290 replies to this topic

[mrtheatre123]

MusicalTalk, on 24 November 2012 - 07:59 PM, said:

No - but there will undoubtedly be a cast recording.

Of course cast recording not soundtrack SORRY!!! 😔😔😔😔

[Rooster Byron]

I had a real blast seeing this, a hugely enjoyable piece of musical theatre with stand out performances from the leads. The set is wonderful, a really fantastic piece of production design, I also loved the use of projection and video, first time I've seen it used and really fit with the whole style of the show. I think it'll do very well indeed

[shane54]

Any info about the cast recording?

[stevepearman]

On the shows fb page many are raving about it. I really hope it does well, I'm already a fan

[Titan]

they generally do on facebook fanpages tho.

[MrBarnaby]

I saw it this week (the show is frozen so I saw the finished article) and I was very disappointed. Leaden script, terrible direction and a lazy film to stage adaptation.
Heather Headley is good but didn't blow me away. The songs are so much lower than Whitneys that they bear little relation to the originals in sound. Lloyd Owen is fine and Debbie Kurup is good but the script is so appalling what can they do? The 'Show' numbers are such a non event... And Heather looks nothing like a Star costume wise at all during the show. Then you get a flashy mega mix at the end where you have to get up to see anything and everyone leaves thinking they've seen a good show. I hope the general public who pay £60 a ticket truly do like it, but I was very disheartened by it all. And now Viva is shaping up to be a car crash.
Bring on Mormon, Once and Charlie!

[Bamba]

FireFingers, on 09 November 2012 - 11:36 PM, said:

I've found the Adelphi staff to be quite rude myself. And £95? That's mad. I know they want to recoup but £95 for 2 and a bit hours of entertainment...

Yeah, I think so too.  I almost feel like it's harming the musical before it starts.  I am a bit shocked by prices throughout the west end recently, been a big jump in the last couple of years I feel and as I said can't get down for day seats early enough for a musical (generally been okay with plays!).....!!  I hope this does well.

[ap156]

Went to see this on Thursday night, didn't find any staff rude at all, all very polite and courteous. As to the show, short compared to some, finisnhed just after ten and was 5 to 10 minutes late in starting although from my perspective it meant I was home earlier - travelled from Bristol to see it. The first half I thought was a bit slow, the sets though are very good, loved the log cabin creation. Like previous life stories etc, you know the script / story, sure there isn't a great deal of acting to be had but overall it is a show that is hard not to enjoy. The first half is ended with a big number just like the end and that is obviously deliberate. On the night, Heather was replaced by her understudy, Gloria. Competent perfromances by all but nothing spectacluar, enjoyable yes, more so I guess if you are a WH fan. Would I be prepared to pay £67.50 or even £55 to see it, then the answer would be no, in that respect it is overpriced.

[abs2512]

OMG – where do I even start – I was so looking forward to seeing the show and am bitterly disappointed with the what I saw last night.

For such an accomplished actor I thought Lloyd Owen was terrible, wooden, no sex appeal at all, I didn’t get any chemistry between his character and her and OMG, he’s nowhere near good looking enough to play the role.  When his huge face was on the screen in the 2^nd half – that was not a good look – probably from further back it looked OK but from row C it was a bit hideous.  I didn’t get him at all, however a friend, who was with me, thought he had ‘something’

Now onto Heather Hadley – never heard or seen her before (didn’t watch the Royal Variety Show – but have since heard that she was pretty dire).  As to her performance – she sang through her nose throughout the whole show and although she got the ‘money’ notes a lot of what she sang was flat.  I didn’t get any chemistry between her and Frank or her and Fletcher and when her sister died she seemed totally void of emotion.

Fletcher, the young boy was brilliant – it’s a shame his mic was not up loud enough for the whole theatre to enjoy.  Debbie K as Nicki was very good, I really believed her love/hate for her sister and her love for Frank, it upset me when in the 2^nd act she came into the bedroom and saw him asleep in bed with her sister – I really felt her pain.

Ray Shell as Bill disappointed me completely, I recent saw him in Dancing in the Streets on tour and he was so relaxed on stage as the compare, bringing the whole show together and really engaging with the audience.  Last night he was like a wooden doll.


Everything about the show felt staged – it was like the whole cast where thinking of what they had to say/do etc, it wasn’t natural.  I’m pretty sure that as the weeks/months go on the cast will gel – it’s very early days yet, but it felt pretty disjointed to me.

At one point during one of her numbers the smoke machine starts working and the poor people sitting in the middle seats of row A were completely covered – so much so that the audience began laughing – the amount of mist that came out was ridiculous.

Also don’t get me started on the ‘stalker’ why have him stand on stage for about 5 minutes playing with his gun and pointing his laser out at the audience – padding is a word that comes to mind and talking about padding, what’s with the mega mix at the end, again seems to me that they needed to add to the show to justify the high ticket cost,  It finished just after 10, which is pretty early for a West End Show.

I gather it’s press night tonight – I fear they are in for a rough ride – hearing the comments of people around us as we were coming out, I think there were rather a number of disappointed people.

It’s a shame coz it should have been brilliant but actually was on the same level perfomrnace wise as Soul Sister which I thought was pretty awful.

I may go back when they start discounting tickets.

[timsy99]

Heather Headley Amazing... Show dosen't really work... I'll be intrested at what the critics have to say.... Also in this musical with lots of good singers, but the only 2 people sing in the show Heather & Debbie... very strange why not cast actors rathger than singers if your not going to use them...