1896 replies to this topic

[cat123]

 isabel, on 15 December 2012 - 07:14 PM, said:

Anyone seen the show recently ? What's the new Scaramouche like ?

Thinking of seeing the show over christmas, but only if Scara is good !

From someone who has seen more than my fair share of Galileo/Scaramouche pairings, I have to say that Oli & Rachael are an absolute dream team. They have bucket loads of chemistry and are both very endearing in the roles. They've made me love the show again.

I went on Friday night and it was a fab show. I had the understudy Katie Paine as Killer Queen. it was the second time I've seen her, i think shes great and the rest of the principle cast are some of the best I've seen. Rachel John's No One But You gives me chills, and I think Alasdair Harvey as Khashoggi strikes a good balance between the comedy and menace of the character.

So after not really enjoying the show for a few years and having no desire to see it for a year or so I have remembered why it used to be my favourite 3 or 4 years ago.

[djp]

 harveyjnr, on 10 December 2012 - 10:53 PM, said:

Lauren Samuels was not in slightest bit funny when i saw her and her voice does not suit the role. Gutted Sabrina Aloueche won't return to the role.

I doubt if they would have cast her  if that was anything but  a  small minority view. I saw Lauren 4 or 5 times I think,   and she always got big laughs and applause, and hit the money notes...  and she's one of the  stronger actors around. She also  had really strong chemistry with Noel Sullivan. They worked well in Grease  before,  and I think  he needed a   young enough  look and portrayal in Scramouche to match him best.

WWRY has a good problem in that, it seems to me, its got a choice of really  good people who could play  Scaramouche,  and Meat. I went back on multiple WWRY visits for Sabrina too and would go and see  her again ,  as Scaramouche or anything else.   Unlike some tours,  WWRY didn't have to split the talent between London and the 2011/12  tour,  and I would love to see Amanda, Jenny Douglas,  and some of the other tour cast again  back  in London too at some point.

The real problem is that there seems to have been a big reduction in the number of top female roles around  - so you can't  actually see anything like as much t of the top female  talent at the moment. The way things are going,  it's descending  more towards the  world of Let the male juke box musical  Be, Lets Copy Strictly, can we get Russell Grant, kids and Pudsey  into a show, lets do  a play with a smaller cast,  and what American show star will  American tourists be silly enough to  buy premium seats for.

[harveyjnr]

That's a very true comment. I completely agree actually

[stevepearman]

I like going to Westend Fest to see Sabrina. Wonderful voice, and does a great job raising money for worthy causes.

[isabel]

Saw WWRY lastnight and i think Oliver and Rachael are my favourite pairing that i've ever seen. They work so well together, and Rachael is fantastic as Scaramouche. Oliver is great as Gallelio

Was a shame Rachel John wasn't Meat though - love her voice.

But my god i'd forgotten how cringy some of the lines are ! was even more awkard when they didn't get a laugh !

Also they have reduced the stupid £8 booking fee to £ 1.50 !

[Joysie]

Went to see this again on Saturday for a third time in as many months having never seen it before December. This was my favourite WWRY show I've seen so far. Managed to get £63 tickets for £39 thanks to the Time Out offer in Row C of the stalls which were fantastic seats. Oli had only come back off holiday the night before and boy could you tell- his voice sounded incredible having been rested- not that it doesn't sound incredible anyway imo but this was the best I've heard him. The audience were fantastic and by the time we got to Champions they were in the palm of his hand all singing and swaying along and it was a brilliant atmosphere. So many laughs and cheers throught the show.

Was great to see Rachael as Scaramouche again having seen Emma Hatton in the role in January. I really love Rachael's take on Scaramouche and the way she & Oli work together is fantastic and so endearing.

We had Katie Paine as Killer Queen who was also great. Kevin Kennedy will never not be funny as Pop! But boy Rachel John- what a voice. No-One But You was just out of this world and she just sings it with such intensity and passion you can't help but be in awe of her.

I can't wait to go back and yet again be blown away by the incredible talent in this current cast!

[Titan]

sorry i have to disagree, there are loads of female roles

mamma mia - main roles female
bodyguard - its all about the actress playing rachael
wicked - female leads
phantom - christine barely off stage
les mis - females with iconic songs
billy elliott - great female role
viva forever - all female leads and before that ghost was a strong female role
cabaret - sally is a strong iconic role
top hat - a role immortalised by ginger rogers
sitr - has two good female roles one being a great comic role
shrek - fiona


maybe there arnt many female roles where they just have to belt out a hit, but to say there arnt many good roles for women is ridiculous.

[djp]

 Titan, on 04 February 2013 - 10:03 PM, said:

sorry i have to disagree, there are loads of female roles

mamma mia - main roles female
bodyguard - its all about the actress playing rachael
wicked - female leads
phantom - christine barely off stage
les mis - females with iconic songs
billy elliott - great female role
viva forever - all female leads and before that ghost was a strong female role
cabaret - sally is a strong iconic role
top hat - a role immortalised by ginger rogers
sitr - has two good female roles one being a great comic role
shrek - fiona


maybe there arnt many female roles where they just have to belt out a hit, but to say there arnt many good roles for women is ridiculous.

Of course Elphaba, Glinda, Donna, Scaramouche and Christine continue -  no one argued there were no roles left. . However, a lot of the similarly large roles of recent years have vanished with Roxie, Velma, Mrs Johnstone, Elle, Sandy/Molly,  Christine in her LND variant, Dorothy, and soon Fiona being fired. I wouldn't include Sally in that list,  but as you did, she's already been made redundant  too. Even if the comings and goings at theatres like the Palladium, Palace, and Drury Lane,  and  in shorter stay and fringe musicals even out,  and some of the incoming musicals have some females roles,  there's just not as many really big singing/acting roles now .  Its also notable that many of  the musicals that have gone in recent years -  like Legally Blonde. Chicago, Grease and Sister Act  - were  musicals with predominantly female leads and supporting actors - I doubt if those roles have all been matched  with new ones either. Viva and the Bodyguard cast in ways that reduced their impact there too.  That all  may be what  you would expect in a bigger picture where theres fewer musicals anyway,  more dance musicals and dance shows, more male juke box musicals,  and more new musicals with  male leads. One question will be whether the new tours will pick up any of the capacity,  or whether the  ending of current tours like Oliver, Phantom, Starlight, and then 9 to 5, will reduce the number of available roles even more.

The bottom line is that theres  a pretty  big talent pool available now for  those musicals  like WWRY and Wicked that are left,  and if they wait long enough they can add some very good candidates from some current/coming touring musicals too. .

[mrtheatre123]

Anyone know a full cast list for the arena tour, I know the leads but what about ensemble ??

[wickedlover]

Barring illness, will Oli and Rachael be on tonight??? Or do they have holidays or anything this week??