Theatre 2024

Devil said:
Oh boo, I wouldn’t mind seeing it. But I’m more a £15-£30 theatre week bitch, and just getting to Wembley always seems a faff even if I could be arsed shelling out a bit more. Especially if it’s largely SHIT :D
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Some nice early pre-booking sales for the typical New Year slump will be available soon: https://officiallondontheatre.com/seeitlive/
 
Oh thanking you! Is it just for shows in the early New Year or also later? I’m away for most of Jan/early Feb but very happy to book in advance.
 
Devil said:
Oh thanking you! Is it just for shows in the early New Year or also later? I’m away for most of Jan/early Feb but very happy to book in advance.
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It says selected dates. I fully expect it to be Mon-Thurs in Jan/Feb. Maybe March might be included.
 
We left at the interval.

It really IS relentless DRIVEL, and though competently performed with catchy enough songs the thought of leaving was just a lot more appealing than another hour or so of it. I enjoyed the bits where the people on scooters did backflips.

(Oh and PLEASE DON'T CANCEL ME, but the Rusty at our performance was so obviously a raving homosexual that I could NOT buy the central heterosexual talking train romance.)
 
Got a couple of cheap tickets to see* 'A Streetcar Named Desire' this morning.

* If I lean over a banister and squint.
 
I saw it last year and he genuinely was next-level TERRIFIC. The whole thing was, although Patsy Ferran playing Blanche looked about twelve, which didn't work too well.

She was great mind you. I've never seen someone so miscast give such a good performance
 
The recording of the new Wembley cast version of Starlight Express is out.

It sounds great and is hugely benefited by the fact you don't have to watch anyone skate around at 3 mph whilst listening to it :D


(the metadata tagging on this is wrong, and it isn't actually the 2001 version)
 
I've just seen the touring Mary Poppins. Still a fantastic show.

And I didn't realise that PATTI BOULAYE was playing the bird woman, which was quite an unexpected treat. Not as good as Petula Clark was, though.
 
This from Patti Boulaye's wikipedia biog :D

At the age of 16 she left Nigeria for the United Kingdom with aspirations to become a nun. However, during a sightseeing trip in London, Boulaye stood in a queue for what she assumed was Madame Tussauds but turned out to be an audition for the original London production of Hair and soon won a part, which launched her career in musicals.
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Petula got slated for her London run on the whole :D

I saw the original London production with Laura Michelle Kelly (so very :disco:), the terrifying Temper Temper and the very elaborate set which had the whole house slide up and down depending on where the scene was taking place. The now standard "pop up book" set is supposed to be very good though and I think the show as a whole is a real winner.
 
I saw the scaled down Westend production that closed 2 years ago, it was fantastic. I wish I could see the touring production but I won't be in Ireland when it's coming to Dublin.
 
Ellie said:
Not seen Mean Girls - thought the film version of the musical was 6/10 and fine. Didn’t entice me to see it on stage and kind of felt it would be similar to the Heathers musical - full of excited 16 year olds and few others.

Similar to Moulin Rouge, I’ve heard great things but I despise the film and the hotchpotch of jukebox songs is off putting for me, but again I’ve heard great things.

Cabaret - I saw this last month finally. Prices seem to have dropped a bit since the bigger celebrity cast left. Adam Gillen is famous I think but not from anything I’ve watched. He was excellent! It’s definitely an experience, very different. I recommend the Dress Circle rather than stalls for a flawless view. Unfortunately I thought the other two leads were a bit weak.

How about the new production of Oliver? I’ve booked for January, but it’s a transfer from Chichester and is meant to be very good.
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We ended up seeing Cabaret and I really enjoyed the whole experience, the entry via the stage door, the shots when you go in, the way the performers interact with the audience... Adam Gillen was a wonderful Emcee, I found him quite unnerving at times. An understudy was on as Sally, I found her a bit underwhelming. I think I'm so used to Liza Minelli's powerhouse performance that this whole 'Sally Bowles as a mediocre singer' shtick just doesn't do it for me, especially if you don't cast a star in the role. The supporting cast was fantastic though.
 
Yes, i saw the original Mary Poppins cast as well, when it was previewing here - and then again when it transferred to London.

I'm not sure how this version compares to the original or if it's scaled down at all. It's got the two big wow moments I remembered from the original.

It was quite lovely, because I went with my nieces who I took to the original, but now with her 9 and 8 year old daughters. They all loved it. More so than Frozen or Aladdin (or Wicked thinking about it - but they knew nothing of the story or songs before that, unlike the Disney musicals). I get such a buzz when they love it.

Just need to get through panto with Brian Conley with them now, and then I can look forward to the tour of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang next year, which I also saw with their mum when she was about the same age.
 
Debbie Jellinsky said:
We ended up seeing Cabaret and I really enjoyed the whole experience, the entry via the stage door, the shots when you go in, the way the performers interact with the audience... Adam Gillen was a wonderful Emcee, I found him quite unnerving at times. An understudy was on as Sally, I found her a bit underwhelming. I think I'm so used to Liza Minelli's powerhouse performance that this whole 'Sally Bowles as a mediocre singer' shtick just doesn't do it for me, especially if you don't cast a star in the role. The supporting cast was fantastic though.
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You must have got the same understudy Sally as we did then! Agreed, I know that’s supposed to be the character, but I feel it just doesn’t really work that way.
 
VoR said:
Elton John/Jake Shears’ Tammy Faye musical going down as an epic bomb on broadway it seems.

amp.theguardian.com

Elton John’s musical Tammy Faye to close on Broadway less than a month after opening

Despite Olivier awards success and a sold out run in the West End, the show received unfavourable reviews from US critics and performed poorly at the box office
amp.theguardian.com amp.theguardian.com

Did anyone see it in London?
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I saw it at The Almeida and really enjoyed it. It felt quite niche and unlikely to be a huge mainstream hit but not sure it deserves the 'epic bomb' tag. Have the reviews been bad too or is it just not selling tickets?
 
OMG, Titanique!

I have not laughed that hard at something in a long time :D It was everything I wanted and more!

IMG_5056.jpeg
 
DJ Play Ag Christmas Song (39) said:
I have a fair while to wait for it now (March) but I'm glad it has the Ellie seal of approval.

I'll need another recommendation after this, as my track record of picking shows has been absolutely flawless, I fancy that continuing.
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We clocked one person in the audience not laughing hysterically. Before the show started we were attempting to identify any straight men in the audience - it was him.
 
The Devil Wears Prada last night was a lot of fun, and as good as it needs to be without being GREAT. The actress playing Emily steals the show. Vanessa Williams is kind of made for the role, but I think hampered by the fact she plays it very icy and straight like the film, whilst every other character is hamming it up to the max. I would’ve let her have a bit more fun with some of the iconic line reads, and play the role a little more camp.
 
Andy is played as INSUFFERABLE without any of the charm of Anne Hathaway, which I don’t mind it just makes her come across as the villain of the show.
 
I've booked to go and see Titanique on my birthday in a couple of weeks' time.

I saw Why Am I So Single? just before Christmas and it's a shame it's closing next month but I'm very glad I got to see it, I found it really funny (very meta and constantly breaking the fourth wall) with plenty of catchy songs and good performances. But I can see why it might not have been a roaring success, it did feel like a show exclusively for the girls and the gays.

The Steps musical in Birmingham had more of a plot to it than I expected. Would go and see it again if it plays at all in London (partly to try and get a better view and experience - the seats at the theatre in Birmingham felt so squished in, and I went with friends who wanted cheaper tickets in one of the upper tiers, personally I'd rather be anywhere in the stalls, even towards the back of them)
 
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