R2OK!

Heloise · Joined: 08 Dec 2006 Posts: 237

I have to wait for next year ENO production of Kismet.

Although I do have a bit of a hankering to see Wicked. Has anyone seen it recently. How is it fairing?

dottie-may · Joined: 11 Dec 2006 Posts: 56

Hi, Heloise, I've just been to see Evita again plus The Seafarer at the National.
I'm off to see Wicked on the 20th. It's still doing very well but it does seem to spark a love-it or hate-it response! I'm looking forward to it as I rather like the CD and want to see what all the fuss is about Idina Menzel. Wink

Then, it's Spamalot and Follies Charity Concert in Feb, plus a few local things between Jan & April!
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"I'm a firm believer in not having to play the hand you're dealt."

Heloise · Joined: 08 Dec 2006 Posts: 237

Hi,
Let me know what you think of Wicked, if you think it's worth a visit.

It's an easy one to hop on the coach to go to.

Two stepper · Posted: Thu Dec 14, 2006 1:34 pm Post subject:

After the exerpt by the cast of 'Wicked' on the Royal Variety I'd love to see the show, it looks fabulous but it turns into the equivalent of the cost of a week abroad, coming down to London, hotel, show tickets, transport, meals etc. etc. Hopefully it will go on tour and play in Manchester sometime.

Heloise · Joined: 08 Dec 2006 Posts: 237

Isn't it playing at the theatre near Victoria Station?

If it is I might try and get a matinee ticket, nip down on National Express (£18 day return) see the show and get the next coach back afterwards. I wont have to stay over or have time to eat which should keep the costs down a bit because you are right Twostepper it is very expensive.

Ian Robinson · Posted: Fri Dec 15, 2006 7:47 pm Post subject:

idcowden · Joined: 19 Dec 2006 Posts: 67

Where are you all trying to get to London from?

Wicked is indeed on at Victoria, only a short walk from the coach station. It will probably be a while before it tours, and it is questionable whether it would be able to tour in its present format.

Avenue Q will definitely tour (there are already active tours in the states).

For two people you can get top price tickets for £60 each, add to that a coach or train fare (book at the right time slots you could probably do that quite cheaply too - we managed return tickets to Edinburgh for £50 for two people), then all you need is a cheap hotel. Or failing that, ask Mr Christmas - isn't that what he's there for?

Iain

Ian Robinson · Posted: Tue Dec 19, 2006 6:37 pm Post subject:

I saw Spamalot the other week and it was really good, but a bit of an effort to get there. I'm on a tight budget so can't afford a central London hotel, but I will look into it in the Spring.

dottie-may · Joined: 11 Dec 2006 Posts: 56

Saw Wicked on Weds. and it was well worth the trip. I really recommend it if you want a good entertaining show with great songs, a lot of laughs, a few decent special effects and a 'sad happy ending'!

Be warned though that there are loads of children in the audience and although I wasn't particularly disturbed by those around me, you might not be so lucky, especially for a matinee. I sat in stalls Row S, aisle seat 9 and had a fabulous view right over the heads of everyone and because the row is curved and the seats staggered, I had no-one in front of me - perfect! A little way back but I could see everything.

My secret for trips to London? Please keep it quiet but if you book National Express online, you can get funfares from £1 each way...yes, £1. I paid just £2 return for my jaunt (from Gloucester) but sometimes if I've left it a bit late I might have to pay £5, £7 or £9 one way. It certainly makes a huge difference to the number of trips I can make. The theatre is only 10-15 mins walk from Victoria Coach Station.

Hope this is useful.
Dottie
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"I'm a firm believer in not having to play the hand you're dealt."

Heloise · Joined: 08 Dec 2006 Posts: 237

pickle · Posted: Fri Dec 29, 2006 6:40 pm Post subject: Anyone going to see a show soon?

My nephew and his wife are going to see The Producers in Manchester.

his family are all avid Peter Kay fans, and I would love to see how he fares in the role of Roger DeBris, the director! I saw him on 'Parkinson' discussing it, and my sister loved the original movie with Gene Wilder in as Leo Bloom.

By the way, Wilder's 'Young Frankenstein' was also big in this house, especially for Peter Boyle as the monster. We all knew of him as the monster before my little niece knew of Boyle as Frank in 'Everybody Loves Raymond'.

Showing her the movie really opened her eyes to what a talent Boyle was.
R.I.P.
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idcowden · Joined: 19 Dec 2006 Posts: 67

I've done both. The book and the musical are totally different, even down to key events in the plot line. Steven Schwarz really just took the idea of the book. Personally I prefer the plot of the show. The book just reads as if the writer got bored and ran out of ideas half way through.

The musical is more like the full story of the Wizard of Oz told from the witches perspective.

Top tip - DON'T sit in the front 2 rows of the circle, and if you must sit in those rows, avoid the aisle seat like the plague. The front barrier of the circle is about 2 feet thick and the front row have to lean forward to see most of the stage - which means that row two has to lean a little forward too. Added to that, there is a double barred safety barrier at the end of each aisle which totally obstructs the view from the aisle seat.

Further back, there isn;t really a bad seat until you start getting so far back that binoculars are needed.

Ian Robinson · Posted: Wed Jan 03, 2007 6:42 pm Post subject:

Heloise · Joined: 08 Dec 2006 Posts: 237

[quote="Ian Robinson"]

ODonna · Joined: 11 Dec 2006 Posts: 52 Location: USA

Here at my local performing arts center we are getting Dirty Rotten Scoundrels. I'm going to see it in a couple of weeks. Has anyone seen it? It should be pretty funny!

Behind Geddon's Wall · Posted: Mon Jan 08, 2007 2:23 pm Post subject:

I saw the film, it relied heavily on the intrplay between the Michael Caine and Steve Martin Characters. If the 2 male leads are strong, it should be OK.

Geddon
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Geddon

You simply mustn't blame yourself -- the days were perfect
And so were exactly what I was born to spoil
For I am the Rider to the World's End
Bound across the cinder causeway
From the furnace to the quarry
Through the fields of oil

happyKaytee · Joined: 11 Dec 2006 Posts: 22

Has anyone seen Starlight Express, if so what did you think of it? Can't make my mind up whether to try for tickets for this show. Confused

idcowden · Joined: 19 Dec 2006 Posts: 67

I've seen it, but the new version is not a patch on the original. Why? No real roller skating. Basically it was too hard / costly / difficult to insure to create a touring race track.

The solution? To film the races at a skate track in 3d.

So all of the race sequences are projected on a cinema screen and you are urged to put on your "safety glasses". Good fun for younger kids but the storyline can be a bit mistifying in places.

you shouldn't have to "try" for tickets. Just turn up and get some cheapies & move forward (unless you pick a saturday night of course)!

Natasha · Little Miss Lovely Smile Joined: 09 Dec 2006 Posts: 790

Will anyone be going to see Frank McGuinness's new play 'There Came A Gypsy Riding?' <Almeida> It's stars one of my fav <and under-rated actors> Imelda Staunton - who I still maintain should have played Bridget Jones, had the film been produced earlier.
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happyKaytee · Joined: 11 Dec 2006 Posts: 22

Going to see "The Vortex" tonight starring Will Young. This production has had mixed reviews but people who have seen it think it was terrific. Looking forward to finding out for myself! Very Happy

AndyAndy2 · Posted: Thu Feb 08, 2007 2:34 pm Post subject:

I'm going to see Jeff Wayne's version of War of the Worlds in December (does that qualify as soon?)

Tried to see it last year, here in Newcastle, but tickets got sold out real quick!

One of my fav albums of all time! Oooolaaaa!!
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Heloise · Joined: 08 Dec 2006 Posts: 237

dottie-may · Joined: 11 Dec 2006 Posts: 56

Great News!! Parade is coming at last Razz

It's opening at the Donmar in September and I'll definitely be there. Saw a production in Edinburgh the year before last which was terrific so I have high hopes for this one.
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"I'm a firm believer in not having to play the hand you're dealt."

Heloise · Joined: 08 Dec 2006 Posts: 237

dottie-may · Joined: 11 Dec 2006 Posts: 56

Hi Heloise, I've copied this from Wiki which summarises it much better than I could!:

The musical concerns the 1913 trial of Jewish factory manager Leo Frank who was accused of raping and murdering a 13 year old employee, Mary Phagan. The trial, sensationalized by the media, aroused anti-Semitic tensions in Atlanta and the state of Georgia. When Frank's sentence was commuted due to possible problems with the trial and he was transferred to a prison in Milledgeville, Georgia, a lynching party broke him out of the prison. Frank was taken to Phagan's hometown of Marietta, Georgia and he was hanged.
The emotional backbone of the show is how Leo and his wife, Lucille, discover a deep love for each other out of what was essentially an arranged marriage. A listener can hear their relationship shift from cold to warm in songs like "Leo at Work/What am I Waiting For?," "You Don't Know This Man," and, in Act II, "Do it Alone," and "All the Wasted Time".
The show also doesn't shy away from making it clear that the likely killer was the African-American drifter Jim Conley, though the real villains of the piece are prosecutor Hugh Dorsey and rabid publisher Tom Watson.

Parade is a musical that opened on Broadway at the Vivian Beaumont Theater on December 17, 1998 with a book by Alfred Uhry and music and lyrics by Jason Robert Brown. The premier was directed by Harold Prince and closed 28 February 1999 after 85 performances.
The closing of the show was not because of the quality of Parade, but was due largely to the charges of the fraud against Garth Drabinksy, and the ensuing bankruptcy of Livent, the company producing Parade.
The show garnered 9 Tony Award nominations and won two awards, for Best Book of a Musical (Uhry) and Best Original Musical Score (Brown).
The show was received very coolly by the public and some critics, many of whom felt the show took too many liberties when it came to the use of racial slurs in the show. However, Brown was praised unanimously for his score.
The UK première ran from 5th to 28 August at the Southside Theatre as part of the 2005 Edinburgh Fringe, playing by the end of the run to packed houses and standing ovations.

The music is fabulous with a very strong storyline and characters that develop through the show. I was one of the lucky ones who saw it in Edinburgh and gave it a standing ovation. I actually bumped into the cast when they were advertising it later that day and I was able to give some of the bystanders a first-hand account of just how good it was - which went down very well! Laughing

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"I'm a firm believer in not having to play the hand you're dealt."

Heloise · Joined: 08 Dec 2006 Posts: 237

Thanks for that dottie-may,it sounds very interesting indeed
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Ian Robinson · Posted: Tue Feb 27, 2007 12:36 pm Post subject:

Well, I'm making plans to see Avenue Q and Wicked just after Easter. Hopefully they won't be too full of kids, but with my girlfriend being a teacher I don't have much choice about the time of year.

dottie-may · Joined: 11 Dec 2006 Posts: 56

Ian, I know what you mean - I'm a Teaching Assistant!
I took myself off to see Wicked in December during the hols, a Weds. matinee, and was a little concerned about being surrounded by kids.
However, apart from the usual plentiful loo visits, (them, not me I hasten to add Wink

!!) I didn't find it too bad.

Hope you enjoy it - I did Very Happy

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"I'm a firm believer in not having to play the hand you're dealt."

idcowden · Joined: 19 Dec 2006 Posts: 67

Well Avenue Q won't be full of kids as it's an adult show. Wicked might have some but school groups tend to be situated towards the back.

PJ in Kent · Joined: 11 Dec 2006 Posts: 1102 Location: Go on, guess!

firewirefred · Guest

I saw One Flew Over The Cuckoos Nest featuring Shane Ritchie a couple of weeks ago, which I enjoyed. One thing I did lot like was the way they used Big Chief as the narrator, and also put him in a funny dance routine in the ward. That is a major departure from the book. Otherwise very good - Shane Ritchie did a really good job.

I am seeing Acorn Antiques on Tuesday (not with Julie Walters, more is the pity!) and then The New Statesman with Rik Mayall the week after. Fab!

gazmando · Joined: 15 Apr 2007 Posts: 560 Location: Huntingdon

I'm going to see Les Miserables on June 30th(matinee). with my brother.
I don't know anything about it to tell you the truth, and I've never been in a theatre before.
I'm really looking forward to it but I'm also a little apprehensive.

firewirefred · Guest

gazmando · Joined: 15 Apr 2007 Posts: 560 Location: Huntingdon

Call me ignorant if you want, but it's true.

idcowden · Joined: 19 Dec 2006 Posts: 67

Ian Robinson · Posted: Wed Jun 20, 2007 1:01 pm Post subject:

gazmando · Joined: 15 Apr 2007 Posts: 560 Location: Huntingdon

Thanks id and Ian,
I must admit Iwarburton's comment annoyed me a little bit, so thanks for the reassuring words.
Gaz

Heloise · Joined: 08 Dec 2006 Posts: 237

Well when I started this thread I was awaiting a trip to the ENO for Kismet which has now happened. I enjoyed the peformances very much Michael Ball, Alfie Boe, Sarah Tynan and Faith Prince all gave very polished performances. However the production it's self was a bit of a let down, which was a shame because the performances were very good.

SO now it's two trips to the proms to look forward. Prom 58 and the last night and then I'm off to the Shaftesbury for Hairspray in October, which should be a blast.

All this talk of Les Miserables has got me wanting to go to see that to Very Happy

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PJ in Kent · Joined: 11 Dec 2006 Posts: 1102 Location: Go on, guess!

Going to see the new production of "Joseph" in September- taking Lady PJ for her anniversary present.

Will let you know how it goes.
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Heloise · Joined: 08 Dec 2006 Posts: 237

I've read good things about Lee Mead and Dean Collinson ( Joseph and Pharaoh) although haven't seen the show yet. I must try and get along to see it myself soon.

I don't know if anyone watch Any dream will do but Ben Ellis (who went out in the semi-final) is going to be playing Link Larkin in "Hairspray" boy that's going to be one busy stagedoor lol!!!
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Put some records on while I pour