any different on the 21st of June than it was on the 20th!
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Post by robertb213 on Jun 8, 2021 13:13:25 GMT
I suspect the football scene will be cut and replaced with something else. Agreed. They HAVE to keep the underwater stuff in it though, it's probably the most memorable scene and also the most memorable song. Ah, the Beautiful Briny Sea... 😁🎶 |
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Post by robertb213 on Jun 8, 2021 11:39:16 GMT
It is also important to understand that sometimes things are offensive when no malice is intended. I don't agree with cancel culture for minor, ill-advised situations like this, but as someone who has been affected by microaggressions all my life, in the vast majority of cases I experienced I am fairly certain that there was no malice meant. That doesn't mean that it shouldn't be called out and brought to the person's attention, so that they can learn and try to do better in the future. So in this case I am all for calling her out on it but definitely don't think this warrants cancelling her. At least not just on the basis of this one performance. That's actually a really good point. Like when someone says 'that's so gay' as a negative, I often take a slight bit of offence initially, and then realise that they didn't mean it maliciously. Sometimes it's just about drawing attention to it so the person can learn from it, rather than trying to destroy them 😀 |
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Post by robertb213 on Jun 8, 2021 11:18:32 GMT
It's true that we now live in more 'enlightened' times, and of course no celebrity should be allowed to be openly discriminatory, bigoted, prejudicial etc, but equally people are too quick to be offended at things that aren't setting out deliberately to offend.
It's the latest in a long line of recent arguments which don't really hold up. The Alexis Meade storyline in Ugly Betty, or Kathleen Turner playing Chandler's dad on Friends... while quite rightly these storylines would be in poor taste today in solidarity with the trans community, at the time, those shows weren't saying 'we hate trans people, look how funny it is to make fun of them'. Likewise, Christina Bianco does an AMAZING impression of Celine Dion, which Celine herself has said she thinks is brilliant... Christina isn't making fun and inciting hatred of all French-Canadian people when she does it.
Yes it's good that people are unwilling to put up with injustice when that's what's happening, but equally they need to stop forming lynch mobs and perceiving malice where none exists.
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Post by robertb213 on Jun 7, 2021 22:37:00 GMT
For context, the song was included on her 2011 live album and has been widely available since then. I believe there was a hat of song suggestions for her to pick from and perform for the encore (she does Defying Gravity earlier in the show based on another selection). From the preceeding dialogue included in the album, she picks this song, sounds a bit daunted, and says 'Ok...OK..I'm gonna get my Effie on'.
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Post by robertb213 on Jun 7, 2021 22:13:13 GMT
It's clearly an impression and tribute to a very distinctive singer and song, there's no malicious racist intent behind that whatsoever. Jennifer Holliday would probably find it very flattering.
If Cynthia Erivo did a similar rendition of someone equally distinctive and white like Cher, no one in the world would think it was driven by racism.
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Post by robertb213 on Jun 7, 2021 20:01:44 GMT
This may be a stupid question so apologies in advance - can I access these deals if I'm with Tesco (on O2's network) rather than with O2 directly? I'm assuming not.
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